Hands too close to body causing chunks?

[westcyderydin]

my iron game has dropped off the table recently, im not controlling my distance like i usually do and i am coming up short quite a bit, especially with my wedges.

i have been making horrible contact...i will randomly chunck the ball much more than i normally do, my trajectory is very inconsistent, and my confidence in my ball striking is almost not even there anymore...

i have noticed that my hands have moved very close to my body, which is something that was a problem with my swing a few years ago and seems to want to creep back up. could that be what is causing this horrible iron play?

[out_in_30]

hmm.. i actually had this similar problem yesterday on the course.. i usually am used to hitting the vast majority of my iron shots flush.. so when i started to hit 4 inches behind the ball on the front 9 yesterday (happened about 5 times in a row). i was caught off guard and was stumped as to what had happened; almost was in a state of shock. then i started to think about tempo and sticking to fundamentals.. i realized that i was taking the club back to the inside of my foot line which causes me to get stuck and from there nothing good can happen. so i just started to think about taking the club back smoothly and making sure i had fundamental club positions throughout the swing.. in this instance it was making sure the club stayed along my foot line during take away and not creeping inside it.

so.. since you just described something that is very similar to what i was going through yesterday. i would recommend checking your club position. and to make sure the club is not crossing the line of your feet but staying parallel to it. as for your hands being close to your body.. i dont think that would be the root cause of you chunking it. another cause of chunks is not clearing your hips. basically just check your club positions and focus on tempo and having smooth timing. dont panic.. swing kinks happen all the time and work themselves out.. just like kinks in the neck.. good luck. hope i helped.

[westcyderydin]

thanks a lot... clarify not letting the club cross the line of your feet.. do you mean not to take the club back to far to the inside? i can identify with a lot of what you say tho, i really tend to let my hips sway forward every once in a while instead of turning, since that is also an old swing fault.. kind of related to the hands too close to the body. and actually that caused me to get very stuck as well.. i have also have fought a flat swing path due to taking the club back very inside. kinda funny.

[out_in_30]

yes. what i meant by not letting the club cross your foot line is simply not letting it sneak inside. fundamentally, you want the club parallel to your foot line on the way back. once its parallel to the line of the feet, its up from there, as opposed to around. just get a mirror and practice it.. thats what i do. i mean yesterday i was chunking irons so bad on the front 9 i wound up with +3.. made that simple adjustment on the 12th tee and shot -2 on the back. saved the round somewhat although i three jacked three times coming in.. its always something. my point is.. everyones game is always close to being on the money no matter how bad the shots are at one time.. its always minor tweaks that get you back on line

[westcyderydin]

i agree, thanks

[soloredd]

While I'm not on the level that you guys are, I do know my swing and have paid attention enough while improving my swing to know a lot of the time how to correct certain issues. What you are describing is exactly what happened to me Monday - and it used to be my biggest swing fault. Taking the club inside the line (down the target line) is murder for me. It leads to a bunch of hooks with my irons and straight pushes with my driver. For whatever reason I started doing it Monday and just had a horrible round. I compounded the issue by being to quick with my tempo. I'm going out this afternoon again and hopefully I've rectified it. Good luck man, I'm sure you will find your groove again quickly.

[DavidFehertysBike]

I agree with out in 30 as well.

[Scott_K]

My iron game, coupled with my tempo is the strongest part of my game and usually the most reliable. When I start catching irons heavy, it's usually my distance to the ball at address. It can be the distance from my hands to my body and/or how my posture and weight is setup. I can be standing just a fraction closer than I normally do and I'll catch it heavy. These are usually momements when I find myself saying "I should step away from this one", but I don't, put a poor swing on the ball and end up 10-20 yards short. Maybe something else to take a look at.

[westcyderydin]

ya, taking the club too far to the inside is very bad. it is the easiest swing fault for me to notice on the course because the ball will head toward the target and then hook sharply about 30 yards... i also had a shanking episode when i was stuck doing this for a 2 or 3 day stretch.. it was worth it tho because now i can read it.

[westcyderydin]

alright, i just got back from the range... i moved my hands out a little, pretty much so they hang straight down, and i hit maybe 20 out of about 25 really good shots...nice high trajectory like i had before and right at the target. then i started hitting it pretty bad. my swing plane started getting really low and i remember having that problem before when my hands were out like this. my swing plane gets low and i really have problems fixing it...feels almost impossible. but when my hands are close to my body i dont have to worry about plane at all...i havent had to for a long time now. then only thing is i come down much steeper like this.

first of all does it really matter... i have some issues either way, but i can also hit the ball better either way.