Roll the face or not

[kino]

Hi,my problem seems to be with long fairway irons and sometimes short irons.

From what I have been taught and also read is that the clubface should be pointing up when at half swing.

What i try and do is roll my wrists a little but judging by the sometimes horrible shots i achieve I think my problem lies here.

It is about a 50/50 chance that the ball will weakly fade or occasionaly shank.but when i hit it clean it does travel a good distance and feel good

should I not roll my wrists and instead concentrate more on just taking the club back which I sometimes try with a bit better results about a 60/40 chance of a good shot but it also does not feel so clean when I do not roll my wrists,or stick with rolling and try and improve which after about 10 mins on practice range i can perfect,however on the course without the practice I struggle.

Thank you if you can offer any advice.

[Golfbald]

Wrist Roll

Kino,

Rolling the wrists is definetely a bad thing. The motion you are looking for is a wrist cock. I will explain.

The wrists can move in a full circle with a club in hand. There are 2 good motions to work on. (This is from a engineering perspective not feel perspective.) The first is the toe of the club should be straight up halfway back. Rolling the wrists the clubface is up, that is where the shanks are coming from because the clubface is extremely open at impact. The other good motion is a forward press at the begining of the swing to straighten the left wrist and put you on plane at the begining of the swing. The only other wrist motion is the release of the right wrist at impact.

Follow the wrist motion on this decription. At the start during your setup the left wrist will have a slight bend. The right wrist will be more bent to accommidate and left wrist being a little straighter. The first motion of the wrists are a forward press to straighten the left wrist. This motion is timed with a slight movement of the right knee toward the ball. The left wrist goes to a straight position. DO NOT bring the left wrist backward as this will close the clubface. The cocking of the wrist starts when the club passes the right big toe. The cocking will continue to the 1/2 to 3/4 point depending on your swing speed.

That's the backswing part. The through swing the wrists stay in the cocked position until slightly after the weight shift starts. You MUST shift your weight before you release the club. The first motion on the through swing is to lift your right heel. This will create the weightshift. At this point straighten your right arm and then your right wrist. This is the release and most powerful move in the swing.
I can give you the engineering details you have to work out how this feels to you. Everyone has a different way of experiencing feel. I will only give the instructions. That is what the wrists action is in the swing.

Golfbald

[kino]

Thank you golfbald for that informative post,I will not have much time to try anything for 2 weeks due to hols but your thread sounds easy to follow and I will keep you informed if any progress.

Could you please go a little into detail as to what a forward press is I think i have a good idea but would just like to make sure

I also wanted to add that I never seem to take a divot and i am not afraid to attack the ball most of the time I just take a good cutting of grass or slight root but never a divot so I guess my rolling wrists is a big problem,which oddly enough has no affect on my driving but possibly I roll less due to larger arc in back swing

[Golfbald]

Kino,

There is nothing wrong with shaving the grass on an iron shot. I do this and hit clean shots. You have to hit down on the ball and not sweep the ball. The swing shape is more like a v than a U with a wide bottom.

The forward press is a slight movement to get the body in motion. The purpose is to staighten the left wrist and promote a smooth takeaway. A proper forward press is a timing move. The right knee and left wrist work together. Do not do anything with your left leg. If you do you will open your shoulders and hit fades all day.

I guess the best way to describe it is for every body part that moves its counterpart must also move. The countepart to the left wrist is the right knee. The right knee moves toward the ball.

GolfBald

[upstate10]

just a question, this forward press motion you are talking about, did you happen to pick it up from a mike austin tape? it sounds very similar to something they teach.

[kino]

Just back from hols yesterday hit the course today using your advive golfbald and I am really pleased with results.

Hitting the ball soooo much crisper and my confidence was amazing whereby before i always had a niggling doubt about my shot.

The slight downside is i have lost a bit of distance although i prefer the accuracy I have now.

I will wait a while as my swing has changed almost completely before seeking advice about distance.

Thank you again.

[Golfbald]

kino,

Great to hear of your success. It is a little different at first. I used to hit a loose 6 - strong 7 iron to 150 yards. Now it's an easy 8 iron. You will be adjusting your distances as you become more comfortable with it.

Have fun you only get one chance!!!

GolfBald