my irons go nowhere!

[nickwbryant]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

jesperparnevik - firstly, thats not a bad swing there mate so we dont have too many worries. The main issue with your swing, which you can see clearly if you stop it at the top of your backswing is that the club face is wide open at the top with your left wrist cupped. From here you will always be struggling to square the clubface and this is the reason you are losing distance. We need to square that clubface at the top of your swing.

People on this board rave about greg's right hand drill - it made me hook the ball a lot however in your case it will probably help to square that face. Failing that the simple thought of holding a tray in your right hand at the top of the swing will give you the kind of clubface alignment you need.

from that one swing its difficult to see why you are so open at the top, a front view would help, might just be a weak grip. Anyway as i said your swing is pretty good so good luck with this one

nick

[msklar92]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

agree with gord,
would work on hip rotation followed by extension DOWN through the ball. The jerk in the swing appears as if you are trying to lift the ball. If you can get hold of the leadbetter swingsetter, it will give you the feel of hitting down through the ball.

[gord962]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

As long as you are just trying to hit the ball, you are powering through the impact zone you are fine. Most who try to hit the ball try to decelerate as soon as they have made contact. To swing through the ball, you should still be trying to accelerate after you have made imapct with the ball.

Are you familiar with Greg's right hand drill? If you are, then you know that the release comes imediately after impact, which promotes acceleration after impact.

[shootin4par]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

Got a couple of questions here. How does swinging through the ball relate to release and slapping of the ball, and how does that imply an improper rotation of the hips?

I've always been taught to swing through the ball, and as a result, I think I have not learnt to "release" the hands at impact properly (they just seem to contradict - to me). Recently I have tried incorporating this release/slapping/rotation of hands at impact, and it has easily added 10yds to my iron shots. But is that wrong?

Jesper, from my amatuer point of view, you do seem to be using a lot of your arms and not that much of the body. Definitely that's quite a lot of power loss if you do not employ more of your body.

no need to release the hands, if you are pushing right think of rotating the left arm from the top of the swing.

[jesperparnevik]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

The main issue with your swing, which you can see clearly if you stop it at the top of your backswing is that the club face is wide open at the top with your left wrist cupped.nick

I did notice before that my left wrist is cupped and tried to alter it with no luck whatsoever (it's very difficult to correct). I always believed that this was a swing killer and then I read an article about Berhard Langer's cupped left wrist and he learned to play very well with it, Ben Hogan also talks about his own cupped wrist in 'Afternoons with Mr. Hogan' when he reveals his "secret". So, is my left wrist really the source of my problems or do I have to get it dead straight to achieve any kind of power or consistency? Can anyone tell me what greg's right hand drill is or where I can find it and I'll give it a go?

[Simon Woo]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

Think I read this before. The stronger your grip, the more cupped your wrist will get at the top. So unless you have a relatively weak grip with a severe cup, I think it might not be that big an issue?

[Simon Woo]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

no need to release the hands, if you are pushing right think of rotating the left arm from the top of the swing.

So does 'release' actually mean more of rotating the arms through impact rather than having anything to do with the hands? From Greg's right hand drill I kinda got the idea that releasing is just a matter of unhinging the right wrist, but in doing that I have a tendency to chop the club into the ground and hitting fat shots. Come to think of it, doesn't unhinging at impact kinda cause a backspin (kinda like a slice/drop shot in tennis?).

Grateful if someone could elaborate a bit what really happens just before impact so I know if I am getting some terms confused.

Thanks!

[nickwbryant]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

jesperparnevik - you should only have a very cupped left wrist at the top if you have a very strong grip. Langer has a very strong grip, so does Couples who also cups at the top. Hogan developed his swing to prevent him hooking wildly. If you look at most pro players today, at the top of their swing they have either a flat or very slightly cupped wrist. The issue with your cupping is that you have a very cupped wrist and also the club face is wide open (ie pointing down to the ground). I feel if you could get that to a more neatural position the rest of the swing will take care of itself.

What is your grip like at present?

nick

[gord962]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

Simon, you rotate your forearms to release the club. Doing this will automatically unhing your wrists. Otherwise just flipping your wrists will create all sorts of problems.

Greg's right hand drill: http://members.cox.net/gregjwillis/LESSON1.htm

my drill for correct position at the top of the backswing: http://members.shaw.ca/gord962/drills/top_position.htm

[jesperparnevik]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

What is your grip like at present?

nick

My grip is actually nuetral (maybe slightly weak). I tried to get my right hand in the 'waiter' position at the top and I started hitting the ball well, especially with my driver, but here's my problem with that...When I get my right hand in this position at the top, my right elbow comes in very close to my ribs and thus restricts my width with my left hand at the top of the swing and I'm still losing power because my arc is considerably narrower.


Does anyone know of any drills to help me swing through instead of at the ball? I can't get rid of that 'hit mentality'!

[gord962]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

A sure fire way to get rid of that mentality is to hit with your eyes closed. Just make sure there is no one close to you on the range when doing this!!! This will teach you to power through the impact zone instead of just trying to hit the ball.

[msklar92]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

you can also swing a weighted club. try and keep your arms as relaxed as possible when you do this. try to maintain the same feeling when you swing.

[jesperparnevik]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

...from that one swing its difficult to see why you are so open at the top, a front view would help, might just be a weak grip. Anyway as i said your swing is pretty good so good luck with this one

nick

Any comments on this would be appreciated (apologies for the quality of film)

http://www.youtube.com/w/jesper-drive?v=Y-dsAaY8Mho

[msklar92]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

you have a nice swing, get well behind the ball. It appears your becoming too vertical in your follow through too early.

[nickwbryant]

Re: my irons go nowhere!

jesperparnevik - again you have a nice swing. As msklar92 hints below, you are coming up quite early in your downswing and your left leg seems to jump up out the way. I think (and its difficult to say with this video as i cant play it in slow mo) that you are not getting all your weight onto your front foot in the downswing and thus hitting down and through (i know this is a driver swing but the principle of the swing is still the same). By raising up rather than keeping in your posture you are increasing the loft on the club and losing distance.

I think there maybe a touch of reverse pivot going on in this swing. Your left leg at the top of swing sort of points to the ball and not behind it. I think you need to make sure you are really coiling into your right leg and feel that weight over on that side. This should stop you raising up on the downswing.

I hope this helps - its quite tough to analyse the swing at that speed

nick