The secret of consistent ball-striking!

[sandwedge]

A common denominator of solid powerful impact with an iron has the shaft of the club leaning towards the target at impact with the hands ahaed of the ball. The hips and are facing towards the target, and the right wrist is still bent back (retaining the angle).

I took a lesson this past summer and that was pretty much exactly what the instructor had me working on. He had me doing a drill where I simulated impact by keeping my shoulders square to the ball while opening my hips and leaning the shaft towards the target. From there I made a backswing which was very short because the position I was in only allowed a short backswing. This was a very awkard drill but was effective. I was hitting the ball as far with my 6 iron as I normally would even with a full swing. For the first time I was actually taking the right size divots in the right spot.

He told me he could tell what a person's full swing handicap would be by the postion the shaft was in at impact. ie: a high handicap would have the top of the shaft pointing away from the target and the the better the player the more the shaft pointed toward the target.


Thanks for your insight and I look forward to reading more of your posts.

 

[REFLOG]

Welcome aboard! I am fairly new around here as well. I have found those on this board to be very helpful and willing to assist and share info.; just as you are doing. Keep the tips coming!!!

BTW - Thanks for the tip - Now let me go and attemtp to put it into action!!

 

[AaA]

Great post, Onplane and welcome!

When I've taken lessons in the past, the impact drill was something that I worked on frequently. For me, I think keeping my hands in front of the ball is one of the hardest things to do. The best complement my instructor ever gave me was that on film and before impact, my swing looked great...almost like a tour player. Then if you were to keep rolling the film you would see that my hands don't hold that precious angle long enough and sometimes the clubhead comes through too quickly. But indeed this is the key. If I can master this, my game will improve dramatically. Thanks for reminding of something to work on at the range!

 

[ol-crank]

good point, well made. A few years ago,

( when I first started golfing) a baseball coach in our foursome had me hold the club straight out in front, shoulder level, assume a strong position, (knees slightly bent, and straight back) and then swing only rotating the hips. Then the hips plus the wrists, and finally the hips, the wrists, and the elbows. This showed me how to get some power. I lowered my clubhead on successive swings, (bending at the waist) and had an ok swing. And then I watched every golf show tip on TV, read every golf mag Tip, and listened to every fellow golfer on how to "fix it" and screwed up everything.
Or how to make a simple game too complicated to understand.: )

 

[LyleG]

I like the "pump the handle drill"
Hold the club in the pre-strike position with a good deal of wrist cock and lag, now use a pumping motion going back and forth while maintaining this lag, on the forth pump swing through and hit the ball. (this is much easier to actually do than it is to type out, LOL)

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

create power, and control direction. The trick is doing this in posture!

I would certainly agree with this thought. And I feel relates to what I mentioned in the other thread on what I would most correct.

In your experience, in relation to golf, what is the best way to accomplish a happy median and complete the two most effectively. In your analogy of a baseball player, I would also notice that most Home Run hitters also tend to rank highly as far as Strike Outs.

My biggest flaw in tempo and swing control is with my driver, and like most home run hitters I see in baseball, if I try and gain better control it will not necessarily buy me a base hit but instead will usually result in an out. Or in the case of golf, and mainly with my driver, I have found that I am just as likely to find the fairway when concentrating on power as I am with control.

I would likely say I have the same problem with my other clubs. However with them I will usually gain that control in regulating my power, posture and balance. It is however at the expense of distance. In my case, this year I have given up 20-30 yards (edit 1 - actually, more likely 10-20 now that I think of it, finding the back of the green more often) with every club, and my scores have come down drastically. With my driver, trying to do so I seem less likely to find the fairway if I do the same thing as when I concentrate on "coming out of my shoes", so to speak.

Any swing thoughts or information you would have on the best way to complete the two would be appreciatted by me and possibly many otherwise. I certain appreciate the information you have provided thus far.

 

[Big_Bang]

Gotta admit...that does help. Thanks!

 

[onplane]

onplane,

When you get a chance edit your signature to show what's in your bag. I'd be mighty interested in seeing what a well known teaching pro hits!! Thanks.

WBL

At Great River I have to play Nike Irons and carry a Nike bag. I chose their blades because they seemed the most familiar. My driver is a few years old. It's a Taylor Made TP 580 head witha Pro lite stiff shaft which has been "Pured". I have the newest model of Titleist fairway woods in 15 deg loft. I am old school and play 2-9,pw in my irons. I use the 2-iron more off the tee, that's why it's in the bag. I have 2 wedges. A 56 deg. old cleveland berilium 488, and an old ping eye2 lob wedge. I have a gun metal 52 degree which I use sometimes, and take out the 2-iron. I just switched to a Never Comprimise putter, and play Titleis ProV1 x. If I had my choice of irons I would either go back to the taylor made 300 series irons I had, or look at some of their newer forged blades. Good Golfing. David

 

[onplane]

Any swing thoughts or information you would have on the best way to complete the two would be appreciatted by me and possibly many otherwise. I certain appreciate the information you have provided thus far.[/QUOTE]

Direction and distance can both be attained as soon as one can really understand two concepts. One is "Plane Alignment" (where the plane is aiming in relation to the target line as opposed to "Plane Inclination"-how tilted the plane is in relation to the golfers body, the other his "how to educate your hands".

Here is the esiest way to visualize both. Once you get these I'll go into more detail!

If you were hitting a baseball and wanted to hit a home run, you would swing slightly up at the ball. If you made this identical swing in a golfing posture you would be swinging on a "hook plane" which is aligned as many degrees right of the target as the amount of degrees you were swining up at the ball (how much above level/line drive?).

A "line drive swing"/level in a golfing posture is the same as a plane being aligned exactly at your target (if you are hitting at the pitcher-I can explain more later).

Trying to hit a ground ball left of the pitcher is the same as a plane being aligned to "come over the top", and is a "slicer's plane".

So when you stand-up like a baseball player, swinging up and to the right of the pitcher is a "hook plane" bent over.

A "Line Drive" at the pitcher is a perfectly aligned plane bent over.

And a "ground ball to third" swing is a slicer's swing when in a golfing posture.

This is good to know if you are trying to fix a hook or a slice. Just practice the opposite standing up to get the feel of the right correction!

"Educated hands" is a little easier. If you had a ping pong paddle in your hand the motion you want to make is side to side, not a twisting one. In a golf swing all that really needs to be done is set the ping pong paddle back on the backswing, and then do NOTHING until after impact.

The hands only make one move (in reality it's a little more but still only feels like one move) until after the ball is struck!!! Pretty simple.

Hope this helps!

Let me know.

David

 

[FKA19]

an old ping eye2 lob wedge.

why did you have to tell WBL this ? haha just kidding , welcome aboard david.

 

[Dannykos]

"Educated hands" is a little easier. If you had a ping pong paddle in your hand the motion you want to make is side to side, not a twisting one. In a golf swing all that really needs to be done is set the ping pong paddle back on the backswing, and then do NOTHING until after impact.

The hands only make one move (in reality it's a little more but still only feels like one move) until after the ball is struck!!! Pretty simple.

that's some nice stuff in there - really helpful more me with my WAY to overactive hands. I never thought of just keeping them REALLY quiet, always trying to time the roll through impact, and failing more than succeding (bad shot nice pull hook, or high push/slice).

oh - and welcome aboard

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Thank you for the information. I will have to try it out with my driver.

The main reason I asked was how it would relate to a longer club (driver) that is hit on an upswing, as opposed to what you originally mention (iron), which is swung on a downward motion. Probably where my conflict comes about. I predominantly hit a draw with my irons which is in fact more controllable with a more controllable swing. I usually do the same with my driver, however when I try and contol the swing or ease off, I tend to hit more of a fade or slice. I have always been of the opinion it is because I am leaving the clubface open due to "checking up" on the swing, and not rotating as much or as quickly through impact. Hence where it seemed to contradict my current logic. Just the thought of "Checking up" on the swing would lead me believe my hands would be more likely to stay open at impact and cause the left to right motion, as the ball still start straight prior to going right which lead me to believe my swingpath was on line.

I will possibly have to give more consideration to how easing up is effecting the plane of the swing and not just the rotation of my hands, or the path of the clubface at impact.

Thanks again.

To much to try and comprehend without actually having a club in my hand, will see how it goes.

 

[onplane]

I'll show you something really cool (I think it is the one thing that is NEVER taught, for reasons I won't get into, and almost the ONLY thing you really need to get)

There is a way to hit a ball with your hands in front that precious 8-14 degrees (depending on club) on every swing!!!!

Here's how to do it...

If you were standing up playing tee ball with the ball about knee high, and lined up inside your left heel, and I asked you to hit the ball between the pitcher and second baseman (about 10-15 degrees right), and gave you a few swings, you could do it with amazingly good acuracy in just a few minutes.

But that is not the key...the KEY is that if you watched how you did this and stopped a split second before you hit the ball, you woulkd see that your shaft is automatically leaning 10-15 degrees forward (perpendicuar to where you are trying to hit it). If you bent over into a golfing posture it would be perfect!!!!

We are "hard wired" to do this if given the right command, and have the right visual in mind (in this case a line drive between the pitcher and 2nd baseman). You swung the bat/club OUT AWAY FROM YOUR BODY on a "Plane" aligned at your target.

This OUT feeling when bent over is a DOWN AND OUT feeling towards the golfball and NOT towards the pin.

Hard to explain. Easy to do! Try it and let me know. David

 

[dave.]

I have no feeling for my hands,until half way down and I hit hard,but I don't have any concept of rotation,just hit.That for me is the secret,take the hands out and hit hard with the body.

 

[Sandpiper3]

Am I the only one whose barely understood most of the stuff that onplane has said?

I seem to be having trouble grasping wat your gettin at...