What's causing my pulls?

[King Cobra II]

Whenever I really go after a ball (especially short irons/wedges) I seem to be pulling it. Any suggestions as to how to alleviate this? Or what's causing it?

[Stacey_E]

Whenever I really go after a ball (especially short irons/wedges) I seem to be pulling it. Any suggestions as to how to alleviate this? Or what's causing it?

Just a guess here, but an educated one as I am prone to this as well. When we really go after the ball the mindset is to smash the hell out of it. To that end we throw our arms and the club at the ball. This causes the club to come over the top or outside-in on the downswing. From what I was always heard, a straight pull is caused by that swing path. And these shots really fly! They almost feel as good as a straight shot. To be perfectly honest, I play for a pull on all my irons and wedges. I would not reccomend that to anyone of course.

Good Luck!

[grantc79]

Check to see where your body is pointing when you reach the very end of your swing.

If your left foot is pointed towards the target and your waist and torso has spun all the way to and beyond your target that means you are over rotating in an attempt to get more power.

More power comes from directing more energy down at the ball rather than around and towards the target.

Try to keep your right foot down as long as possible which will keep your waist from flying open.

If you can keep your right foot down and your waist stays closed then your torso cannot over rotate which pulls the club above plane.

[longfornothing]

Don't "really go after" them.

When I pull shots, which is often at the most horrible times, it is b/c I don't start the downswing with my lower body and speed up my tempo at the beginning of the downswing. I end up doing what Stacey E described. Using just my upper body/arms to swing, usually leads to a pull. I also tend to pull wedges. I believe it is b/c I'm not doing a full swing which leads me to just using my upper body. Use those hips to control the swing.

[ks8829]

I sometimes have the same problem of pulling my shots and sometime with a draw or even a hook.

my right hand takes over and pulls on the down swing. I try to weaken my grip as much as I can and also changed my left hand grip so that the club is secured by the pad closer to the pinky and I have found that my left hand becomes more dominate along with a weaker right hand helps too neutralize the pulls. I also have shorten my backswing by dropping my back shoulder which will automatically shorter your backswing. This has given my better control and consistent solid contact with the ball.

[jambalaya]

For me it means I am lunging at the ball and pulling the club lower around my body lower and under the plane rather than the club staying on plane after impact.

[RC]

I'm a ground up guy... for me, pulls come from the hips losing drive and the upper body over swinging rather than responding to the core turning strongly through impact pulling the arms around. I feel it happening as a strong over swing but a weak or dying hip clearing or sliding move -- almost always when getting in a hurry trying to add something extra. When the hips or core loses out to the upper body, the club reroutes left sooner, and the club face closes sooner, so not only is it a pull, it is a pull that keeps hooking. For my swing this is a sure sign on the downswing of losing the big muscles of the core body turn to the out-of-control "early and over the top" upper body dominated swing.

Strong "ground up" swings have two telling bad swing messages. The pull hook described above is one, and the other is the high push right from "getting the club trapped behind you." I think both originate in over-swings when tempo or timing get over-come by the urgency to hit it harder than normal. On good days, you can sometimes get away with over swings if you have a great take away, and stay on plane, but as the legs get tired and the sharpness fades, over-swings bring more risk (unless you are pumped sky high with adrenaline and super confident -- and even then disaster can get you.)

[jambalaya]

Good insight.^^^^

[ks8829]

Woody Austin was on the golf channel last night and he did a great job explaining the pull. He said that you are starting your swing with the arms and comming across the body. you need to start with the hips and your arms will follow into the slot.

[wachesawgolfer]

Woody Austin was on the golf channel last night and he did a great job explaining the pull. He said that you are starting your swing with the arms and comming across the body. you need to start with the hips and your arms will follow into the slot.

Yep, that's it, but its more an arms out move at the top rather than the correct arms down move from the top. The pull swing path is out to in. To me its all the result of quickness and the hit impulse of which I am all too familiar.

[cigarnut81]

You could try a higher swingweight in your golf clubs or maybe a higher total weight. That helps to keep the swing path inside the target line.

[RC]

Since pulling the ball left has always been the mistake that can sneak into my swing when under pressure, suffer me the time to share something I've used over the years as an occasionally useful pallitive, something that might just help some of you -- I hope.

This tip is not the most important thing. First and foremost is the previous post about the hips needing to drive the swing from the ground up so the arms and upper body do not "out-run" your base and core body -- that one has been covered pretty well already.

The additional thing to share is a bit more difficult to describe and execute, but it will help more advanced players who otherwise have good swings. Think first about the swing as coming from slightly inside the line to square to going left -- the modern rotational swing most use today. If you get a little out of sync, the "go left" motion can cause an early release or handsy move that is not far from being good, it just happens too quickly. So, to regain feel try this little drill: right at impact think of letting your left elbow begin to fold and move left across the front of your body. I know this sounds weird. Some would call it a chicken wing finish, but I am not talking about the elbow going upward to a high finish but rather to allow it to follow your body around below your left shoulder, still leading the arms -- some times called a hold off move. What this does is force you to come at the ball in a good postion and allow the left arm to follow around your body with the left elbow leading ahead of the left hand (which will get rid of the early flipping move of your hands.) Go hit some shots on the range thinking of the left elbow acting like a piston driving left as if following your belt around your body. Amazingly, this hits really straight shots. Again, I hesitate to recommend this to a beginner or someone who may have major swing flaws, but it you have a decent swing and are losing turning drive or flipping through the ball, this little drill will help you get some very solid and straight shots.

I use this swing a lot in pressure situations where a pull would be a really bad thing. It helps tone down the swing and hold off the pull. Try it and let us know how it works. (Again... this is not a swing tip for everyone so do not do it if you don't feel a good result after two or three tries.) For a mental image of this kind of swing think about Justin Lenoard or Tiger when he hits a stinger hold off that cannot go left.

p.s. remember, the left elbow does not come out high, it folds and comes across and around your body.

[Kltdefer]

I'm a ground up guy... for me, pulls come from the hips losing drive and the upper body over swinging rather than responding to the core turning strongly through impact pulling the arms around. I feel it happening as a strong over swing but a weak or dying hip clearing or sliding move -- almost always when getting in a hurry trying to add something extra. When the hips or core loses out to the upper body, the club reroutes left sooner, and the club face closes sooner, so not only is it a pull, it is a pull that keeps hooking. ....parts clipped out....

I probably have this backwards but I feel that when I "pull" the ball [which travels straight but left of the target] it my hips/lower body that is ahead of my arms. It happens when my weight transfer begins (more than normal) before the downward swing.

[ks8829]

not turning my hips causes my pulls hooks.

[RC]

Eric,

I suspect it is your weight transfer, but one in which your torso slides forward toward the target rather than turning ahead of the shoulders and arms. It is almost impossible to hit it left if the hips turn through ahead of the arms. When you slide then turn, the club easily reroutes to the left because the shoulders are already coming hard and turning earlier than your base. This is a hard thing to describe and teach. Try hitting an 8 iron off a tee only maybe 80 yards, using only a hip rotation, with no slide at all. Just swing down following the hips... at first you will push it or slice it but soon you will get the club going inside to square and the ball will go straight.

Not everyone can or does this... but if you get the body swing going, it is a very natural and powerful swing and your hands feel like they are near the right pocket at impact (they aren't, but it feels that way at first.) I don't want to mess you up but try it.