I can`t hit the ball straight with a half swing!

[TheSnapHooker]

Hey guys, I am a new member who is just getting back into golf after a few years of very sporadic play.

I went own to the range for the first time in ever yesterday and hit 200 balls (im stiff today!). After I while I could hit the ball straight again - I can hit the ball very straight with no hint of fade or draw if I concentrate and get my four key components right (light grip, rotate hips, smooth swing and follow through) - of course that doesn`t always happen, and when it doesn`t the result is usually a nasty hook , but at least I CAN hit it straight and when I don`t I usually know what I`ve done wrong.

However, when I take a shortened swing I slice the ball every time. It isn`t a bad slice, more of a strong fade, and it consistently fades the same amount every time, but I CAN`T hit it straight unless I take a full swing. This goes for all my clubs, from Driver to PW.

Anybody got any ideas? Please help!

[rudygu]

When I do this it's usually because I haven't shifted my weight well and I have a tendency to hit at the ball on the shortened swing. I focus on swinging through the ball and making sure I rotate my hips and shoulders through the downswing instead of hanging back on my right side. There won't be as much of this as on a full swing, but It all still needs to be there.

[iWALK18]

I'll make a guess. With the full swing i bet you come back to the ball a lot more from the inside, but with your shortened/half swing you probably are taking the club back outside the line, and then back at the ball from outside the line. This could be because you are not turning your body properly, or you might be subconsciously trying to "guide" the club.

Try bringing the club to the ball a little more from the inside on your half swing, and a little less from the inside on your full swing, and see if that fixes your problem.

On a side note, if you are having trouble with "nasty hooks" on the full swing, look at your grip. Make sure you have a proper grip, and if its strong, try weakening it. As someone who once really really struggled with hooking the ball, I can't tell you how much this helped me.

[armyman2003]

iWALK18 has hit it on the button! Excellent advice

[irspow]

I agree with the earlier posts. You can also rotate the clubface very slightly closed as this will allow the club to hang naturally a little further behind your hands at address. With the shorter swing it is harder to get your body and hands ahead of the clubhead because of the shorter time involved and a less aggressive transition.

You can also try to shift more aggressively during transition flattening the shaft more than normal making you come from further inside. This takes practice though, you have been warned.

I personally like to make relatively full back swings for these "half" swings and simply rotate a little slower in the downswing. Think about when you throw a ball at different distances. You don't worry about how far you reach back but simply rotate your body towards your target at different speeds naturally without thinking about it. This is one of those areas that I think people make the game way more difficult than it really needs to be.

Tom

[nykfan4life]

its because you tend not to turn your hips in short swings. rotate like you would in a full swing

[TheSnapHooker]

Thanks guys! I will give all these tips a go at the range tomorrow. I think I do have to come inside to inside more, rotate as I would on a full swing. Will try closing the face a tiny bit too and getting hands more in front of the ball.

[rudygu]

I personally like to make relatively full back swings for these "half" swings and simply rotate a little slower in the downswing. Think about when you throw a ball at different distances. You don't worry about how far you reach back but simply rotate your body towards your target at different speeds naturally without thinking about it. This is one of those areas that I think people make the game way more difficult than it really needs to be.

I would be careful when trying this one. It sounds a lot like decelerating through impact, which could cause some "wristiness" and lead to inconsistent ball striking if you get carried away with it.

[BASHERBAKER69]

just grip down the club, narrow your stance, put weight on your front foot and turn as you normally do!

[AmenCorner]

Just get a lesson. How can you possibly think you can detect a swing fault on an internet forum?

[irspow]

Sorry to have offended anyone I was just offering my opinion. The original poster of this thread can take it or leave it.

First, with all due respect to Hardy, he does NOT own the definitions of swing types. Instructors, yes I am a golf pro, who have been using video for quite some time now have noticed the two general different types of swing for a long time now. I was only pointing out the obvious and Jack seemed a good example. His back swing was on a very different plane than that of his downswing. That's all.

My "murky waters" have proven to help thousands of golfers and I am proud of that fact. So even though some may tend to disagree with some of my wording, my history and experience with others are what I use as a guide in how I offer advice.

As for the deceleration and inside-out issues raised, I did not in any way advocate slowing down through impact. I was using an analogy to throwing an object and it was obviously taken out of context. Perhaps reading carefully what was written could help to clarify what was meant. I stand by using a slightly inside-out swing path for the standard shot for the recreational golfer. Not only because it tends to produce a very slight draw for those who use it for their bread-and-butter shots, but because the major bane of the average golfer is usually a weak slice which cannot be produced by such a swing path. I have absolutely no idea what cavity-back clubs have to do with anything other than they are generally used as a crutch for poor technique.

Again, sorry to have offended anyone, I was just offering what I have found to be beneficial advice in my profession of helping others enjoy this game more.

Tom

[rudygu]

As for the deceleration and inside-out issues raised, I did not in any way advocate slowing down through impact. I was using an analogy to throwing an object and it was obviously taken out of context. Perhaps reading carefully what was written could help to clarify what was meant.

I never said you advocated slowing down through impact. I simply meant that accelerating at different rates through impact to achieve different distances could turn into slowing down through impact if one weren't careful. I dont appreciate your condescending attitude toward my post. I think I understand exactly what you were saying. The fact that I don't think the technique is for everyone does not mean that I obviously took anything out of context or that i need to carefully re-read your post. Perhaps you are being a little too sensitive.

[iacas]

First, with all due respect to Hardy, he does NOT own the definitions of swing types.

No, but he's published and a bit more famous than you, so if you're gonna use the same terms, you owe it to those who might read what you write to qualify or re-define them (or, better yet, to simply choose another term if possible).

[irspow]

Point taken iacas. I bow lowly and retreat. Forgive me.

Tom

[iacas]

Point taken iacas. I bow lowly and retreat. Forgive me.

You don't need to retreat. Just recognize that you're going to confuse people if you "borrow" terms that are likely to be in use by people more famous than you to mean different things.