Hitting the center of the face

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

So the swing motion is talked about a lot. A lot.

What I don't hear a lot of talk about is the precise location the club arrives at for impact. How to hit the sweet spot.

I notice that with my irons and hybrids, I hit near the heel of the club all the time. I shank more than the next player of my ability level, and otherwise I'm still to the heel side of the sweet spot.

How do you adjust this? Moving further from the ball makes me reach out more for it, leading to a poorly-balanced swing, and the shanks remain. Moving closer to the ball makes me feel crowded, makes me slice, and the shanks still remain. Recently I think I've found out that more spine tilt seems to help; bending forward further from the waist. The shanks seem greatly reduced, but I still tend to hit more toward the heel.

What do I need to do to move the club 1/4" or 3/8" closer to me at the point of impact? What would I need to do if I had the opposite problem (consistently hitting the toe)?

-Andrew

[stacks04]

This may sound nutty, but I read it and it hear and it worked for me with hitting down on a ball to get some backspin. For me I had to have the ball back in my stance and needed to take address of the ball focusing my eyes on an imaginary ball 6 or so inches in front of the actual ball unconsciously making me hit down on the ball. Maybe adjusting your focus moving the image of the ball closer to your body causing you to unconsciously move your swing in. Just a thought.

[senorchipotle]

how to hit the center of the clubface, you ask? simple... practice, practice, practice, practice. then more practice.

it's not a matter of how far/close you stand from the ball, it's about your arms coming down to impact. if your arms/downswing plane are too far ''inside'' the ball, you will push slice, hit off the toe, etc. if your arms/downswing plane are too far ''outside'' the ball, you will hook, shank, hit off the heel, etc. the trick is to find a downswing where you hit the ball straight lined up square to the target. then use your set up and body movement to hit a draw/fade.

[saevel25]

The issue is probably not standing to close to the ball or to far away from the ball. The issue is that your not maintain your tush line, ie your butt is getting closer to the ball in the downswing, this is pushing your swing outward and bringing the hozel into play. Or you have a huge slice and you open the clubface to much at some points and its causing the hozel rockets..

Post a video ;)

[$2 Nassau]

I think the swing motion is talked about a lot because if you can master that, and everything that goes along with it- that will translate into more strikes on the center of the club.

You can hit the center of the club and still produce a very poor shot. open face, closed face, over the top swing etc. etc. so I think it's a total package of the correct swing motion that we are all chasing.

[$2 Nassau]

Regarding the shanks, where's your weight when you hit the ball? Try to pay atention to that next time. I tend to lean towards the ball slightly on the downswing which can make me hit the ball towards the heel. No matter how I set up, if my weight gets towards my toes too much it wil happen.

Next time just try to set up evenly balanced, not on the toes or heels, and concentrate on keeping it there into impact.

It could also be swing path: an over the top swing (something else I've have a lot of experience with- LOL).

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

Regarding the shanks, where's your weight when you hit the ball? Try to pay atention to that next time. I tend to lean towards the ball slightly on the downswing which can make me hit the ball towards the heel. No matter how I set up, if my weight gets towards my toes too much it wil happen.

My swing isn't over the top, so we can rule that one out.

As far as the weight between the toes and heels at impact, I can't rule that out. Impact happens fast, and it's hard for me to tell where the weight is, let alone consciously control it. Any tips on drills that will check whether I'm doing this well, or train me to stay centered if I'm not? -Andrew

[nevets88]

I shank the ball by moving my upper body closer to the ball on the backswing or coming through the ball or both. Also, I kick my rear knee towards the ball. To compound that, I lock my wrists in an attempt to "create" lag.

And about clubface contact, I'm kind of anal about it, I always look for a mark or use spray or impact tape, whatever. I usually look around the range and notice that not a whole lot of people look at their clubface after the swing. Lots of people admiring the ball flight, but not a whole lot of contemplation going on.

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

The issue is probably not standing to close to the ball or to far away from the ball. The issue is that your not maintain your tush line, ie your butt is getting closer to the ball in the downswing, this is pushing your swing outward and bringing the hozel into play. Or you have a huge slice and you open the clubface to much at some points and its causing the hozel rockets..

It's not the slice. It seems like it's very likely that it's my butt, but what causes that problem? I'm not consciously pushing my hips in toward the ball. How can I train myself to avoid that kind of move?

I'd post a video if I could. All the video that's been taken of my swing is somewhere on my pro's laptop; so I've seen it, but I can't post it. And I feel weird about asking him for the videos so I can ask the entire internet for swing tips that may or may not conflict with what he's trying to teach me. Putting myself in his shoes, I'm guessing I wouldn't think that was a good idea. -Andrew

[nevets88]

It's not the slice. It seems like it's very likely that it's my butt, but what causes that problem? I'm not consciously pushing my hips in toward the ball. How can I train myself to avoid that kind of move?

Get into your regular stance with your back to a wall, with some space between you and the wall. When you make your turn back, make sure the right butt cheek (I'm sorry, I can't think of a less vulgar term) hits the wall.