Let the Ball Get in the Way?

[Matthew62]

Hello all, I’m new here and appreciate all the tips. I have s bad habit if swinging at the ball and not allowing my hands to turn over. Some say let the ball get in the way and swing at the target. For some reason this is hard to process. Is there a good tip or swing thought that might help me achieve my this goal. 

Thank you all in advance!

[uitar9]

Golf is a hard game for most of us. Long stick with a metal piece at the end trying to hit a small ball. 

The trick seems to be to get the club face back to the ball after swinging in the same place you started. Its all about physics.

There are thousands of books and online options and they are mostly all different.

Like many here will say...find a pro to get you started. We are all bodily different. A good teacher will give you advice for your swing type.

That old Ben Hogan book-5 lessons , gives you some fundamentals. It's dated, but much applies

[Patch]

Yeah, just letting the ball "get in the way" is a viable way to go. I know I don't pay much attention to the ball after an initial inspection to see the lie situation I need to deal with. The ball is just "there", waiting for the club head to give it a clean smack in it's back side. 

I am big on using a proper one piece take away to get to the top of my swing correctly. If I am at the top correctly, it makes my transition into the down swing easier, and more correct.  After that transition, the swing into the ball is a hand eye coordination type thing....I guess. I never really thought about it.

My only (occassional) swing thought in the down swing is to move the club head on a in to out, back in swing path. 

Once the club head is through the impact area, I am trying to have a similar version of my one piece take away. Call it a one piece follow through...if there is such a thing. The club head, (hopefully) with out stretched arms is pointed down range to my targeted area. Not left or right of that area. After that it's on to my finish. Done deal.

I use a an old drill quite often, where I take the club back, with out stretched arms, 1/2 way, level with the the ground. Then I swing the club forward, through the impact area, with out stretched arms, to a point level with the ground again. It's a 1/2 way back- 1/2 way forward practice swing. When done at a proper speed, all the body parts associated with that area of the swing tend to get in sync with each other. I do this drill with, and without a ball getting in the way. 

 

[boogielicious]

On 8/1/2019 at 8:35 AM, uitar9 said:

Golf is a hard game for most of us. Long stick with a metal piece at the end trying to hit a small ball. 

The trick seems to be to get the club face back to the ball after swinging in the same place you started. Its all about physics.

There are thousands of books and online options and they are mostly all different.

Like many here will say...find a pro to get you started. We are all bodily different. A good teacher will give you advice for your swing type.

That old Ben Hogan book-5 lessons , gives you some fundamentals. It's dated, but much applies

You know what is funny about this, I can hit a rubber tee with just a shaft with no head every time. I have a shaft with some lead tape on the end that I use to warm up. When I swing it, even one handed, I can hit the rubber tee. But put a club head on the end and a ball in the way and it seems more of a challenge, when really, it's not. 

For me, if I only focus on the hitting ball, and not where it is going, I make much better contact.

[iacas]

Not a fan of this for my own hand at all. I don’t and never really have hit “at” the ball.

[TN94z]

What helped me the most in this situation was going to the range and making sure I used correct swing fundamentals (or working whatever drill you're working) without worrying about what the ball does. Most of the time on my drills, at least in the beginning, it's hard hitting good shots while performing the drills. So, in a sense, I am making my swing and the ball just gets in the way. it's just a process, for me at least, of trusting your swing. If you trust that your swing is getting in the right positions, the ball has no effect on it and is just in the path of that good swing.

Maybe I'm rambling...haha

[Sandy Divot]

i'm an old baseball player. I try to hit the ball hard with the club face on every full shot. I have very few thoughts about my swing.

[70sSanO]

I’m no instructor, but If you are not turning the hands over (releasing) it could be because you are swinging outside in.  To hit the ball you are opening up the club face and rotating the hands and in the opposite way.

When I hurt my shoulder I had limited mobility and I started turning my rear shoulder too much to get more power.  That ultimately caused an over the top move that I am struggling to fix, but I’m getting there. If you swing inside out I think trying to turn you hands (releasing) is not even a thought.  It just happens.

Taking the ball away, basically a practice swing, might not fix anything when a ball is then placed it n the path.

John

Edited August 2, 2019 by 70sSanO

[TN94z]

2 minutes ago, 70sSanO said:

If you swing inside out I think trying to turn you hands (releasing) is not even a thought.  It just happens.

John

That still depends. I only say this because I am going through it right now. I swing inside out, but because my left elbow and arm (I'm a RH) doesn't work as it should, my club face stays open to that path many times.

[colin007]

I do everything I can to keep my hands from turning over. That's a death move.

[DrvFrShow]

I find the less I think the better. I'm better at doing, not so good at think. Thinking gets in the way. 

I've been in a real funk with hitting **** shots. So I went to the range to fix it. I swung the club just to feel it... where the club head was throughout the swing. Then I put the ball down at the low point of my swing and lined up. I looked straight ahead and not at the ball and took a swing. Thin. Tried again. Flushed it. Tried it again. Flushed it. Not even looking at the ball. I made it through 10. I probably should have done the entire bucket like that. This tells me that fundamentally there's nothing wrong with the swing.

The problems arise when I'm focused on the ball. Instead of just swinging the club I'm focused on the ball and trying to kill it. I need to just swing the club like the ball isn't there.

[Buckeyebowman]

8 hours ago, colin007 said:

I do everything I can to keep my hands from turning over. That's a death move.

The exact opposite was a death move for me! I hung onto the club like grim death! I came in with the clubface open, and could hit the ball over 2 fairways to the right with a Driver! 

I always understood the "let the ball get in the way of the swing" idea was a suggestion to swing "through" the ball, not "at" the ball. One of the best swing thoughts I ever read, especially for when the ball is teed up and you are hitting Driver, is this. Imagine that the ball is a soap bubble. It is insubstantial. All you want to do is swing the club, and pop the soap bubble! This worked wonderfully for me for quite a while. 

However, don't equate this with "if I could only hit the ball with my practice swing" nonsense! In a practice swing, you don't need to square the clubface. You can just swing away, and it feels so free and easy, and it's all a bunch of hooey! Even introducing a soap bubble introduces an object to be swung though into the equation. The human psyche is an amazing thing!