curing a slight push

[danielson2047]

Hi, all. My game is coming around nicely. I've been golfing for about 3 1/2 months now and am getting better every time out (once i learned to watch the damn ball and not move my head so much). I just have a couple questions for you experts out there. First, what should my left knee and leg do during the backswing? Should I keep the space between my knees the same throughout the backswing, or should i move the left knee towards my right? (right-handed golfer, fyi)? Also, yesterday i played at a little par 3 course near home, and hit almost every tee shot beautifully. I just had one little problem, a lot of my shots were just like 5-10 yards to the right, just enough to miss the green and piss me off. Any suggestions how to fix this? It's not really a slice, cuz it never actually goes right at the target. It flies to the right of the stick, but goes perfectly straight in that direction. I think it my alignment with my feet and knees, how extactly should my feet look? Should they both be perfectly square with the target line, should my right foot be a little open? Sorry for all the questions. I know that part of it is probably the equipment, i got a cheap set at a garage sale just to learn the basics, i'm getting a hybrid set for my b-day on Sept. 1. (cant wait!!!) These clubs are from like the 70's, i can hit the 7 iron with a hard swing and solid contact about 130 yards, hit my buddies newer 7 iron about 145 or so. 7 iron is my favorite in the bag. Well, thanks for any input you guys can provide, and once again sorry for the long post. GO PACK GO!!!

[Adam Pettman]

Kind of hard to read but I think all you need to know is that your shoulders and club should point at your target and your feet should point straight out ahead of you. These are pretty much the basics for setting up for a straight shot (I think)

[Rockford35]

Did you watch the Golg Academy last night? They had a huge session on "blocking it out right".

Cool drill that I gave a go in the backyard last night. You take a 6 iron and hold it in your right hand with your hand on the hosel of the head looking down at the grip. You then place your left hand and hold it against your chest. Take about an 1/8th of a swing forward to start the momentum from the set position and then take a full backswing, making a slight weight shift in your lower body as you normally would and then follow through. This helps emulate the full turn you need to keep the clubhead straight thru impact and even impart a little draw spin on the ball.

Apparently, Michelle Wie uses this tip exclusively when she starts to push her longer irons.

I like the tip. Makes total sense to me.

R35

[cypressperch]

If the ball goes straight but to the right of your target, it almost has to be your alinement. Many golfers hit to the right of the target because they have their feet, shoulders, etc. lined up at the target. They should be lined up to the left of the target. It is the clubface that is lined up at the target with the club face being square on the target line.

Your body's alignment determines the clubhead's path. So if your body is lined up at the target, the clubhead path will actually be slightly to the right.

It is actually a good thing that your ball is going right IF your body is lined up at the target. All you have to do is just make a slight change in your alignment. Think of railroad tracks. The top track is the target line and your club face is square to that line. Your feet, hips, shoulders are lined up on the bottom track which is parallel to the top track. Again, if you line your body up at the target, that line will cross the top track or target line forcing the ball right.

Lastly. many people get their feet lined up correctly. At the range, they lay a club down parallel to the target line, etc, etc. That is good, but as they address the ball, they have their shoulders open or pointing to the left. Occasionally, they will have their shoulders closed or pointing to the right. Getting the shoulders parallel to the target line is pretty hard by oneself. I like to think of a golfer down the target line looking back at me when I am addressing the ball. This imaginary golfer should not be able to see my right arm because if I am lined up correctly, by right arm will be hidden behind my left arm. If the imaginary golfer saw my right arm to the left of my left arm from his point of view, my shoulders are open or pointed to the left. If he could see my right arm to the right of my left arm, then my shoulders must be closed or pointing to the right.

The railroad track image is going to produce straight shots by producing square contact at impact. Everything is either perpendicular or parallel in this set up. At address, it is sometimes helpful to think in terms of hitting the ball "parallel left."

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

[Eracer]

One thing that I see a lot of golfers do is take out a club and address the ball. They don't align themselves to the target line as part of their pre-shot routine. Jack Nicklaus advocated this method, and did it before EVERY shot.

Stand about eight feet behind the ball and line up the ball and your target.

Pick out a spot about three feet in front of the ball, along the target line. The spot can be anything small - a piece of grass, or a sandy spot.

Now, when you address the ball, align yourself to the line made by the ball and your intermediate "target spot".

Align the clubface first, then your feet, then hips, then shoulders.

Trust this alignment. Do this for every shot, even at the range (unless you are doing a rapid rhythm drill). Incorporate the pre-shot alignment into your routine. It will remove one very critical variable from your swing.

[JEFF4i]

One thing I always, always do as part of my pre-shot routine is that I hold my club up to check the alignment of my lower body. About 90% of the time it's fine from experience, but it's something I picked up when I started and do to this day.

[obagain]

Alignment, have someone hold a club aginst your shoulder when you are at adress. The shaft will point where you are aimed.
You can do the same with your hip and knees.
If you are aligned ok, it would probably be that you are not completing your shoulder turn or hip turn.
When you finish your swing, pose for a second and check your shoulders and hips to see how far you turned them.