Flight Path Issue.

[Mr Fresh]

Whats going on. New to the forum so i appreciate any insight provided. I recently started golfing about a year ago, and have been on a clinically insane fix since than. Believe it or not i have gone from shooting and easy 120+ to now 90,91. Recently with the help of a few tips and some new sticks i have been able to shoot 84, and most recently an 81. While i believe im capable of that kind of play i am not going to sit here and say i am a 10 HC. However, i am becommoing fairly good at striking the ball. I have recently been hitting my irons solid but more often than not my shots will vere to the right. My flight is very high and i hit the ball pretty long. Every shot begins on path and looks amazing until it takes its infamous path to the right. Any ideas on why this is happening? I figure it has something to do with my release but any insight will be helpful.

Thank a lot

[saevel25]

One, you could be miss aligning were you are hitting a push fade

two, you have an over the top swing (outside in), and the face is square to your target line, but open to your swing path.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Sounds to me like your club face is perfectly aligned to the target at impact but your swing path is a little too out-to-in.

The best thing to do is to try and get a video of your swing from a down the line and face on view (actually hitting a ball that ends up with the curve described) and post it for people to take a look at. Could be that you're not pushing your hips forward enough, could be that you have too much arm swing and not enough body, could be that you're rotating too much and not sliding enough, could be a few different things.

[mdl]

Yeah, you need to upload video.  Just to prove the point, I had a day recently where my driver was like that all day.  Swing felt good, good contact, ball started piercing and at the target, then took a late, hard turn right.  On hole 14 or 15 my playing partner (long time golf buddy) pointed out that I was setting up with my feet aimed right.  I was compensating by coming across to get my club face pointed at the target, but was overdoing the coming across and hitting the fade/slice starting at my target.  I fixed my alignment and hit solid drives the last couple holes.

To figure out exactly why you're slicing your irons you'll need a video.

[Mr Fresh]

Appreciate the response. I will  look into coming over the top or outside in. I dont usually have anyone with me at the range and dont have a tri pod but if I cant figure this out i will look into putting a video up. Seems like it may be some alignment issues because i do know that i sometimes get a little awkward when standing over the ball, also something i need to fix. Being comfortable over the ball seems to be a big plus for me.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Originally Posted by Mr Fresh

Appreciate the response. I will  look into coming over the top or outside in. I dont usually have anyone with me at the range and dont have a tri pod but if I cant figure this out i will look into putting a video up. Seems like it may be some alignment issues because i do know that i sometimes get a little awkward when standing over the ball, also something i need to fix. Being comfortable over the ball seems to be a big plus for me.

Could be that you're standing too close to the ball on your bad shots. That would cause you to come down steeper and thus outside-in on the swing and also explains why you feel awkward occasionally. I don't think it's an alignment problem if the ball is starting out along your intended line.

[Mr Fresh]

AAAAhhh this is true sir. I do tend to stand a little too close at time im told. Will keep that in mind.

[Spyder]

I definitely recommend that you watch this video. This fix could be as easy as fixing your grip. Regardless of a severe slice or a slight fade, these tips when used properly will definitely help you straighten the shot out. The stance could be perfect, but when all is said and done.. your hands need to be on the club properly or you'll never get a proper release of the club.

[trickymicky69]

Thats a great video.

No bullshit, just good tips which are easy to follow.

I have seen some of this guys vids on youtube and they are all very good

Originally Posted by Spyder

I definitely recommend that you watch this video. This fix could be as easy as fixing your grip. Regardless of a severe slice or a slight fade, these tips when used properly will definitely help you straighten the shot out. The stance could be perfect, but when all is said and done.. your hands need to be on the club properly or you'll never get a proper release of the club.

[Spyder]

Yeah I really like his videos. A lot of videos, too many videos , on YouTube are just posted by instructors who give you a real generic explanation of what you need to do. Most often they just talk and don't even give an example. This guy, Mark Crossfield, actually gets right in the camera and shows you examples of what he's talking about. He also repeats it over and over so that by the end of the video you walk away with the tips and examples in your mind rather than critiquing the actual instructor's video lol. I honestly gained yardage and accuracy following a lot of his videos.


YouTube Search keys: 4onlinegolf (or ) Mark Crossfield Golf

[iacas]

He insists on a 2-3 knuckle grip and goes so far as to say you have "no chance to draw it or even hit it straight" without seeing 2-3 knuckles. Guarantee he's wrong there. It may not be as easy, but some people play good golf with really strong grips and some with really weak grips.

He's wrong about "square to slightly closed." He demonstrates "open to square." Toe up at the shaft horizontal is OPEN to the plane. I'll give him that the top of the backswing part was correct and fairly decent. Then he mucks this up by saying that you "work the face in a drawing fashion" through the shot. That smacks of "release the club" or "roll the forearms" or a bunch of advice that is, by far, the most inconsistent way to hit a draw. Good way to hit pulls and pull-slices, though, as it will send the path LEFT and close the clubface prematurely. To be fair it was a little thing he threw in at the end but it's not good.

His third bit's good. I liked it.

---

You want to hit a draw? Here's how. This is the cheater lesson. Someone who has never hit a draw in their life can hit a draw in two or three swings. Time and time again.

Feel the pressure between your left arm and your chest at setup? Great. Increase that pressure throughout the backswing. If there was a cigar in there, squeeze it. Ball draws. Hands go in more. You can't hit a good draw from the inside if your hands are never "inside" anything.

[Spyder]

Good stuff there professor! You're an instructor as well, I assume, so it's easy for you to notice things like you mentioned - regardless of how small they are. When I was having issues though, I focused on a lot of what he was saying and it really helped quite a bit.

I'm overly frustrated with the new swing I'm trying to develop. Going backwards from 6.8 to 7.3 to 12+ HC now. Hopefully I'm going backward to excel forward beyond the level that I was previously at. It's just not happening fast enough, but that's why I love to hate golf in general!

On point though, some of the best advice I ever got was so vague and funny from an old man who used to be on tour. I met this gentlemen at the local range and he talked to me for around 2 hours telling old stories about how his swing "used to be as powerful" as mine when he was young. He told me how he was hung over for 3 days after shooting 74 at Augusta and many other hilarious stories. As he was watching me hit, while he was sitting on a bench behind me, I brought up that I still have an occasional fade - but not a slice. Before he stood up and laughed he simply said "keep trying to draw it until you pull it - then back off a bit and pretend you're holding on to your last dollar in your left arm pit". That was the day I learned how to draw the ball on demand. Unfortunately it was kind of like a movie - he was gone before I could thank him lol.