The Push and Fade?

[buj77]

Hi

I'm new on here but was wondering if someone could offer some help/insight. To give you some background...I started playing golf at the age of 8 (mostly hacking around-following my dad and his friends around). Then at around the age of 14, I made friends with a coaching pro and though he had retired, he was kind enough to help me sort out my game. by the time I was 16, I was shooting scores between 4-8 (best ever round is a 2). The old pro actually gifted me a set of Hogan Director blades, because I was hitting the ball really well at that stage (my first set was a set of tommy armour 845s Silver Scotts). Then I went off to college, started working, got married etc...and basically ended up playing one round of golf every couple of years. Anyway...I am 34 now and last month played a round with some friends from the office and I'm hoked again (by the time I got to the 6th hole, I was hitting my 3 wood 270 with a slight fade)....my game is, as expected inconsistent...sometimes I know I have done all of the right things in my swing and it shoots off the face with a nice divot... this of course is accompanied by tops, heavy shots and everything else in between. I have been going to the range for the past week and have been focusing on making the right swing movements. Then yesterday, I decided to see where all the work had got me and hit 50 balls at full tilt with an 8 iron. The good news was....the contact I was making on every shot was reasonably consistent (I think I only topped one shot, hit two shots heavy and thinned one...which out of 50 isn't bad). The bad news was, that despite enjoying some good ball striking, I was mostly pushing the ball with a high fade (at my best...my natural shot would be a high gentle draw... and the bad swings would result in a snap hook). Would anyone on here have any suggestions on:

a. correcting the push;

b. I suspect the fade is because of my grip/hands not turning over at impact but am open to suggestions;

c. let me know if any of you who have decent game (meaning, you have more or less settled golf swings) have taken a very long break from the game but managed to get back to it and how you did it?

p.s...I still have the Hogan's but decided to put them away till my game recovered to a point where I could play them again. I bought a set of Wilson Ci9 irons, to give me the confidence I need, though I hope to be back to my blades, sooner rather than later.

Thanks in advance.

[mvmac]

  buj77 said:

Originally Posted by buj77

a. correcting the push;

b. I suspect the fade is because of my grip/hands not turning over at impact but am open to suggestions;

c. let me know if any of you who have decent game (meaning, you have more or less settled golf swings) have taken a very long break from the game but managed to get back to it and how you did it?

p.s...I still have the Hogan's but decided to put them away till my game recovered to a point where I could play them again. I bought a set of Wilson Ci9 irons, to give me the confidence I need, though I hope to be back to my blades, sooner rather than later.

Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the site!  Here are some good links that will help, have an open mind because this is info that you have probably not heard before.

a.A straight push is where the club face and path match, push fade is an open club face with the path left of the face.

b. Probably not, turning the hands over can actually promote a fade due to the handle being behind the clubhead the more we turn the hands

Ball Flight Laws

Getting the Hands Deep on the backswing

Right Knee motion in backswing

[buj77]

Hi mvmac...thanks for the welcome and the links etc...I went to the range this weekend and one of the things I worked on was my grip (I found that my left hand was getting far too much over the grip (my left thumb was so too far down the right side of the grip) and consequently my right hand was coming too far under the club (having placed my right palm over the left thumb). I've been trying to correct the grip and its leading to a better sense of control (still inconsistent, but that is to be expected when working on the grip).

Also, I've inserted a copy of one of my better swings from about a month ago (with a five wood off the tee which a hit really well) and would be interested to hear your thoughts (looking at the grip closely on the image, you can to some extent see what I am talking about above, though it isn't the best shot to observe the position of the hands).

[mvmac]

Weight and hips are too far back causing the fades.  Left knee is going to feel like goes forward and stay's flexed longer into the downswing.  If it straightens too early, the path will be across the ball

[buj77]

Thanks...and Wow! Never would've thought/seen that....guess its back to the range to practice shifting my weight onto the left side. Do you think opening the left foot will help as well (keep my wieght more on the left side and allow me to transition better) ?

[Raymond]

  mvmac said:

Originally Posted by mvmac

Weight and hips are too far back causing the fades.  Left knee is going to feel like goes forward and stay's flexed longer into the downswing.  If it straightens too early, the path will be across the ball

You can see this in your swing sequence and you have a feel cue to help you resolve it. In frame 4 your left foot is perpendicular to the target as it should be. But instead of starting your left knee toward the target, frame 5 shows that early in the swing you pull your left knee straight back, putting your weight on your left heel. In frame 5 all of your weight is on your left heel which allows you to actually lift your left toe and rotate it towards the target. You can see that your toe is off the ground. If your weight was evenly distributed you wouldn't be able to do that. In frame 6 your left foot has rotated and is now pointed directly at the target. That's your cue. At the range, you can work on developing the feeling at setup that your weight is evenly distributed between your heel and your toe - actually the ball of your foot - and when you make your swing do whatever you have to do to keep it that way. If you keep your weight properly distributed, you won't be able to lift your left heel or toe during the swing and at the end of the swing your left foot will be where it was at setup.

[buj77]

Thanks, the feedback here has been fantastic...like I said...work to do on the range...if I understand correctly, I am shifting my weight (could probably do it better) but where I am shifting it from/to isn't correct...the backswing/loading is ok...but when a start down I think I'm turning rather than shifting (laterally)..when the weight does shift its going to the outside...causing the fade...at least that's what I'm picking up/ understanding.

[mvmac]

  buj77 said:

Originally Posted by buj77

Thanks, the feedback here has been fantastic...like I said...work to do on the range...if I understand correctly, I am shifting my weight (could probably do it better) but where I am shifting it from/to isn't correct...the backswing/loading is ok...but when a start down I think I'm turning rather than shifting (laterally)..when the weight does shift its going to the outside...causing the fade...at least that's what I'm picking up/ understanding.

Correct, your going to "feel" very little rotation and more linear.  Yes open that left foot up more to help you with this

[buj77]

Thanks guys. I' planning to go to the range on Wednesday night (Wednseday morning in the US). Will try out what you've suggested and report back (probably post the weekend, cause I want to give it a few sessions to nail down the motion). Again...thanks a ton...amazed at the quick analysis and hope I can put into practice what you guys have suggested.