Ball Going Straight Left

[wakefield724]

I am a right handed player. Starting this new season I have no idea what I am doing wrong. My driver and long irons are going straight left off the tee. I am not talking about a hook or draw. Dead straight perfect flight to the left. I have tried following through with my hands more. I have tried opening up the face. With a 300 yard drive I am hitting about 75 yards off my target. 

[Vinsk]

Hello and welcome to TST! As you may suspect, a video of your swing would be necessary to give an accurate analysis. Based on what you’ve said it seems you are coming outside in with your club face being square to your path. Several reasons for this as well as several corrections. Do you have a video?

[klineka]

  On 3/16/2022 at 4:02 PM, wakefield724 said:

My driver and long irons are going straight left off the tee. I am not talking about a hook or draw. Dead straight perfect flight to the left. 

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That is called a pull. Highly recommending reading and learning about ball flight laws

https://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/ball_flight_laws

As for what swing flaw/fault is causing your path to be out to in and your face to be matching that path, none of us are going to be able to tell you without seeing videos of your swing.

I strongly recommend reaching out to an instructor and doing some lessons. Or at the very least film your swing and post a Member Swing thread.

[GolfLug]

  On 3/16/2022 at 6:06 PM, klineka said:

That is called a pull.

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Dead..

[billchao]

  On 3/16/2022 at 4:02 PM, wakefield724 said:

I am a right handed player. Starting this new season I have no idea what I am doing wrong. My driver and long irons are going straight left off the tee. I am not talking about a hook or draw. Dead straight perfect flight to the left. I have tried following through with my hands more. I have tried opening up the face. With a 300 yard drive I am hitting about 75 yards off my target. 

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75 yards offline at 300? That’s like 14°. That is quite a bit offline to start the ball. Are you sure it’s a straight flight?

  On 3/16/2022 at 5:10 PM, Vinsk said:

Hello and welcome to TST! As you may suspect, a video of your swing would be necessary to give an accurate analysis. Based on what you’ve said it seems you are coming outside in with your club face being square to your path. Several reasons for this as well as several corrections. Do you have a video?

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I love the enthusiasm but I’m still going to bust your chops for welcoming a member who’s been here since 2014 😜

[Vinsk]

🤦‍♂️

[TourSpoon]

So the dreaded left ball off the tee plight. 

Yesterday, I was smashing it off the tee and got around great on the front. I get to 10, was hopped up because it was downwind and we were playing back and really jumped on one. It started left and went left and was between the 2 fairways about 275 off the tee. I totally got away with it as it set-up a little wedge into the green. No harm, no foul especially with OB right. 

In my case this severe pull was caused by an exceedingly great desire to jump on one and my shoulders outraced my body in a classic over-the-top power pull. I am much better when I have that patient power and the club is slotted correctly swinging slightly in to out as I then get the ball starting on line. I am not sure this is what you are doing, but I wouldn't be surprised as it is pretty common. 

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 3/16/2022 at 4:02 PM, wakefield724 said:

I am a right handed player. Starting this new season I have no idea what I am doing wrong. My driver and long irons are going straight left off the tee. I am not talking about a hook or draw. Dead straight perfect flight to the left. I have tried following through with my hands more. I have tried opening up the face. With a 300 yard drive I am hitting about 75 yards off my target. 

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Aim 14 degrees to the right. 🙂

[wakefield724]

After a great deal of range time, i found out my grip was entirely too strong which caused my face to be closed at impact. Now im hey diddle diddle right down the middle. Its an exciting year so far. Scored my best 9 hole ever this week (+3)

[ZenShot]

  On 3/19/2022 at 1:21 AM, wakefield724 said:

After a great deal of range time, i found out my grip was entirely too strong which caused my face to be closed at impact. Now im hey diddle diddle right down the middle. Its an exciting year so far. Scored my best 9 hole ever this week (+3)

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Always go back to the basics 

[Vinsk]

  On 3/19/2022 at 1:21 AM, wakefield724 said:

After a great deal of range time, i found out my grip was entirely too strong which caused my face to be closed at impact. Now im hey diddle diddle right down the middle. Its an exciting year so far. Scored my best 9 hole ever this week (+3)

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Well…now you’ve done it.

[cooke119]

Last week my ball flight was right down the middle for the most part. This week dead pull to the left, (I'm a righty). We were playing a course with a lot of water, I lost like 10 to 12 balls! I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. I figured I was coming over the top, out to in swing but could not help myself. So back to the range tomorrow to work on it.  If I can't fix it I'll go to a Pro for help.

[High Draw]

It puzzles me how a ball can be hit straight, when we are told to put it forward of centre in the stance for the long irons and driver?

With the shorter irons having it roughly in the middle makes sense because that's the bottom of the swing arc. And where square would be. But wouldn't having the ball further up the stance for longer clubs promote a left of the target strike? Due to the club striking the ball on the left side of the swing arc?

[boogielicious]

  On 6/2/2022 at 8:17 AM, High Draw said:

It puzzles me how a ball can be hit straight, when we are told to put it forward of centre in the stance for the long irons and driver?

With the shorter irons having it roughly in the middle makes sense because that's the bottom of the swing arc. And where square would be. But wouldn't having the ball further up the stance for longer clubs promote a left of the target strike? Due to the club striking the ball on the left side of the swing arc?

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Not really. My swing bottom is actually closer to my left heel. During my GEARS session at Golf Evolution, this was identified as the best place to put my ball even with wedges. My path is still going out in this position.

Try this next time you are at the range. Place the ball at your heel for each club. Even try putting further forward at your big toe. You may surprise yourself that you can hit it well at this position. This is how you can control launch too. This kind of drill also helps you move your weight forward at impact. Your swing path will adjust.

[ChetlovesMer]

  On 6/2/2022 at 8:17 AM, High Draw said:

It puzzles me how a ball can be hit straight, when we are told to put it forward of centre in the stance for the long irons and driver?

With the shorter irons having it roughly in the middle makes sense because that's the bottom of the swing arc. And where square would be. But wouldn't having the ball further up the stance for longer clubs promote a left of the target strike? Due to the club striking the ball on the left side of the swing arc?

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As @boogielicious mentioned. The bottom of your swing is likely to be farther forward than you think. Additionally, with the driver you want to hit the ball "after" your swing has reached bottom so as to catch it on the way up. (That is possibly oversimplified but you get the idea.) @boogielicious mentions GEARS which of course is awesome. But you can pretty well identify the bottom of your swing even with just your phone's camera. 

Filming your swing (whether you are hitting it great, or whether you are hitting it terrible) is always informative. I highly recommend it. GEARS is better of course, but it can be tough to get access to and or afford, depending on your situation. 

[High Draw]

  On 6/2/2022 at 10:52 AM, boogielicious said:

Not really. My swing bottom is actually closer to my left heel. During my GEARS session at Golf Evolution, this was identified as the best place to put my ball even with wedges. My path is still going out in this position.

Try this next time you are at the range. Place the ball at your heel for each club. Even try putting further forward at your big toe. You may surprise yourself that you can hit it well at this position. This is how you can control launch too. This kind of drill also helps you move your weight forward at impact. Your swing path will adjust.

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Interesting. So that would mean most of us are moving our weight forward to accommodate a forward ball position? Makes sense. Otherwise we'd be hitting it with a closed face with driver. 

It always puzzled me because 7 iron is roughly in the middle or slightly forward for most people, and driver is off the instep. So if the 7 iron is square in that position, that would make the driver face closed in its instep position. 

But we must be pushing forward more with the longer clubs to hit it square.

Thanks.

[iacas]

  On 6/2/2022 at 8:17 AM, High Draw said:

It puzzles me how a ball can be hit straight, when we are told to put it forward of centre in the stance for the long irons and driver?

With the shorter irons having it roughly in the middle makes sense because that's the bottom of the swing arc. And where square would be. But wouldn't having the ball further up the stance for longer clubs promote a left of the target strike? Due to the club striking the ball on the left side of the swing arc?

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Time to brush up on your geometry a bit.

First, you can orient the swing path (direction) in all sorts of directions. Rory hits up AND out with his driver, particularly when he was younger, to hit a draw.

Second, your low point can be forward of your front foot if you want it to be, and do the things to make it so. Generally in a good swing it's near to being underneath the front armpit or shoulder, or at least the logo on the front (left for a righty) of the shirt.

Third, the path of the club isn't really where the ball goes - that affects where the ball curves more than the start line. The start line is primarily determined by where the face is pointing at impact (and where on the face impact is made).

  On 6/2/2022 at 12:07 PM, High Draw said:

Interesting. So that would mean most of us are moving our weight forward to accommodate a forward ball position? Makes sense. Otherwise we'd be hitting it with a closed face with driver.

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These two things — the face angle and the ball position — have very little to do with one another. Though the clubface is closing throughout the impact interval (the bottom of the swing), it can come in more open or more closed, and it can close more quickly or more slowly. Just because the swing direction is left doesn't mean the face is pointing left.

  On 6/2/2022 at 12:07 PM, High Draw said:

It always puzzled me because 7 iron is roughly in the middle or slightly forward for most people

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Ideally it's not really "middle." PGA Tour players play the ball farther forward than almost anyone. I don't even have a bunch of good players with their wedges in the middle. Nearly everything (standard shots) are forward of middle.

  On 6/2/2022 at 12:07 PM, High Draw said:

and driver is off the instep

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Or forward of that, actually.

  On 6/2/2022 at 12:07 PM, High Draw said:

So if the 7 iron is square in that position, that would make the driver face closed in its instep position. 

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You don't have to grip it the same way, position your hands relative to your body the same way, etc.

[High Draw]

  On 6/2/2022 at 12:08 PM, iacas said:

Time to brush up on your geometry a bit.

First, you can orient the swing path (direction) in all sorts of directions. Rory hits up AND out with his driver, particularly when he was younger, to hit a draw.

Second, your low point can be forward of your front foot if you want it to be, and do the things to make it so. Generally in a good swing it's near to being underneath the front armpit or shoulder, or at least the logo on the front (left for a righty) of the shirt.

Third, the path of the club isn't really where the ball goes - that affects where the ball curves more than the start line. The start line is primarily determined by where the face is pointing at impact (and where on the face impact is made).

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A bit of clubhead manipulation then. Seems true that the body shifts laterally to accommodate the ball positions.