Coming over the top: Is this good advice from my Golf Professional? Help!!

[Lizzyboy]

Greetings,

I am a high handicapper who decided to take lessons.

At my first lesson so far, my instructor said I come over the top and I need to work on my plane.

He said at impact "pretend" like you are hitting the ball to the "second baseman" and then turn your hands

over as if you are bring it back to "center field".

The times I did this "properly", the ball did go further and I make solid contact.

The problem:

When I think about 2nd base and turning over my hands, I would hit many balls to the right.

I feel uncomfortable thinking this way. It seems unnatural.

At the range, I almost always hit the ball straight (except my driver)

with my "normal" swing, even if I do not hit it solid or far.

I think that is very good, right?

My main concern is that if I start thinking about turning over my hands etc, I will

lose my ability to hit the ball straight and then I will have a bigger problem.

Any thoughts how I should be looking at this?

Thanks

[GolfBear]

I think you need to find a new instructor.

[arogolf]

Whose your instructor, yogi bera?

[LeftyTrevor]

That's actually a good swing thought. What he is trying to get you to do is approach the ball from an in to out swing and release the club through impact. A drill I use is to put a tee 3" in front and outside the ball and make your swing trying to hit that tee and have your left palm facing up. Most instructors will tell you the same thing and just use different words. As far as your irons going straight you may have a slightly more In to out swing with the shorter clubs.

[senorchipotle]

take a gander at the jim mclean video i posted in this section yesterday. and get a refund from that yahoo.

[bkoguy07]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k0rfuNyXBM&feature;=relmfu

This video helped me get an inside out swing.  Just the little thing he drew on the ground really helped my swing.  Kind of like jim furyk but once you get that feeling of connectedness and swinging inside out and not from over the top you should be able to begin bringing the club back onplane instead of loopy

[uttexas]

actively rotating or releasing your hands going into impact is never a good idea. If you have swung the club correctly, the club will "release" with a full extension of the arms past impact. To approach the ball from the inside--this begins with the first parts of the takeaway to the top of the backswing and into the forward swing. You want deep hands in the backswing with good hip turn while keeping the arms connected to each other, maintain arm connection into the forward swing while pushing forward with the hips and extending your legs, arms and spine going into impact. There are no short cuts to approaching the ball repeatedly from the inside.

[Lizzyboy]

Thanks for your input and the video.

I will concentrate on dropping the club.

It always felt  "better" and proper when I occasionally would have my right arm close to my body on the downswing.

So is there some validity to his idea,(maybe not the best) or is it a crazy instructor?

He has credentials and a good business.

Uttexas: What are "deep hands"?

I've noticed on my swing video , at the top of my swing, my club is  much more forward (steeper) than the plane line.

How do I correct that?

[Ctp722]

Personally, I like the swing thought. It took me a long time to take an inside path at the ball, which is exactly what you want to do for a better plane.

I think he is just trying to keep his advice simple which can be good. Hands, hips, ball placement, spine angle, weight transfer, shoulder plane, club plan posture....the list goes on.   For a high 'capper this can be way too much to think about and really overwhelming

Keep us posted on your progress.

[uttexas]

[URL=http://thesandtrap.com/forum/thread/30325/deep-hands-explained]deep hands explained[/URL]

[GolfBear]

Here's the problem I have with that type of instruction: while it may work it take an inordinate amount of timing.    The golf swing has enough things that can go wrong and adding additional timing to the mix only complicates it further.

[eddieooo]

Here is a guy you need to get with, Over the Top Golf in Fort Pierce, FL. If you swing outside-in there's nobody else.

Good luck.