question about my swing

[Johnny Par]

hey guys,

new to golf here, been playing for about a month and a half.

A buddy of mine says that I swing outside in naturally. So he told me to stand further from the ball at address. (I was standing too close and swinging too steep).

So yesterday, I make a note to stand further from the ball at address and tried swinging not so steep.

I've had mixed results. I am no longer slicing the ball (or as my friend calls it a power fade. huh?)

Now, I hit some shots straight, but other times, I am hitting line drives to the left (I am right handed so I guess hooking it is the proper term?)

Anyone know what is causing this? Am I turning my wrists over too fast? or is this a swing plane issue?

I am at a huge dilemma here, as winter is approaching, my golf time will be limited. I am not sure if I should take lessons now? or wait until march. I feel like the longer I wait, I might be picking up bad habits at the range.

Sorry for the long post. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated as I can't stop thinking about this so called game, golf.

 

[JEFF4i]

First off, a power fade is just a joke about an unintentional slice.

Also, it is hard to say exactly what is wrong with your swing without seeing it.

Now, I'm not terribly educated on this, but I'd say moving away from the ball isn't the right fix for a slice.

Also, how big is the slice? About how much left-right action are you getting? If it isn't terribly much, and it's predictable, there is nothing wrong with just playing the swing for that.

 

[ezra76]

That's called an over the top pull. My nemesis. Happens when I try to hit a driver draw most of the time. There is really no quick easy cure, I've had to do multiple things to change it. These incluce, weakening the grip, opening the face more, turning the head over through impact, extending down the target line. Best quick drill I can think of is to take a rubber range tee, place it a few inches ahead and outside of the tee you are hitting off of. Swing through out towards the second tee. Also try taking the club back low, slow and wide. Don't lift it up from the inside. Try placing a ball behind your club at adress. Push the ball staight back with the back of your club as you begin your backswing, this is the wide path you want to start with.

I'll pull up a link to Tiger's swing in slo-mo in a minute. You can really see how low, slow and wide he takes the club back.

 

[ezra76]

First off, a power fade is just a joke about an unintentional slice.

Maybe in a beginners case... If you ever have the displeasure of playing a dogleg right against me, I'll show you a power-fade that will make you cry "Sandbagger".

I'm putting those baby's out to nearly 280 all carry now.

 

[Johnny Par]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I am heading to the range again tonight to swing some more balls. Just been taking it easy. My emphasis has been to relax and take a nice smooth swing and forget about distance.

Going solo to play 18 tomorrow. I will be keeping score for the first time, wish me luck.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

From my experience, standing further away from the ball will give you a swing that is more shallow. Whether you draw or fade the ball, it will likely exagerate this to whatever tendancy you have. As Jeff said it is hard to tell without seeing the swing, but unless your friend has a very good understanding for the golf swing, it may be better to get advice from a pro. I am no expert, but this is contrary to what I would expect.

It is also my experience from trial and error and from what I have heard that the majority of beginners tend to stand to far from the ball. Just do an experiment and stand closer than you previously did to see what happens. In any sense, if you are using a proper stance you arms should hang straight down, so that you have room for about a fist between your mid section and where you grip the club, or at least not more than your fist with your thumb sticking out, in a relaxed fasion at setup

 

[Augster]

If you want to get decent quickly, and stop ingraining your incorrect beginner moves, get "The 4 Magic Moves to Winning Golf" by Joe Dante. This book is excellent and a quick read.

Please don't keep hitting balls without any idea of what you are doing. All that does is make making a change harder later down the road. If you are serious about getting better at this silly game, give that book a quick once-over (or better, twice or thrice). The instructions are easy to follow and he explains the "why's" of what you are doing in detail.

 

[HighTopFade]

Take lessons. An honest pro will tell you exactly what you need to know. It's just up to you to execute.

 

[JEFF4i]

Maybe in a beginners case... If you ever have the displeasure of playing a dogleg right against me, I'll show you a power-fade that will make you cry "Sandbagger".

I'm putting those baby's out to nearly 280 all carry now.

And then we will see the rest of your game and think, "he may need a couple more."

 

[ezra76]

And then we will see the rest of your game and think, "he may need a couple more."

You can say that again. Played the tough course today and just plain stunk it up. Couldn't control a fade, pushing the crap out of draws, finally I just tried to hit it straight down the line. Took 14 holes to make a friggen par, then made back to backs. Edit: 3 in a row now that recall, followed by a bogey on 18. Needless to say I played a few strokes over my cap... like about 17. lol. I suck.

 

[Johnny Par]

Made it out to the course today, it's a par 67 course about 5 minutes from my house (Douglaston Golf Course).

This was my 4th time out on a golf course and shot 103.

I made par the first hole and thought it would be a good day, I was wrong, bogey's and triple bogeys followed.

All in all, I felt like I was swinging the ball good, only problem is I don't get the average distances that others get. (i.e. I can only hit my 6 iron about 130-140 yds).

Too bad it's supposed to rain tomorrow else I would definitely be back out on the course.

Have a good thanksgiving and thanks for the tips.

 

[ezra76]

Nice par. Don't worry about scores too much, or keeping up with other peoples distances. It's not how far you hit what club, just the end result that matters. You'll gain distance as you get better and start striking the ball more solid. I've dropped 2 clubs since my 1st season in iron distance. In all honesty it's been my chipping that has dropped the most strokes for me, followed by course management. Practice the short game and just try your best to stick with shots you are comfortable with. If you break 100 in less than a year, you're ahead of me.

 

[Johnny Par]

thanks for the vote of confidence. On the 18th hole today, since no one was behind me, I spent about 45 minutes chipping with my gap wedge. Also practiced the shot you were telling me about where you open up your stance and swing out to in. I noticed that this gave me a higher trajectory than the chip.

Today was great though becuase I played solo and no one was behind me so I practiced bunker shots, etc....

 

[ezra76]

Glad to hear it worked for you. I use that shot a few times today. Nearly chipped in for birdie on a par 5 I was making a mess of off the tee with it. Saved a par off a 200yd. drive with a 50yd. slice though. My standard chip is more like the other one I mentioned. Slightly in to out and let the toe turn over a little. My biggest problem is staying agressive. When I play agressively around the green it works better, opposite for tee shots though.

 

[JEFF4i]

Also take into consideration that sometimes the ballstriking is good, things just aren't coming together.