Distance to ball at address vs distance to ball at impact

[PrisonShank]

I generally take a "normal" alignment, club face centered behind the ball and square to target, but after backswing and downswing into impact, I feel like my arms extend well outside the ball.  I've had a lot of issues with recently with hozzle rockets.

Is this a swing path issue?  Not maintaining spine angle?

It seems simple enough to line up further from the ball, but when I try that I feel way too hunched over, reaching for the ball at address.

Any ideas on the root of this issue would be appreciated.

[Kieran123]

Originally Posted by PrisonShank

I generally take a "normal" alignment, club face centered behind the ball and square to target, but after backswing and downswing into impact, I feel like my arms extend well outside the ball.  I've had a lot of issues with recently with hozzle rockets.

Is this a swing path issue?  Not maintaining spine angle?

It seems simple enough to line up further from the ball, but when I try that I feel way too hunched over, reaching for the ball at address.

Any ideas on the root of this issue would be appreciated.

Are you keeping your right elbow connected to your body in the downswing?

A lot of people fling their arms way out at the ball ( I used to and still do sometimes when I forget )

[The Recreational Golfer]

Take a few swings without a ball in front of you, holding an iron. Notice where the top of the iron flashes across the ground in front of you on the downswing. Do this three or four times, and you should get the flashing at the same place. That's where the ball goes.

[B-Con]

When your distance to the ball before impact is the same as your distance to the ball after impact, it's time to take up bowling. Wait, you said "[b]at[/b]" -- never mind, my bad. :-D Kind of lame, but I simply could not resist. [edit] For some real contribution: [quote name="Kieran123" url="/forum/thread/47968/distance-to-ball-at-address-vs-distance-to-ball-at-impact#post_619005"]

Are you keeping your right elbow connected to your body in the downswing?

A lot of people fling their arms way out at the ball ( I used to and still do sometimes when I forget )

[/quote] This. I have had a similar problem for a long time and as a result kept inching the ball farther and farther away from me in my stance to get into a comfortable position. Video of my swing revealed that my right arm was very disconnected on the latter half of the downswing. (It kind of started correctly, but then froze before my elbow got to my body as if I was trying to keep my arm back and muscle the ball from behind -- which is probably what I was doing.) Once I changedto pulling my right arm in, my clubhead path was immediately moved in closer to my body by a full inch, maybe inch and a half. A disconnected right arm usually leads to throwing the club over the plane, even if you start on a relatively good plane during your downswing. You may not be cutting across the ball and slicing, but you push the clubhead above plane and thus above ground that is farther from your body. Once I got that power drain out of the way (the right arm problem), I was hitting a little farther as well. I probably gained 5-8% distance on my short irons. Still fighting it, though, it's hard to break.

[PrisonShank]

I think maybe I fixed this by trying to keep my left arm close to my body, connected with my chest.  Doing that seems to make this go away and I don't even think about my right elbow or hands.

I'm playing heavier clubs than before, and I think the extra weight increases the centrifugal force on the club head and causes my impact position to widen when I swing with too flat of a plane and/or disconnected arms.