Topping & hard Fade

[carpediem4300]

Struggled yesterday off the grass at the range with topping my irons and hard fading almost every club

The only two things i can think that might be causing me to do this are shoulders not turning and perhaps swaying on the backswing,....

any other ideas?

ive been taking nice divots lately with straight/straight pulls,...so no idea why the sudden switch to thins/fades

[Mr3Wiggle]

Just a stab in the dark, but your body might be getting way out ahead of your arms.  Have you by any chance been working on your lower body action lately?  If so, what you are doing is correct, you just might be over doing it.

[carpediem4300]

in what sense do you mean? towards the ball or towards the target?

I fire the hips quite hard towards the target,...mostly a result from following stack and tilt for a number of months

Only things ive worked on recently are takeaway and grip, but that was a few weeks ago

I sometimes find myself falling forwards slightly after the shot though, more prominent on longer clubs,...perhaps im over sliding the hips then?

i always struggle to find a happy medium in this game, swings to flat or to steep, i rotate to much or to little lol,....still love it though!

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by carpediem4300

in what sense do you mean? towards the ball or towards the target?

I fire the hips quite hard towards the target,...mostly a result from following stack and tilt for a number of months

Only things ive worked on recently are takeaway and grip, but that was a few weeks ago

I sometimes find myself falling forwards slightly after the shot though, more prominent on longer clubs,...perhaps im over sliding the hips then?

i always struggle to find a happy medium in this game, swings to flat or to steep, i rotate to much or to little lol,....still love it though!

We're talking about the same thing.  I figured this might be the case since you said you were hitting it crisp a short while ago.  The good news is it sounds like you've trained your pivot.  Might want to focus on staying inside your left foot (I assume you're a righty) on the downswing and follow thru, but not too far inside.  I feel what you are doing right now is probably almost correct, just may overdoing it a little bit.  I'm hesitant to comment on your swing plane since I can't see you swing, and frankly I've never been over concerned with focusing on that aspect since I believe if the body moves correcly the rest figures itself out.

[carpediem4300]

apologies for sounding daft, but how do you mean "trained your pivot"?

ive had issues with a reverse pivot recently,.....although doubt thats a problem as i get my weight to the back leg fine

I found that if i concentrated on 1/2-3/4 swings trying to almost dig the ball out i was hitting quite decent again,.....moving it onto a full swing was the same result but felt like the follow through was really restricted because i was taking so much earth with the ball

will have a crack at staying inside the left foot,....see where it goes from there

(didnt help the grass i was hitting off was trodden down to basically just lumpy mud haha)

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by carpediem4300

apologies for sounding daft, but how do you mean "trained your pivot"?

ive had issues with a reverse pivot recently,.....although doubt thats a problem as i get my weight to the back leg fine

I found that if i concentrated on 1/2-3/4 swings trying to almost dig the ball out i was hitting quite decent again,.....moving it onto a full swing was the same result but felt like the follow through was really restricted because i was taking so much earth with the ball

will have a crack at staying inside the left foot,....see where it goes from there

(didnt help the grass i was hitting off was trodden down to basically just lumpy mud haha)

By pivot I mean your body pivot which is the proper engine for the golf swing.  It's the "ground up" move that starts the golf swing.  Feet, legs and hips unwinding the shoulders instead of trying to unwind with the upper body.  I believe it's the core principle for most swing dynamic focused golf swing theories like S&T.;  A good pivot makes your swing efficient and allows you to lag the club, without it you throw away a lot of your power at the top of your downswing and then usually have to heavily manipulate the club near impact to make solid contact.

Also again, I think you are on the right track, so don't sit back to much trying to stay inside the left leg.  You may very well go out and stripe it the next time you hit balls without any adjustments.  I would assume you hit the ball pretty well when you first started hitting balls and then the thin shots and fades came as you exaggerated the move more and more.

[carpediem4300]

erm, it was up and down to be honest,....I started with wedges with i think i started off close to shanking most of them lol

i did hit nice shots to begin with using irons, and then went downhill

will see how the next session on thursday goes and if i start thinning it again ill have a look and see if im getting myself to far forward,....

Im beginning to think i might be swaying a little on the backswing also and getting to much weight back,...and then throwing it forward fast trying to get into position,...then hitting a weak shot but the momentum is draggin me forwards and off balance :S

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by carpediem4300

erm, it was up and down to be honest,....I started with wedges with i think i started off close to shanking most of them lol

i did hit nice shots to begin with using irons, and then went downhill

will see how the next session on thursday goes and if i start thinning it again ill have a look and see if im getting myself to far forward,....

Im beginning to think i might be swaying a little on the backswing also and getting to much weight back,...and then throwing it forward fast trying to get into position,...then hitting a weak shot but the momentum is draggin me forwards and off balance :S

Yeah, then just focus on rotating around a stiff/firm left leg and you'll be fine.  If you're sliding too much on the way back, brace your right leg by turning your right knee in at address.  You'll feel more coil in your swing doing this and it will keep you from sliding.

[carpediem4300]

awesome thanks for the tip on the right knee,.......ive worked really hard over the years tos traighten my knees out as they both use to point in alot making me look a little bit like bambi first trying to walk haha

will let the knee dip in a little and see how that feels

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Mr3Wiggle

Yeah, then just focus on rotating around a stiff/firm left leg and you'll be fine.

The opposite is more likely to be true. Thins and cuts more often come from the weight and the head being too far back.

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by iacas

The opposite is more likely to be true. Thins and cuts more often come from the weight and the head being too far back.

I could see that too.  That's why I said to brace the right knee to avoid swaying back to far on the back swing.  He said he was shanking it too though.

[carpediem4300]

Yeah on the wedges and low irons i was close to shanking,..full on push slice but not quite a shank I definatey think im swaying a bit and my setup is off slightly,....perhaps a tendency to play the ball to far forward sometimes