I am pulling every iron/wedge shot

[SQ Bimmer]

I do not think it is because of my regular flex GI irons, because I am pulling my Vokey wedge as well and that is certainly not a regular flex club nor is it offset like my irons are. I do not think it is my alignment, because I am aligning my feet, hips, and shoulders all parallel and perpendicular to my club.

Someone commented in a thread where I posted a video of my swing that I am swinging inside-inside. Whenever I force myself to swing inside-outside, I get mixed results. I either get a very slight draw that goes straight and looks beautiful, or I get a pretty nasty hook that goes 1/2 to 3/4 the distance and about 5-10 yards left of my target depending how long the stick is that I am holding at the time.

It is getting pretty frustrating and I am wondering if I am still compensating for my inside-inside swing with my hands while taking an inside-outside swing and that is causing my hook. Does that even make sense to you guys?

I think maybe I just need to practice more with a 7 o'clock to 1 o'clock swing until I get it right. I am not getting these results with my woods, and I am slicing my driver... Thanks for any input you guys can give me.

[James_Black]

Get a lesson?
Something else must be wrong.
Might as well get a lesson from a pro and sort out your problems.

[ks8829]

1) try dipping your rear shoulder to keep you behind the ball
2) try keeping your hands farther away from your body.
3) take the club back on a straight line opposite the target line instead of inside
4) when you extend both your arms at the impact area follow through with the arms going straight up instead of to your left.

[SQ Bimmer]

...

Bingo. This fixed it. Putting arms outside/up fixed the pulling. Went to the range tonight and took 3 of my "normal swings" with my new stance and posture, pulled them. Then I FORCED myself to swing inside-out and put my arms up/away and the ball went straight then HOOKED big time. Now my "normal swing" is a hook, no longer slicing irons at all. I can control the hook by not exagerating the inside-outside swing so much and put a nice draw on the ball. I am very happy that I have just switched from slicing to hooking, because now I know that if I practice this I can start to understand how to send the ball either direction. Just for fun, I held my lag and gave the ball a really hard swing and got the ball to fade on demand rather than on accident, with a slight inside-outside swing path. All of this with my GI irons. So yea, very happy that my muscles know what they need to do to put the ball either direction. However finding the right balance to get the ball to go straight/slight draw is going to take some practice, which I am more than willing to put the time into. I only hit 50 balls, so I have about 500 more balls to go before I am going to re-evaluate all of this. Also have a friend with a high speed camera that I am going to hit up so I can get some super slow motion video. Slight distance loss, maybe 5%, but given that I have gained 10-15% with my new stance and posture I am OK with losing a few yards and knowing I can control the ball. Ball striking is getting more and more consistent every time I go to the range with my new stance and posture. Only shanked maybe 2 balls out of 50, 2 were worm burners, the rest got up into the air no problem. Out of 50 balls, this is a vast improvement for me. I have never been able to think back and count on one hand how many shots I messed up at the range before.

[GamerJG]

1) try dipping your rear shoulder to keep you behind the ball

Fantastic tips ks! i also have the inside-out slight draw and i have the same tendencies as SQ bimmer. i hit a nice, slight draw consistently but sometimes the ugly, over-the-top hook comes in out of nowhere. this should fix it, thanks.

[SQ Bimmer]

Now the ball flight with my irons starts out nice and straight, but every shot has about a 3-7 yard draw... I have made a lot of improvements to my swing, I am starting to wonder if it's possible my shafts are too soft for my swing now... I don't get the draw with my vokey wedge, just a pull if I don't follow through correctly.

[WUTiger]

SQB,

Sometimes, grip can contribute to draw/hook.

Do do you have a strong grip with your right hand? IF so, try shifting the R-hand grip to more neutral position.

If you already have neutral grip, then it's something else.

[Danattherock]

Before you start reworking your golf swing, get a pro club fitter to have you hit the wedges off an impact board and ensure the lie angle is correct for your swing. This is the simplest of all solutions and could explain your shot tendencies.

[SQ Bimmer]

SQB,

My grip is neutral. At address, left hand faces target, right hand is 180* opposite. Left thumb is in the lifeline of my right palm.

At the range tonight I messed around with grip pressure between my hands, and I found that the best/straightest pressure was equally light with both hands, just enough pressure not to lose the club. I think I need to re-read Hogan's book on grip and see what he mentions about this, but I wonder if this is my problem, being a little tighter with one hand or the other. Got a little more distance doing this too and swing felt a lot more natural, so I wonder if my grip pressure is the culprit. Not sure what kind of consistency I am going to get out of this, before I hit the range again I will re-read the grip chapter and try to just do it right the whole time. On a side note, I hit a bunch of crisp 4 iron shots, and added a 3H to the bag and am hitting that very well.

Before you start reworking your golf swing, get a pro club fitter to have you hit the wedges off an impact board and ensure the lie angle is correct for your swing. This is the simplest of all solutions and could explain your shot tendencies.

Last time I hit a lie board it said 2 degrees flat, but the salesman told me I was crouching over the ball too much and that's why I was coming up flat. The first set of clubs that I gamed were Ping i3 blades 2* flat, so I think I developed my swing with this lie angle in front of me...

I later found out that the salesman was right, and I was squatting too much, bending forward too much, and putting my head down too much. I have since picked up a proper posture and I feel that if I were to hit a lie board again I would be right dab in the middle, no need for +/- lie adjustment. I am 5'10.5" with a 33" wrist to floor measurement. My current irons are standard lie angle. I have to consciously assume this posture, as the posture is not second nature for me yet, so I wonder if when I am pulling my shots, it's because I'm getting too low and the heel of my club is dragging, closing the face too early. I am planning to take some HD video of my swing this weekend. I will say out loud after each swing what the ball did (left/right, high/low, etc). Thanks for the input guys.

[Danattherock]

Last time I hit a lie board it said 2 degrees flat, but the salesman told me I was crouching over the ball too much.

Do be aware the average salesman is not qualified know better him/her self. If you are so desperate as to listen to a "salesman", you would be better off asking strangers for info online. Ha ha.. Seriously, get professionally fitted, most salesman know jack about proper club fit.