Contantly pushing my mid to long irons (video)

[osean79]

I've just started golf this summer and have been to the range religiously during the week and have been going to the courses on the weekends. I've made alot of improvements starting with getting the ball in the air, and now I've come to the point where I'm trying to learn to hit the ball straight towards my target. My beginner's slice has been fixed early on, yet there is this incorrigible push towards the right with all my irons from 7-4 and more pronounced push with my driver. It does not slice, but just goes on a straight path 10-20 degrees to the right of the target line (push shot?).
And this is much much more pronounced on my driver and i usually end up in the woods or similarly unhappy locations... I'm including a vid of my typical push shot with a 7 iron and would really appreciate any advise on how to fix the problem.

[madsolsen]

maybe you are swinging too steep.
when you swing steep the club has a tendency to open. I had the same problem and i solved it by swinging flatter.

its a suggestion

[Fried Egg]

A push is caused by an in-to-out swing path with a square clubface to that path. This is illustrated in your video. It also appears that you rotate your forearms a lot in the backswing.

Your two options would be: 1. swing the club straighter back and allow it to swing more down the line the back to the inside in your follow through or 2. play for a draw and keep the same path, but you will need to rotate your forearms more in the downswing than you currently do.

[tdinneen]

Nothing wrong with a push like that, Ben Hogan would be proud you need to rotate those wrists more at impact to square the clubface up. A push of 20 degrees with a square clubface will get you a nice push draw... which looks cool and will get you more distance over trying to hit it straight (or at least more straight as no one can consistently hit the ball straight, most tour pro's have a slight push draw to there swing).

Also noticed that your plane on the backswing is quite flat. Have a look at you video, pause it when you left arm is parallel to the ground on the backswing. Your shaft should point to the "ball to target" line or just inside that line (towards your feet). Your shaft is pointing a meter or so on the other side. Getting that plane more upright with your current swing should take that push out of the equation but again nothing wrong with a push albeit it should be accompanied with a nice draw / square clubface.

[itzzzberny]

haha... you look like my older brother in the video... thought that was funny. we (me and pops) wish he would pick up golf (some sort of exercise)... too bad he's a video game junkie... =T

[jcrew]

maybe you are swinging too steep.

he's swinging flat if anything. that's definitely not steep in the least. also swinging steep has nothing to do with club staying open or closed. that has more to do with clubface rotation with your hands/arms. anddd a push isn't cause by an open clubface. push is square clubface with in to out path. if it was open, it would be a banana slice.

as someone already said, i think you just need to turn your hands over a bit more and maybe get a bit steeper of a swing.

[Spectrums]

It may not be flat, but it's not steep.

Your wrists/forearms aren't rotating at impact, like most people have said.

I have the same problem.

[J_Bone]

If your swing is repeatable, I would NOT change it. They only thing I would try would be:
1) Move the ball forward at address.
or
2) Close the club head slightly at address (strong grip??). With that swing and a slightly closed club head, your shots should have a nice draw and great distance compared to a strait shot.

[CaptainCrash]

For a fairly new golfer you have a really nice swing....

[madsolsen]

dudes i did not say it is the right answer.. just what solved it to me..You just stick to your own suggestion and dont comment my post when it atleast is constructive

[osean79]

Thank you for all your opinions and advice, especially since it's all in good intentions to help out a fellow golfer! I really do not know what a flat swing feels like or a steeper swing, because for right now I am tring to feel long and wide in my swing, and the plane I take just feels comfortable for me right now. I actually do get a few straight shots with this swing but mostly a push like you see here in the video. After reviewing myself in this video, I decided to try out a flatter and more inside backswing for this weekend at the golf course. What happened was, at first i started hitting it absolutely straight with very nice height... getting very excited thinking I had fixed my swing and will be hitting my best game that day. Unfortunately, by the 5, 6th hole i started pulling my irons horribly and couldn't fix the problem since then. Tried going back to my usual swing and somehow forgot how to do even that!!!

Oh well.... I guess it's back to the range again to see if I can get it back. By the way, I like to stand tall and keep the wrist cocked down & extended, and I get the feeling that the club shaft is in line with my hand, wrist, and forearm. With that set, i just swing my arms to the right starting from my shoulders and then the hips... i never think about the wrist though... and swing back down the way I came up. Yes I do focus also on keeping my right knee flexed and right foot planted on the ground.

I hope you can see that in my video... and if anyone can point out the subtle things I can fix to develop a good swing I'd very much appreciate it.

Thanks~

[gbk56]

The one thing that struck me was that your right hip seems to rise a bit on your back swing. I would suggest trying to keep your hips from changing levels. This is caused by the right leg trying to straighten out on the back swing.

[osean79]

Hmmm, I never even considered the right hip before... and yes you are right i do have a tendency to straighten out the right leg trying keep my body stacked over the ball. It's a habit i developed trying to fix my fat shots as a beginner. Nowadays, I actually top or skull the ball alot instead of chunking it. I'll definitely keep that in mind, and try to keep my right knee from straightening out during the back swing, keeping my hips level. Thanks for the advice!

[kfowler]

A push is caused by an in-to-out swing path with a square club face to that path. This is illustrated in your video. It also appears that you rotate your forearms a lot in the back swing.

I agree. Without loading this to swing software my guess is that you're coming pretty far from the inside and then continuing to the outside. Your club face would have to be square since you say the shots go straight. I have the opposite problem with pulls.

One thing to try that I'm curious if it'll work. To cure my pull, I tilt my head slightly to the right at address. This helps me bring the club back inside and return it without coming over top. I also imagine that I'm swinging for a target to the right of my actual target. I've been amazed at how this has helped. So for you, try tilting your head slightly to the left at address and see what happend. I bet you'll be more on plane. I have no idea if this will work for a push but it's worth a try.

[samsquanch]

Just a thought but your a little across the line a the top... You're clubhead is aimed well right of your target at the top of your swing.

[osean79]

One thing to try that I'm curious if it'll work. To cure my pull, I tilt my head slightly to the right at address. This helps me bring the club back inside and return it without coming over top. I also imagine that I'm swinging for a target to the right of my actual target. I've been amazed at how this has helped. So for you, try tilting your head slightly to the left at address and see what happend. I bet you'll be more on plane. I have no idea if this will work for a push but it's worth a try.

That is something I've also not heard of or thought of before!! I'll definitely try it out tonight at the range and see how it goes. Sounds promising though, and I'll post my results as soon as I see how it goes!

And regarding keeping my club head pointing towards the target... I'm not entirely sure how I should do that but I'll try to figure it out and put my focus on squaring the head as i come down swing for the impact. Thanks for the tips!

[justinp]

I'm certainly no instructor, but here is one thing you could try (and it's hard to see if this is what's going on in your video). I agree with those that talked about forearm rotation through the ball.

Once you get to the top of your backswing and you start down at the ball...do you feel like you are leading down with your right arm or your left?

I'm guessing you have a little too much right hand in your swing and it's actually keeping you from rotating through completely causing you to block shots out to the right. At the range...try taking everything back like normal but when you start down, try to lead more with the left arm and keep the right side out of it (let it go along for the ride).

Just a thought.

[WorkerOfTheBall]

My thoughts are excellent backswing, its about as good as it can get for a new golfer. Great work!

I do have some observations however.... (please note, these are simply my opinions, YMMV).

Your transition looks to be a lunge (slide) left , this explains why the right leg loses its flex and raises the right hip. This also causes the loss of your spine angle established at address (and at the top). This "slide" will cause you to leave the club behind (in essence, playing "catch-up").

Another byproduct of being "late" is the high follow through, this can fixed by addressing things earlier in the swing.

My recommendations:
Maintain the (right) knee flex established at address. Think more body (core) rotation and less upper body slide on the way down. :)

Keep it up!