Is An 'Out to In' Swing a Flaw?

[GlasgowsGreen]

I have an 'Out to In' swing path. Is this a fatal flaw in my swing that must be fixed, or is it quite normal and something that I can play with?

[Stretch]

You can certainly play with it. I would venture that the clear majority of the golfers in the world do. But, in general, you're going to hit the ball lower and shorter than you could if you approached it from the inside. How much this should bother you really just depends on how good you want to be.

[GlasgowsGreen]

Thanks for the reply.

I'd like to be the best I can be, so would much rather do things 'properly', if there is such a thing!

My 'out to in' swing is causing me to have a pretty bad slice with my longer clubs. My golf pro has given me drills to do which should give me an 'in to out' swing. I wasn't sure if this was because an 'out to in' is a flaw, or if it's just his way of getting me to stop slicing. Unfortunately I forgot to ask him at the time!

[dak4n6]

Agree with Stretch. There are a bunch of low index guys at my club that have been playing since forever, and have a controlled OTT out-in swing path. They line up right, do a little OTT (not much), and hit nice shots down the left that fade back to the middle. They come into the ball a bit steep, but always make good contact. I'm hitting 6 irons where they hit hybrids, and they do sometimes complement my swing, and then they usually beat the crap out of me.

[Beachcomber]

If you bought the Tour Striker (per the other thread)... Then you should check out this other great training aid.  It is all about path - and will help you with that inside - out - swing path that you are talking about.

http://www.golfshopcentral.com/p-1-medicusreg-visiontrack-pro.aspx?B=1&A;=59

It's a very good product, and I said on here in other threads... I'm surprised more people aren't using it.

[TourSpoon]

Well it's all about how much you are talking about. A fade is great, a slice is not. Colin Montgomery had a pretty good career and all of his divots went left. He estimated that 95% of his shots were fades and 5% draws. There is a great golf channel "Lessons with the Pros" from 05 on Comcast on demand that I just watched and was very impressed with his approach to the game.

[Topper]

Originally Posted by dak4n6

Agree with Stretch. There are a bunch of low index guys at my club that have been playing since forever, and have a controlled OTT out-in swing path. They line up right, do a little OTT (not much), and hit nice shots down the left that fade back to the middle. They come into the ball a bit steep, but always make good contact. I'm hitting 6 irons where they hit hybrids, and they do sometimes complement my swing, and then they usually beat the crap out of me.

I play golf with a guy a little older than me (late 50s) who routinely scores in the mid 80s with an occasional round of 79.  He's not a big hitter and plays a fade almost exclusively.  He is a machine at hitting fairways and greens.

[Fore Left]

I can't swing outside-in without slicing the heck out of the ball.

If you're controlling it,  then you can work with it.... if you're slicing badly as you've stated,  then I would try to correct it rather than 'tweak' it to make your outside-in swing produce more controlled shots.

I find most people who slice the ball badly can correct it fairly quickly with a couple simple tips.   I tell friends to open the back foot slightly so their stance makes it easier to swing inside out,  and when they hit into the ball,  try to think of it as "pushing it out to the right"  and when they try to do that,  what they're actually doing is swinging from the inside,  to the outside.

The most important thing after that is to FOLLOW THROUGH.    I'm no golf pro,  so I can't for the life of me figure out the mechanics/science behind why the follow-through plays such a pivotal role,  but when I'm overly tired and find myself getting lazy with the follow through,  I find the path the ball takes to begin staying out to the right or even fading,  rather than the draw that I typically get when I hit it cleanly.

Good luck.... practice practice practice!

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

If you bought the Tour Striker (per the other thread)... Then you should check out this other great training aid.  It is all about path - and will help you with that inside - out - swing path that you are talking about.

http://www.golfshopcentral.com/p-1-medicusreg-visiontrack-pro.aspx?B=1&A;=59

It's a very good product, and I said on here in other threads... I'm surprised more people aren't using it.

It's a very good product, I agree. Quite honestly, we've been a bit surprised at how well it works. It existed long before we came around with 5SK, but we're using it more now that we know about it. It really helps with Key #4 (diagonal sweetspot path).

To answer the question, a very slight out-to-in path is fine, but most amateur golfers don't have a "very slight" out to in path. :-)

[GlasgowsGreen]

Thanks for the feedback guys

[GaijinGolfer]

Out to in is fine as long as its not to the point where you slice with it.  Theres nothing wrong with a little fade.

[onlybereaved]

When I first started golfing, I was told that my steep outside-in path was alright and that I had a really good swing etc (because I could hit the ball pretty well for a newb/hacker).  I ended up getting stuck or hitting a wall, and wish I would have learned a less steep/inside-out path way sooner.

Sure, I had a nice fade (not a slice at all) with iron-shots...but when I wanted to stop playing a big banana-slice with my driver, I had to change my whole swing.  That swing change translated into my irons, and now I play a draw-shape with an inside-out path for 90% of my shots.  Wow, what a difference in accuracy, trajectory and distance.

Plus, almost every new golfer or hacker plays a "fade" - Sure, you can get used to it and make it work...but I am not a fan of that option in my experience.