S&T question regarding impact

[watty]

So I started S&T; a while back, and it went well for a while, and then a couple weeks ago something happened, and now I literally can't hit the ball. And I know sort of what's wrong, but I can't fix it. I've tried and tried. I have literally hit thousands of balls in the last 3 weeks, and I bet I've shanked 90% of them.

So here's my issue. I don't know if I have over-taught my brain the importance of moving my hips forward and having a forward shaft lean, but long story short, I can not square the club face through impact. My shots are low dribblers that start right and slice right. I'm so desperate not to flip at the ball with my wrists that I find myself keeping my hands well forward at impact, but when I do that, my club is just staying wide open all the way through.

Is the fix just as simple as doing a conscious rotation of my left forearm through the hitting zone?

[Kieran123]

Are you shanking it? ( hitting off the hozzle )

If you think you are, place the ball between two tees ( with enough room to hit the ball ) and try and not hit either tee.

If you don't think it's the shanks, work on half shots ( small pitches ), then once you get better contact go to 3/4, then full.

You can also strengthen your grip by rotating your left hand a little more

[watty]

Honestly it's gotten so bad lately I'm not even sure what's happening. Another odd thing is that literally every day, I go out and my first 4 or 5 shots are good, and then comes the first bad one, and from there, it's gone and I don't hit another good shot the entire day. 3 or 4 buckets worth sometimes.

[watty]

  Kieran123 said:

Originally Posted by Kieran123

Are you shanking it? ( hitting off the hozzle )

If you think you are, place the ball between two tees ( with enough room to hit the ball ) and try and not hit either tee.

If you don't think it's the shanks, work on half shots ( small pitches ), then once you get better contact go to 3/4, then full.

You can also strengthen your grip by rotating your left hand a little more

I've tried that. I've tried just doing punch shots to  at least get the impact squared up, and I'll be doing ok, but then I can't make a full swing out of it. Very annoying.

[sean_miller]

  Kieran123 said:

Originally Posted by Kieran123

Are you shanking it? ( hitting off the hozzle )

If you think you are, place the ball between two tees ( with enough room to hit the ball ) and try and not hit either tee.

If you don't think it's the shanks, work on half shots ( small pitches ), then once you get better contact go to 3/4, then full.

You can also strengthen your grip by rotating your left hand a little more

When my ball fazzizzles off the hazzozzle, I know that's my swing path is too much in-to-da-out just prior to impactizzle.

[bpschmid]

First, take a deep breath and step back for a moment.  I have absolutely been in your shoes in the last six months.  I finally, just three weeks ago, got control of "it."  I practice S/T too, and what's a basic tenet?....backswing goes inside.  This, as Sean Miller points out, leads to a very in-to-out swing, in which the hosel can lead into the ball.

I solved my issue by actually looking at KJ Choi's downswing....watch how he gets that right shoulder moving towards the target...probably Over the Top, but for chronic shankers/in-to-out swingers, its a good visual.  Just thinking.."turn right shoulder toward target" on downswing cured my shanks...Certainly, this advice is NOT for everyone, but it worked for me.  Good Luck!

[boogielicious]

Watty,

I had this issue late last year.  For S&T; your hands do need to come back deep, but also up.  I was coming back to low making the swing more in-out as the other posters have mentioned.  Best thing is to regroup and start the process over again at a range session as the authors state in the book.

10 shots with weight left.

10 with weight left and shoulder down (this may be where you are missing.  If you don't do this, the back swing will be inside and low).

10 weight left, shoulder down, hands deep.

10 weight left, shoulder down, hands deep, tuck butt.

The tuck butt part comes with the weight shift left and sliding the hips left toward the target.  The butt tuck is the power generator for the legs.  One of the players in the book referred to it as a feeling of pushing his back pocket toward the target.

I find that if I go back to the basics, I recover.  Also, on the course, don't think about your swing mechanics.  Just think about your target.

[walk18]

  watty said:

So I started S&T; a while back, and it went well for a while, and then a couple weeks ago something happened, and now I literally can't hit the ball. And I know sort of what's wrong, but I can't fix it. I've tried and tried. I have literally hit thousands of balls in the last 3 weeks, and I bet I've shanked 90% of them.

So here's my issue. I don't know if I have over-taught my brain the importance of moving my hips forward and having a forward shaft lean, but long story short, I can not square the club face through impact. My shots are low dribblers that start right and slice right. I'm so desperate not to flip at the ball with my wrists that I find myself keeping my hands well forward at impact, but when I do that, my club is just staying wide open all the way through.

Is the fix just as simple as doing a conscious rotation of my left forearm through the hitting zone?

it could be as simple as improving your posture, as it was for me. I was setting up with too much knee flex and my hands were too close to me so they had nowhere to go but out (see shank). Let the arms hang straight down and make a tension free swing. It worked for me.

[watty]

Thanks for the responses. Feel free to keep them coming. :)

[johnthejoiner]

A guaranteed fix or your money back.
Whatever % you normally swing at on a full shot, just knock it back 20%, it will feel like its slow motion but you will be able to control every aspect of your mechanics mainly your posture and getting your club head back to the ball square and on the correct path