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Lie Angle problem or just poor mechanics

Water Witch

New Member
Jun 10, 2013
1
0
Country
United States United States
New to this sight hope my fellow golfers can help. i know you want to make contact with the ball first and then the divot but my number one problem is my divots start 2 to 3 inches behind the ball no matter what i try to do (focus on the front side of the ball at address and throughout swing, putting ball further back in stance-sometimes a ridiculous amount--and my latest doozie---at the practice range putting a two by four just inches behind the ball to make sure i hit the back of ball first or hurt my wrist and elbows-kind of a shock treatment approach and modest success on range hasnt transferred to course) Surprisingly on the course i score moderatly well because even though my divots start well behind the ball they are so shallow as to almost not be called a divot making me think i am "sweeping "the ball a lot . This is on about2/3 of my iron shots, the other 1/3 are TERRIBLE. But here is the really bizare part that prompts my buddy to advise me to change my lie angle. When i lift the heel of my club up at address-to the point you could put your index finger between the ground and the heel of the club and my hands are of course real high and my arms and wrists and shaft are in a srtraight line and i swing from this position 90% of the time the contact is crisp,ball explodes of the face (15 yards more per club),and divot starts at the ball-now it is a short 3 or 4 inch divot deep by my standards and is shaped like a triangle(point at the ball fat base where divot ends). easy answer is to say keep doing that then but it feels really wierd, and looks like im lining up a putt from the fairway with my 6 iron at address and the most nerve wracking part is i always worry have i got the heel off the ground enough or too much .Is my lie angle bad or swing screwed up even worse than i thought. input appreciated. Thanks
 

trumb1mj

Well-Known Member
Dec 19, 2007
551
97
Chicago, IL
Country
United States United States
Uneven divots are often attributed to ill fitting lie angles. So if you can see the heel is digging more than the toe you need to flatten your lies.
 

TrickyPutt

Banned
Banned
Jan 11, 2012
3,992
1,198
Alabama
Country
United States United States
If a swing plane was a big paper plate you stuck your head through the middle of...I bet yours is bent up vertical behind you. You reach out or raise hands to raise the heel and voila... it fits the description of a flatter plane. It truly is a circle and in that sense simple enough.. but I and many people started by raising hands above the shoulders while failing to turn back properly. Just for kicks at the range, forget the strong grip you know and put the lower hand on top of the shaft and let the upper hand be very weak..not necessarily between the shaft and the target which would be 9 oclock or 3 for lefties but say at 10. If the ball is centered when you set up it feels odd. But if you move your ball forward say two balls back from your target side heel you may find that as the head moves from center to a forward address it actually becomes a neutral grip that allows you to turns back lower and come back through smoother and less steep and without the energy loss from changing planes. It may be useful to understand in this that the hands are behind the head and ball ...or its sorta like a driver setup forward. Kick the heel forward a bit if the face is closed at address. It will return with a vengeance.

Hope this helps
 

TrickyPutt

Banned
Banned
Jan 11, 2012
3,992
1,198
Alabama
Country
United States United States
Oh one major earth shaking and easily missed point. There is a drill where a long tee is placed under the glove so the arm is pierced if the collapsing hand drives the tee out of the glove by folding. You best keep the top/back of that glove hand at/under level with the top of the fore arm. Its the bend that helps aggravate your problem
 

PooN

Member
Jan 23, 2013
34
5
waukesha, wi
Country
United States United States
Your left arm might be bent (elbow collapsing) at the top of the backswing.
You may be swaying off the ball on your backswing.
Your head may have too much movement... or you're looking up during your swing.

Need video to tell.
 

Augster

Rules Nerd
Supporting Member
Mar 9, 2005
1,473
23
Lie angle has nothing to do with hitting it fat consistently. Lie angle would have more to do with the curvature of the ball.

Get rid of the tension in your body and your hands. Barely hold onto the club. Barely. As lightly as you can without dropping it. Then turn your sternum back, and turn you sternum through. Don't hit the ball, it just gets in the way. Whip the club through the ball with your sternum. Your hands and arms do nothing. Noodle arms.

And remember, ass is power.
 

MarkFed

Active Member
Jun 17, 2013
156
143
New England
Country
United States United States
My experience with fat shots is that the downswing isn't being initiated by the lower body and/or your swing plane is coming from the outside.
At impact, your belt buckle should be at least halfway from the address position to the target.
From the address position, you can drag your club back and keep it on the ground for a good amount of distance which means that without turning your lower body on the downswing, you could stick the club in the ground anywhere.
When you get to a proper hitting position (belt buckle halfway turned to your target at impact), you can barley reach the back of the ball making it almost impossible to hit 2-3 inches behind the ball.
 

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