Hitting it off the toe.

[SpacklersEdge]

I have an issue with hitting the ball too close the toe.  On my irons I know this is happening based on feel (like I just hit a rock, whereas when I do sweet spot it, it's like there was no ball there at all), and by the contact marks on the club, and the loss of distance.

I have tried moving farther from the ball, but this is not the actual issue.  During a lesson, I know I am pulling in during the downing swing causing my to come across the contact area from the outside, resulting in a toe hit.

when I really try to think about swing out to a line 10* to the right of my target line, I am sometimes able to hit it correctly, but it "feels" like I am throwing the club out there, and it "feels" like I am throwing the club and it resembles the feeling of your arms being pulled out of the shoulder sockets.  This results in throwing my off balance.

does anyone have any good drills to work on to get the swing going in the correct direction on the downswing for me?  Could it be my hand are too high at the top, and I am not swinging around my body, or flat enough?  I think the root cause is coming before the start of the downswing, not the fact I pull in, the pull in to me feels like a natural reaction because my mind think if I don't do this I will hit fat or hosel it.

[TourSpoon]

Try this:

Set some balls up on tees all in a row. Take an iron and keep your arms real loose. Initiate your swing by moving your hips back and then through without too much influence from your upper body and hit some partial shots. Move through a couple and start to incorporate your upper body keeping your lower body as the swing initiator for the downswing. Work this into a full swing and keep the lower/upper connection. This will help you get the feeling that your lower body starts the downswing not your shoulders.

[senorchipotle]

get more bend from the waist so your arms aren't so close to your body.

[bunkerputt]

Where are your arms?  Are your arms closer to your body than they were at address?  Where is your shoulder line?  Is it open?  If your shoulders are open, the left arm is pulled off the target line.  If the arms are closer but the shoulders are square, the arm is pulled off the target line.  Most often, toe hits are caused by the shoulders opening up too early in the swing.  This makes them extremely open at impact and pulls the left arm drastically off the target line.  There's no simple fix for hitting it off the toe.  It could be any number of things from setup to downswing.  Get with a pro and start working on your swing faults.

[Sai-Jin]

Based on my own experience, whenever I hit the toe it's because I failed to open my hips  a little on the down swing and wung slightly out to it.

And what I used to do more often is slide my body and lift up my spine angle.

So I just try to swing as if my spine is impaled with a long stick to the ground.

[Texas solo]

I'm going through the same thing. I was just fitted for new irons and the clubs are "perfect" for me, per my PGA pro.  The lie board doesn't lie, but I get 98* toe shots, especially with the longer irons. OK, this tells me that the problem is in my swing,  This morning I tried standing closer to the ball, to where the hossel was almost lined up with the ball.  SWEET SPOT!   EVERY TIME!   Like you said, it felt so good....or should I say I felt nothing in my hands, like the ball wasn't even there. I put one of those tell tale stickers on my 4 iron and hit 5 balls. There was ONE dark spot dead center of the club face. I figure I'm swinging from the outside to inside, thus making the club too short????

So now my decision is to correct my swing or just stand closer. Yeah, I know what ya'll are going to say, but my swing is screwed up anyway due to physical injuries at a younger age that are just now starting to restrict (change) my original swing. Right leg broken in 3 places, 4 surgeries and a bum left shoulder prohibit any real rotation nowadays, so for now I'm going to try just standing closer.

If you're young and fit, I'd suggest getting help from a Pro. Otherwise, you're just going to reinforce your mistake over the years.