Too Hard swing

[saevel25]

I am not sure if the title accuretly describes my swing, but i feel like i am just trying to bash the ball. I mean its not out of balance, its just not smooth. If sam snead was smooth, mine is sharp. Its a very sharp swing. I am doing well with shorter irons, but my driver is ether Push, Push Fade, or hook, same with the longer irons, 3,4,5,6 irons. 7 iron and below i am pretty solid, mostly push draw.

But when i get to the top of my swing i feel like i am just throwing the club at the ball. I was swinging my 3-iron, and the club head just goes, THUNK into the ground as i collide with the ball, i can feel the hard hit in my hands. It doesn't slide through the ground like the shorter irons. I hate it, it produces a ballooning shot and a weak cut shot.

Anyway to stop the sharp swing and get a more smooth one, were the club cuts through the ground better. I had one shot were it was a smooth 3-iron, cut through the fairway beautifully, and flushed it with a pretty push draw. I can't seem to find that feeling. Anybody feel this is an issue and resolved it? Or is this a swing problem?

[Tomboys]

You've been a member here long enough to know--no video, it's a guessing game.

Nonetheless, I will throw my $0.02 cents in.  IMO, it's a swing problem that's created by a lack of sufficient weight shift to the front foot on the downswing prior to impact.  You may feel that you're getting enough weight onto your front foot.  But, the difficulties you're having (to me at least) would seem to suggest otherwise.  Suffice to say, we all know that if you fail to do this (get enough weight to your front foot), the bottom of your swing arc won't end up where you need it to be in order to hit the ball well.  As such, THUNK, the clubhead comes crashing down behind the ball (on the long irons) which is what is exactly happening to you.

Also, like I said earlier, you've been on here long enough to know that on shorter irons, you can still hit pretty good shots with only 70 or 80% of your weight on the front foot.  However, with the longer the clubs, especially the driver, you need to have 90%.

The only reason why I say this is, well, I remember Iacas posting about this very thing--(as a sidebar, I apologize in advance Erik if I got the percentages wrong--I'm tired and I'm too lazy to search for your post).  Also, I'm speaking from my own experiences.  For instance, I've been playing some of the best golf in my entire friggin' life for the past few months.  So much so that I've finally broke into the single-digit handicap realm.  I didn't do it because I've become some short-game guru or some magician with the putter.  No, I did it because I'm finally getting that stupid divot in front of the ball consistently.  And, the reason why it's there (the divot)--all else being equal, is because I'm getting the vast majority of the weight from my fat a$$ to my front foot before I make contact with the ball.

Look, you're a 10 'capper; you have a decent/good swing already.  You know how to putt, chip, pitch, blah, blah, blah.  Work on getting more weight to that front foot before you make contact with the ball with your driver/long irons.  Go to the range and exaggerate that hip slide if you have to or slow down your swing to 50% of normal speed for the upper body to give the hips more time to slide further forward.  Whatever works for you.

That's what I did (the latter suggestion) when I was snap-hooking my driver or pushing it 25 yards to the right a few months ago.  I kept thinking, "I'm sliding my hips, I'm sliding my hips, but why is my driver so crappy?"  I went to the range and spent a whopping 15 minutes swinging (what felt like) 70% speed with my driver.  However, with each ball, I kept telling myself to slide the hips more and more.  Note: slide the hips, don't thrust them.  You're hitting a golf ball, not making a porno.  But, I digress.  Next thing I know, I'm hitting my driver either straight (or what looks straight to me) or with a very soft push draw.  Funny thing was; I was hitting it as far or even further than my 90/100% swings.

At any rate, hope this helps.

[McKee]

Since you say you have a sharp swing that thunks I would recommend trying the slowmo drill.  It is a very relaxing drill especially since you don't expect to hit the ball well.  Take any club, or a long iron if you are feeling brave, and make a full swing - but only try to hit the ball about half the distance it should normally go.  All the way back, all the way through into a full finish. The key is to have a very uniform tempo, just like a regular swing but in slow motion. No sudden moves and not much acceleration. Make sure to stay relaxed, no tension, and let your arms just hang with gentle grip pressure. This drill is hard at first but it gets easier and will show you some of the tendencies you have during the swing - things that occur during the blur (weight, release, transition, etc). It will also help smooth you out, especially in the transition area.

I always had a phobia of being conscious during my swing. Those down swing thoughts caused me to have sudden movements and mini spasms that led to some awful golf. The slowmo drill was therapy for me.  The more time I took during the slowmo drill the more I got over the panic, the more I learned about my swing flaws, and the better my tempo became.

[saevel25]

Maybe i don't get the feeling of sliding the hips.

I get what your saying, I know i can swing sliding the hips. I have two shots this year, were the swing felt effortless, both were great push draws, suprisenly, one was with my 3-iron and the other my driver. So its there, i just can't mimic that feeling. If i can just get it to happen more often i can figure out the feeling down. But i've been pounding golf balls to no avail.

Oh well, i will trug along. Thanks for the tips, i will give them a try.