Someone help please

[Ron Stewart]

For the past 2 years I have been battling what I would call a push draw with my irons. The ball starts to the right side of my target line and ends up drawing (more like hooking) well left of the target. Now according to the ball flight laws, this would be from an open club face. However, I know that I make contact with a closed clubface, so wold this be from having an open club face with an outside-in swing path? This stuff is confusing to me lol.

[iacas]

Simple answer: your clubface is square to slightly open to the target, but your path is way, way too far to the right.

You should check your alignment first. A lot of golfers line up way to the right. You might have a decent swing path that's just too far to the right because your body is pointed that way.

Second paragraph is an educated guess. First paragraph is fact.

[Ron Stewart]

Originally Posted by iacas

Simple answer: your clubface is square to slightly open to the target, but your path is way, way too far to the right.

Would it be safe to say opening my stance more to the left will help promote a path more towards the target and cut down on the right to left ball flight? I sometimes feel like Im a little too closed in my stance, but even when I use alignment sticks at the range it seems like im still hitting "power" draws.

[rossvanwyk]

Hi there

I am a bit confused as to the initial reply you got to your post as it seems completely wrong to me but maybe I'm missing something. Anyhow, I will give my own thoughts on your situation.

Firstly, you say you are hooking. To hit a hook, you are hitting the ball inside to out. A fade is outside in. Period.

Closing the face can also generate a hook.

Your alignment is a whole different topic really. You make like the idea of working the ball and starting it out right to bring it back. If you want to hit straight however, you should practice getting your alignment right on the range. Set a club down on the ground that you can set your feet to or many of the other different ways of training yourself.

But back to the original statement. You say you know you are hitting in to out. Yes you are. If you are hooking this is exactly what you are doing. In my opinion, this is a better place to be than hitting out to in. However, you don't want hooks you can't control. If your backswing isn't coming inside exaggerated, then I would look at your grip. how many knuckles can you see on your left hand when you look down at your grip. if you can see 3 full knuckles, take your hand back around til you can see 2 and a half or two. You are more than likely not meeting the ball square and you're closing the face on impact.

I hope you can make sense of what I've said and that I've been able to help you somewhat.

good luck.

Ross

[Ron Stewart]

Temporarily

Quote:

You are more than likely not meeting the ball square and you're closing the face on impact.

Bingo! That's what I have been told over and over. When I take practice swings, I sometimes notice that the club is in a closed position at and through impact. This is what I need to fix. I have had a few lessons in the past and the problem is always fixed....temporarily. It always comes back the more I play and I can feel the inside out motion, I just dont know what to do to fix it

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Ron Stewart

Bingo! That's what I have been told over and over. When I take practice swings, I sometimes notice that the club is in a closed position at and through impact. This is what I need to fix. I have had a few lessons in the past and the problem is always fixed....temporarily. It always comes back the more I play and I can feel the inside out motion, I just dont know what to do to fix it

With all due respect to you and whomever told you this, they're wrong if you've been accurate with your descriptions thus far.

If the clubface is pointed left at impact, the ball will start pretty much to the left, You clearly said the ball started to the right.

[Ron Stewart]

No disrespect taken, but can you explain why a closed clubface is commonly associated with a hook or a pull? And the reason I say that I have a closed club face is that I've had video of my swing and it clearly shows a closed club face at the top of my backswing and it has been pointed out by several instructors on video. Now I guess I can't say for sure the face is still closed at impact, but I'd be willing to bet I'm not rotating it open at impact.

[westcyderydin]

push = clubface open to where you are aiming

draw = in to out path relative to the face angle.

so if you are hitting a push draw...where the ball starts to the right and then draws...then the face is slightly open to where you are aiming.

this is assuming that you are aligned square to the target.

if your alignment changes then your target line (where you are aiming) changes..and that complicates things even more.

just remember... the ball starts where the club face is pointing and curves because of the path.

So 1) understand where you are aligned to 2) identify what type of shot you are hitting.

[TourSpoon]

To confuse the issue even more...your clubface is closed compared to your swing path, but open compared to the target line.  OMG...my brain just exploded.

[Ron Stewart]

My head has exploded many times trying to figure this out! Golf is not a simple game and I appreciate everyones input on this.

[TourSpoon]

The bottom line with this is that your swing path is too inside to out compared to your target line. Given proper alignment, one thing could be that your ball position may be too far back, or you may need to feel like you are swinging more down the line. This problem is not that difficult to fix and is preferable to the opposite issue of a pull fade, but whatever you do it will feel different to what you are doing now.

[rossvanwyk]

haha it is confusing stuff indeed.

I was basically only addressing the fact that you are hitting power draws that you don't want to, and I assumed you want to hit straight. I am not referring to your alignment. I took them as two seperate problems. You say you've had many pro's tell you that you have a closed clubface on impact, and you have an in to out swing. You are not fading the ball. The reason you are hitting right of target is just an alignment issue, not an open clubface from what I can discern here.

Try the knuckles thing I spoke about. Also make sure you aren't chicken winging on your follow through. That is breaking your follow through down to the left side on impact.

I still stand by the fact that it's probably a grip issue. Left hand too far over the club to the right.