Pushing the ball right

[daddymack]

whats the usual cause of this? I think it's an open club. Any quick cure?

Thanks

Gotta a tee time 2 nite

[15andlife]

what it could be is too steep of a back and down swing im not positive on this but I believe this causes a push right. Try putting a ball about 2 feet behind the target ball and try pushing it away during your swing.

[cypressperch]

A push is a ball that leaves the tee and goes straight to the right (for right-handed). The ball contact is square but on a line that is to the right. Possible causes: You are simply lined up to the right. In alinement, the most important thing to have lined up are the shoulders, but most people line up the feet and think that completes the alinement process. Placing a club across the chest may help you to get your shoulders parallel to the target line. If you line up then stand erect and point your left hand directly to your left, that left hand should be pointing just to the left of the pin. This will have you in the "railroad track" set-up.

If the shot is a straight push, alinement is probably the problem area. If the shot goes right and also fades or slices right, we have a push-slice. Alinement is still a possibility, but other things now enter the picture. The curvature to the right is from contact with an open clubface. If the ball is too far back in the stance, you probably will not be able to get the clubface on the ball square to your intended line of flight. The ball might be positioned correctly in the stance, but you do not complete your back-swing, so again, you do not have enough "time" to get the clubface square.

Your grip is actually the first thing to check. Too weak a grip (hands rotated too far counter-clockwise) can make it difficult to return the clubface squarely to the ball.

Whatever your grip, you must swing through the ball rather than striking at it. The clubface opens on the back-swing automatically as the shoulders coil. The clubhead goes back (and to the inside) and up on the back-swing, and then it MUST come down first on the down-swing (this begins while your back is still facing the target, the mark of a good coil) and then the clubface comes to the ball from the inside closing back to square to the target line. Just before contact the clubface is square and then there is contact and very briefly the clubface remains square. But now the clubface closes and the head of the club moves to the INSIDE of the target line, again as the result of proper shoulder turning. I am spending time on this, because to me, this is one of the really major elements a lot of golfers are missing. We want the ball to go straight, and we wrongly try to make our club move on too straight a line. Your push is one result that can come from this. It is only that small flat part of the arc described by the clubface/clubhead that produces square contact. So line up correctly to the target line at address, and think of hitting the ball parallel left with a clubface that closes to square just before impact, moves smoothly through the space that just happens to be occupied by the ball, and very soon after impact moves to the inside of the target line. And accelerate through the ball to a good finish in which you are facing your target when the swing is completed.

I know, I have given you far too much stuff, and there could be a whole lot more added. For your next round, try to have time for a warm-up. Check you alinement. Loosen up on your grip which will allow you to release the clubhead producing the arc described above. In fact, try to loosen up your entire body so that it can respond to ideal shot that your subconscious knows all about. It knows when you visualize the shot and see it in your mine before you address the ball. Do not overly think, especially after you have addressed the ball. Trust your swing, and just do it!

The very best of luck to you during your upcoming rounds. Sincerely, CP

[gwlee7]

Like the previous poster stated, it would be better IMO to check your alignment first to be certain that you are in fact "pushing" the ball. You could very well be hitting the ball straight while being aligned to the right. Your lead shoulder must NOT feel like it is pointing at the target. If it does, you are aimed too far to the right and will begin to introduce an "over the top" pulling tendency to your swing that will only get worse as time goes on.

Place a club about a foot in front of your ball and point it directly at the taget. Place a club about a foot behind the ball that is in a straight line directly with the target as well. Place a club parallel to these two clubs that will approximate where your feet would be at address. Step up to that club and take your address.

If you are like the majority of amateur golfers, you will feet like you are aimed way left when in fact you are aimed correctly. Now hit some shots and see where they go.

[Chas]

Originally Posted by daddymack

whats the usual cause of this? I think it's an open club. Any quick cure?

Thanks

Gotta a tee time 2 nite

Try the advice of the gentlemen here in this forum. I would like to mention that I also was pushing the ball to the right for a bit. I simply moved my right hand about half an inch to the left and it straightened things right out. Could be as simple as that, or, it could certainly be other things.

[daddymack]

Thanks guys.

I have recently just started to make proper contact with my short irons (i'm still learning). So I havent really paid much attention to lining up my target.
I do have a bit of a fade-slice. I use a strong grip also.

I do open my right foot to help with turning, that makes aiming a little tougher. does that cause my problem , Maybe?

[cypressperch]

If you have been lining up with the right foot pointing on a line that is perpendicular to the target line and then switch to opening the right foot to make turning back easier, a problem might arise. There would be a tendency to have the shoulders as well as the feet, knees, hips, etc. close. Now you are forcing yourself to go over the top to get the club face square by impact. Most probably the club head will come to the ball from the outside to the inside, and even though the clubhead may be square to the target line, you hit a glancing blow that produces a slice.

I think the two most important things in proper alinement are:
(1) Establishing what the target line is, and
(2) Getting the shoulders, not the feet, parallel to that line.

You get the target line from behind the ball looking through the ball to the target. A foot or two in front of the ball, you find a broken tee, blade of grass, divot or whatever to become your intermediate target. Be precise in this process. I actually point my club at the target and bring it slowly down to the ball on the target line in order to pick the intermediate target. Before moving from my position from behind the ball to my address position, I imagine a line perpendicular to the target line running through the ball to the left of the target line. I will position my feet together somewhere on that line. I want at least a general idea of that spot that I am going to.

When I get my feet to that spot, I place the club behind the ball square to the target and let the club rest on the ground natually as it is designed to do so as to have a certain loft. If you stand to the club so situated you will have your hands in the right place, you will have the ball positioned correctly in the stance.

Your shoulders still may be opened or closed. To have the shoulders alined properly which is parallel to the target line, the following has worked very well for me. Imagine someone down the target line looking back at you. Move your shoulders so that your right arm moves into a position that will cause the left arm to hide your right arm from that imaginary person. Your shoulders are now parallel! If he could see your right arm to the left of your left arm, your shoulders would have to be open. If he could see your right arm to the right of the left arm, your shoulders are closed. When correctly alined, you will feel as though you must hit the ball "parallel left" if you are a right-handed golfer.

It is good to have the feet alined parallel to the target line. It is imperative that the shoulders be parallel. Eventually you will start to "see" the target line passing through the ball at address. At that point, even your eyes are parallel to the target line.

I mentioned "standing to the club" that is sitting square to the target line behind the ball. This has been one of the truly break through concepts I have learned. It and many other useful ideas are in John Jacobs The Golf Swing Simplified.

The best of luck to you with your game. Sincerely, Cypressperch

[Pa Jayhawk]

Two less likely causes of this outside of what was mentioned, and are related to the equipment, could relate to having a grip that is too big, and causes problems with proper release. The other is a shaft that is to flexible, which may result in a push or a hook. Probably more unlikely than what is mentioned but can be easily checked by a clubfitter to eliminate the possibility.

If it is not equipment, as mentioned before by a prior poster, you have an inside~out swing, yet the clubface is square with your swing. Not square to the ball, but square too the swing path. Otherwise you would impart spin which would be accompanied by a fade or a draw.