Driving Question

[edk]

When I set up I align the ball to the toe of my driver to hit it in the sweet spot? How can I correct this?

[JimmyDoesGolf]

Why does it need correcting? If it works for you, leave it the way it is.

Because you are hitting the ball off a tee, once you ground the club the ball will sit nearer the toe. If you hovered your driver off the ground, the ball would likely set up on the sweet spot.

[cigarnut81]

Don't change it. To make you feel better Sergio Garcia sets up on the heel of all his clubs because his tremendous lag brings the club closer to his body on the downswing.

[ks8829]

I do the same thing but I align the ball towards the heel of the driver to hit it solid. If you ever watch VJ Singh with his driver he does the same thing.

Why change if the result are fairways hit and solid contact.

[imtomtomim]

actually, I just figured this all out. I had the same problem. Have you ever seen all these forums on if you're a hitter or a swinger? swingers are left arm dominated and hitters are right arm dominated, put simply. While I was working on shaping my shots with more consistency, I started to notice that I was changing my swing style. I'm generally a hitter, driving the club with my right hand. What I was doing was still lining up with my right shoulder at address yet I was swinging instead of hitting (because I was working on fades) which resulted me in hitting further towards the heel. Once I got back to driving my swing with my right side, my contact was once again dead on.

The whole reasoning behind it is pretty simple. Look down at your hands when you set up. you're supposed to hang your arms from your shoulders for a comfy position right? But you're gripping a club, one hand further than the other. If you're a swinger and you're setting up dominantly with your right shoulder hang, you'll probably end up reaching for the ball a bit to get that left hand hanging at the bottom of the swing where you actually set up your right. The opposite is also true and a great example is sergio. He actually combats this a bit by setting up his shoulders a bit more open than his hips actually are ( I saw this analysis of his swing on golf.com)

This is a lot of thought but learning if you hit or swing is pretty important to getting consistency. Hope this helps a bit.

[edk]

Lets see if I catch your drift. I am right handed. I drop my right shoulder at address. If I raise my right shoulder, still keeping it lower than my left, it will change my contact point?

[J_Bone]

Don't worry about it. I have to align my clubs at the heel and don't plan on changing it. I've gotten more consistent on my drives and iron play since I started doing it.

[imtomtomim]

Lets see if I catch your drift. I am right handed. I drop my right shoulder at address. If I raise my right shoulder, still keeping it lower than my left, it will change my contact point?

well, yes, but that's not what I was implying you should focus on.

If you're lining up at the toe to hit the sweet spot, your hands are probably just a wrist width too close to your body. You should try to reach out just that inch/inch.5 further so your clubhead path intersects at the same exact spot that you were at address. Line up your club more according to your left hand hang. It will make your right hand reach just a bit further, but you're in that position anyways when you make contact right? Truthfully, if it works and you can get away with it, go right ahead, but I find that I don't have as much chance for error when I try to setup as I want to hit.

[Jenks465]

Watch Zac Johnson in his next tournament! He does exactly what you describe and he got himself a nice jacket a couple of years ago!

[edk]

It works fine, but now its in my head and makes me hesitant. Drives me nuts that I want to change it or that I think about it. Golf sucks but I love it.

[CosmosMpower]

Guess you probably have a slight out to in swing path if you line it up on the toe and hit the sweet spot.

[CalBoomer]

Don't change what you are doing, especially if your swing otherwise is fine. All golfers should use head tape to document where on the clubhead they are hitting the ball and adjust the set-up so that they are hitting on the sweetspot.

[verse214]

Because you are hitting the ball off a tee, once you ground the club the ball will sit nearer the toe. If you hovered your driver off the ground, the ball would likely set up on the sweet spot.

'Nuff said... end of discussion