Driving range woes

[pauliodotnet]

Im a low 80s player with the 1/5 rounds in the upper 70s. But my practicing is hindered by something I can't figure out. I can't hit a ball off the range. Mat or grass. I just hit it off the heel every time. I can hit my hybrid, 3 wood and driver no issues. Any full swing iron is non existent. Recently played in a tourney, was mocked at the range when I brought an iron out, but was on fire during the match. Ultimately I want to work on my shot shapping but wha gives. Any help is appreciated. -paul

[DocPangloss]

This is the most backassward golf problem I have ever heard of.

[PastPerforance]

Ok I know a few things you may need to consider. Most players over swing. And by that I mean in two distinct ways. Not only do they swing way too hard, but most have an over extended takeaway. If you want distance, you need width in your swing. That comes from behind to out front. When you get your hands too far wrapped around your body, you are effectively getting above the swing plane. This is actually known as a two-plane swing position. If you have enough patience to allow your hands to drop back onto plane, no problem. If not you are going to get stuck. From a stuck position, your body is in the way of your elbows moving the clubhead towards the target. You have to do two things then, either push away from your body, or cut the ball. Both slough off clubhead speed.

Finding out if this is your issue is easy. Just stand with the sun behind you and swing. Look where your hands are when you come to a complete stop at the back of your backswing.Your hands should be behind your original stance, and not over your head. If they are up high, learn to"drop" into the slot prior to rotating forward with your upperbody.

The release in golf is a natural movement that happens for two reasons. First is that unlike during our set-up, we are rotating our upperbody to generate force and clubhead speed. Secondly, if your hands are positioned correctly, the two wrist work in unisom, and the release is just a full extention THROUGH the ball.Don;t think roll, think extend. The two together insure you do in fact roll though and up during your followthrough.

Stop thinking so much over the ball. If you hit it fat, try to keep doing that. You learn the feel what causes that fat shot (try getting the club to align with the lead arm at impact). A fat shot is needed from time to time. The same is true for thin shots too. During play in wet conditions, you want to hit a bit thin. When you need to kill speed quickly hitting a ball a little fat may help. If you hit thin, try to keep doing that. Once you have a feeling for what you are doing wrong, make adjustments that alter the feeling. Try to play by feel. Stop trying to be technical when over the ball. Be technical in your pre-shot routine, but over the bal quit thinking if you possibly can. Relax, swing at about 75-80%, and extend through to the finish. Don't rock back in your swing. It is a turn, not a sway. Plus that adds a timing element to the swing that almost no one can become expert at performing on any consistent basis.

At 75-80% it is easy to actually see the clubface power through the ball's position. If you are extending fully, and that shaft aligns with the leading arm, the shaft will be leaning slightly forward at impact, This exact position is what the club was engineered to be in at impact. They design clubs with a technical position in mind, not thousands of different swing styles. These positions actually sets the proper launch angle (loft coupled with your spine angles) of the club in hand. That proper positioning brings the leading edge down into position (not lying on the bounce of the club) and it cuts a divot instead of gouging out chunks of grass. Your divot should be about the size of a dollar bill. And the edges should be clean if the leading edge is correct at impact. Your divot can tell you a lot about where your hands were at impact.

The mental side of golf is a lot harder to perfect Your problem may be that. If it is, it will take a lot of work to lose. You want to try to quite your mind during the swing. It forces your subconcious to execute the shot, and it is very good at doing just that. But to do so, you will have to learn a few tricks to shut your concious mind up. That you can read about in books. It is a long subjct, and better left for another day. Best of luck. Think width, 75-80% swings, and proper shaft location at impact. You will not hit fat, or thin if you can get that leading edge down. You will trap the ball, as you should be doing.

[pauliodotnet]

Yes, it is the most ass backwards problem, but I don't really mind it I suppose. I was able to get out and shoot an 83 yesterday, should have been lower but I got aggressive trying to get a lower score.

Thanks for the lengthy response. I haven't got a chance to get out to a range since my post, but I am going this afternoon. I will give it a go and see what turns out.