My hands are too far ahead of me

[slinkee]

Especially on my driver. I'm a chronic slicer of which I'd sell my soul to rid myself of. I got a quick tip from the ranger at the course I work at today saying my hands were way way too far ahead of me. Alas, I don't really know how to solve this problem. Any practice drills I can run over? Anything I can try and think about and put in my head?

Edit: To answer a question, my hands are ahead of the club at impact, opening the club face. Seems like a simple fix but damn, I just can't keep the ball from going right.

[Eore]

i had this same problem, an for me it was tempo, tempo, tempo. at the rubber range there were some other HS golfers i know, and they were just trying to kill the ball (they weren't) However, when i unleashed my driver, i swung harder and faster to try to match their swings. take some slow-mo swings, and slow down a little

^^^^^^^^^^^if that doesn't work, ask a better golfer

[jdumoit]

If I'm slicing my driver, there's a 99% chance I'm casting (starting down with my hands/not keeping the wrist angle). I can fix it immediately by holding that angle longer.

That's more of an outside in problem than hands too far ahead problem. Actually; I don't know if I've ever seen a 'hands too far ahead of impact' problem.

[slinkee]

If I'm slicing my driver, there's a 99% chance I'm casting (starting down with my hands/not keeping the wrist angle). I can fix it immediately by holding that angle longer.

I would guess I do some casting. I've seen many of my divots pointing from right to left indicting my outside-in swing path. Is the phrase "swign from the inside" something I should figure out what means? :)

[jdumoit]

I'm far from a teaching pro, so I just know what works for me. There are only a couple things I do to stop casting. One is to consciously keep my right upper arm close to my body during my downswing. Another is to try to keep the butt of the club facing the ground as long as I can.

If neither of these do the trick, I'll resort to the old "Hit 10 balls in a row with my feet together' drill. I don't know why, but for some reason hitting shots with my feet together fixes all kinds of problems for me on the fly.

If I'm hitting the ball ok, then I won't think about anything when I swing -- only the target.

[Trevor07Silvy]

yea you wanna try and keep your right elbow (for a righty) in(to your side)on the downswing atleast. So I've beem told. I use to hit slices 2 years ago but now I hit more of a draw by swinging from the inside out

[Avid Golfer]

Especially on my driver. I'm a chronic slicer of which I'd sell my soul to rid myself of. I got a quick tip from the ranger at the course I work at today saying my hands were way way too far ahead of me. Alas, I don't really know how to solve this problem. Any practice drills I can run over? Anything I can try and think about and put in my head?

Too far ahead of you at what point? Setup? Downswing? Impact?

If its at setup - get into your setup posture let your arms hang loosely and clap your hands together. Where your hands meet is where you should grip the golf club.

[Three Putt]

I've found that if I slow down the backswing I hit it much better.

[larlev]

To the OP..what makes the guy who told you this an expert?
My advice since you have been slicing bad enough to "sell your soul" get a lesson from a reputable instructor.

More struggling golfers should keep their ears shut when given a tip from someone, unless you have confidence in what they are saying is correct....

I give tips, and probably shouldn't..

[slinkee]

To the OP..what makes the guy who told you this an expert?

Well for one he's a friend, he's 70 and still shoots in the 70's, and competed in his 20's and 30's. But seriously, I don't even know where to look for advice for a newbie.

And to answer another question, my hands are leading the club at impact. At address, I'm all squared up.

[Avid Golfer]

And to answer another question, my hands are leading the club at impact. At address, I'm all squared up.

Your hands should be ahead of the clubhead at impact (or even with it on a driver is acceptable). Here are pictures of pros at impact with the driver. You'll see that many of them have their hands ahead of the clubhead nearing and at impact.

[larlev]

Well for one he's a friend, he's 70 and still shoots in the 70's, and competed in his 20's and 30's. But seriously, I don't even know where to look for advice for a newbie.

Well then my post doesn't apply to you...I apoligize

Your hands should be like you described. Are you swinging out to in, or coming over the top? Try videotaping your swing, it really does help...

[x-forged]

you should keep your hands ahead of the clubhead, so maybe its the lack of rotation in the wrists that is causing the slice when coming through the hitting area.

Avid Golfer, I was taking a look at Phil Mickelsons pic. Wow, no wonder he has weak driving accuracy. he should make that follow through a little more compact dont you think? looks a little wild.

[tm22721]

Would an FAQ help with these same questions that keep coming up over and over again ?

[irspow]

I think that almost everyone misses a very important relationship that is just as important if not more so than having your hands ahead of the clubhead at impact. This should be quite enlightening for those who are trapped in traditional instruction these days.

Stand erect and rotate your let arm around your body straight out in front of you. You will notice that until your arm reaches a point in front of your shoulder that the hand is moving further away from you. Inside-out swing. After it passes your shoulder it gets closer to you. Outside-in swing.

You can have all of the lag (hands in front of the clubhead) in the world, but if your hands catch up to your lead shoulder, you are toast. So be sure to FEEL as though your arms never catch up to your body until at least two feet or so after impact. You will never slice this way, guarenteed!

Tom