Broken Swing From Hitting Off Training Mats

[billchao]

On 1/21/2020 at 11:05 AM, The Be Boy said:

Mats don't break your swing I agree, but I feel like hitting off mats has ingrained a couple bad habits already.

You’re overthinking it. You’re still a beginner; those bad habits aren’t really baked in, yet. I’d practice what some others have suggested. Start slow, make short swings and make sure you’re hitting the ball first. Make the longest swing you can while still ensuring ball first contact and gradually speed up from there.

While mats do hide contact issues, they also make the game more accessible. A lot of courses and ranges can’t afford to maintain grass hitting areas. Learning to play while hitting off a mat is the reality for most of us.

Just food for thought: let’s say you did start the game on a grass range. There’s no guarantee that you would have figured out the right way to hit the ball from the start. If your natural inclination is to swing a little behind the ball, you’d chunk and top your way through your first range session. Frustrating, right? Maybe you never take interest in the game that way...

[IowaGreg]

On ‎1‎/‎21‎/‎2020 at 10:05 AM, The Be Boy said:

I'm really not, I'm just looking to get started down the right path because at the moment I'm a bit lost.

No need to be in too much of a rush, There are people that have been playing for years that still not quite on the "right path".  EVERY tour pro still struggles sometimes. 

Take your next lesson as soon as you can and talk to the instructor about all your concerns. 

Good Luck....

[70sSanO]

It could be a lot of things, but as a beginner, I’m thinking you are moving your weight too much to your right side causing your body to sway.  If you are getting your hips outside of your right foot you’ll never make it back to the ball.

A full length mirror is great to see what is going on.  Note where your head is at address and then where it is at the top of your backswing.  If it has moved back a few inches you’re toast.

You need to steady your body and just rotate your arms around it.  A half swing, or slightly more, is a good place to start.  Swinging back and forth with a shorter swing may help to get the feel of transitioning the weight from the right to the left to the right, etc. without swaying your body.

John

[The Be Boy]

Hey everyone

 

Just wanted to update the thread and thank everyone for their advice.  I went to see a couch and he's kinda showed me what to do and I've started doing some of the drills recommended by you guys.

Noticeable improvement already but still a long way to go. For those that might be interested, I wasn't shifting my weight forward, more pivoting on the spot but not actually taking the weight off my back foot. 

Been drilling the happy Gilmore swing (without actually hitting the ball) to get a feel for shifting my weight and bought some masking tape and put a strip on the mat behind the ball before I hit the ball, so I can tell for sure when I'm hitting it right.  Not really sure about what distance I should have it away from the ball though. 

 

Next is fixing the push/pull hook found out I have!

Cheers again guys