Hands infront of ball at impact

[Stevep21]

So I had a lesson with my local pro the other day and he says I am using my hands too much, "do you hook it?", "no", "you have well educated hands, your using your hands too much and you dont need too" blah blah blah.
He showed me this video of Boo Weekley and I do absolutely love the impact position to be fair:

is that how your impact position really should be like?
He gave me a sort of drill but not really of just starting at the impact position, i.e. shaft leaning forward, weight on left side, hands pushing forward, and then swing without moving my weight and trying to recreate the intial position. Are there any better drills anyone has to start striking the ball like that, also don't you decrease the loft by striking it like this?
Any advice on if my local pro is advising my correctly and on any drills are much appreciated!

[Motown88]

The way I look at it, if you're hitting straight and getting the distance you want then why change.  If you feel you can improve your game by an improved swing then yes I'd listen to the club pro.

[Leftygolfer]

Yes, that is how far ahead your hands should be.  It is almost impossible too much shaft lean towards the target.

[onesome]

I overheard someone say try to keep your right palm down at impact wich would relate to a hands forward at impact just don't overdue it cause a shank will happen soon (at least that's what happens with me).

[justtapitin]

Originally Posted by onesome

I overheard someone say try to keep your right palm down at impact wich would relate to a hands forward at impact just don't overdue it cause a shank will happen soon (at least that's what happens with me).

I think I've read somewhere that you should keep your palm down during back swing.

I've tried but had a huge problem with ugly hook so I guess I'm doing something wrong there.....

[Motown88]

Originally Posted by justtapitin

I think I've read somewhere that you should keep your palm down during back swing.

I've tried but had a huge problem with ugly hook so I guess I'm doing something wrong there.....

If you're hooking the ball you may be able to solve that by simply moving the golfball in relation to your stance.  The closer to the front foot the ball is the more you will slice, or fade.  If you are drawing the ball try moving your golfball up in your stance 2 or 3 ball lengths.  This may solve the problem, if it doesn't then looking at reworking your swing is probably what you need.

[hero12]

You're a 5 handicap and asking about hands in front of the ball at impact? curious

[SoCal Blade]

Originally Posted by hero12

You're a 5 handicap and asking about hands in front of the ball at impact? curious

Precisely.......Yaaawn.... you'll never get to a 5 index and not know where your hands need to be for any given type of shot.

Maybe you could fix your handicap error there on your profile to 15 or more so your question is more realistic.

-Thanks in advance-

Hows that for total golf snobbery? hahahaaa...

[Motown88]

Originally Posted by hero12

You're a 5 handicap and asking about hands in front of the ball at impact? curious

Does it matter what he claims his handicap is.  He has a question and wants people to help him out.  He may be a 5 handicap and have natural talent, or he may be lying...either way he's still asking for help, not people to calling him out what could be a typo.

[Stevep21]

I am off 5 but my course is pretty easy, I struggle once I'm hitting my long irons into par 4's which is why I got a lesson. I want better ball striking, the only way I can hit my long irons consistently is to hit a low draw which I hate and can over-do sometimes but I wouldnt call it a hook. Once I start trying to hit them high, I push it, slice it, draw it, allsorts, no consistency. My hands are ahead already but he seems to think I should be doing it more for a more penetrating ballflight as he calls it. When I get it right I can feel that I've got it right because my arms release properly after impact, my left elbow doesnt fold in to my body too soon which is what usually happens but I'm finding it hard to do what I'm doing in the drill he has given me and then doing it in my real swing.

[LovinItAll]

I think I've read somewhere that you should keep your palm down during back swing. I've tried but had a huge problem with ugly hook so I guess I'm doing something wrong there.....;-)

It's funny how different people learn. When I was learning how to get my left wrist flat, my thought was to smother the ball with my right palm at impact. That was the tip that worked for me.

[onesome]

Originally Posted by justtapitin

I think I've read somewhere that you should keep your palm down during back swing.

I've tried but had a huge problem with ugly hook so I guess I'm doing something wrong there.....

I think you may be excessively "hooding" the club on the downswing because of the position you hold during the backswing (left wrist may be in a convexed position at top), I know I didn't explain that very well but you may be just geting your info backwards is all, like one other poster after me said trying to keep your right palm down through impact will help keeping hands forward. For the OP I believe hes probably  5 since he admits to playing a relatively easy course and he already does have good position at impact, I'm a 6.6 and struggle with the same thing but my course is one of the toughest in the area, he probably drives the ball well and has a pretty good short game has decent short irons but struggles some with the mid and long irons.

[justtapitin]

Originally Posted by onesome

I think you may be excessively "hooding" the club on the downswing because of the position you hold during the backswing (left wrist may be in a convexed position at top), I know I didn't explain that very well but you may be just geting your info backwards is all, like one other poster after me said trying to keep your right palm down through impact will help keeping hands forward. For the OP I believe hes probably  5 since he admits to playing a relatively easy course and he already does have good position at impact, I'm a 6.6 and struggle with the same thing but my course is one of the toughest in the area, he probably drives the ball well and has a pretty good short game has decent short irons but struggles some with the mid and long irons.

Do you think I should open the club face a bit to correct that problem?

Thanks in advance.

[Pablo68]

Originally Posted by onesome

For the OP I believe hes probably  5 since he admits to playing a relatively easy course and he already does have good position at impact, I'm a 6.6 and struggle with the same thing but my course is one of the toughest in the area, he probably drives the ball well and has a pretty good short game has decent short irons but struggles some with the mid and long irons.

This......

Flipping is what I believe the OP's instructor is seeing and I too am struggling with it. I'm right at the cusp of a single digit handicap and am fighting to build a more consistent swing by taking the flip out of it.

If you can drive the ball well, avoid three putting, and scramble good, it's possible to be a single digit handicap while not having your hands leading at impact. You simply play the angles of a course properly and know where you can miss it but recover based on what your usual miss is.

OP, what you should do is Google 'Confessions of a Former Flipper' and go to his site to buy the ebook. He has several drills that will help you realize how your hands should be at impact.

Good luck.

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by Stevep21

is that how your impact position really should be like?

Yes golf clubs are designed to be hit with shaft lean.

Originally Posted by Stevep21

Also don't you decrease the loft by striking it like this?

When a golfer has shaft lean (flat left wrist) at impact, they are just helping optimize their clubhead speed and their ball speed. Having the handle forward, a flat left wrist at impact, tends to have the face aimed more to the right, that's why good players/pros tend to hit the ball high.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevep21

Are there any better drills anyone has to start striking the ball like that?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Pablo68

OP, what you should do is Google 'Confessions of a Former Flipper' and go to his site to buy the ebook. He has several drills that will help you realize how your hands should be at impact.

That's probably a good recommendation, but last I heard Brian was going to be changing that one up quite a bit because he now believes he overstated how much shaft lean you want, and how best to achieve a good amount of it, with all the thought he's put into things like the coupling point, etc. etc. It's prompted a few "Swing Thoughts" articles from me (the ones on lag, IIRC) but I think last I heard he was planning to re-make the COAFF video(s). OP, it might be worth asking.

[Pablo68]

"That's probably a good recommendation, but last I heard Brian was going to be changing that one up quite a bit because he now believes he overstated how much shaft lean you want, and how best to achieve a good amount of it, with all the thought he's put into things like the coupling point, etc. etc. It's prompted a few "Swing Thoughts" articles from me (the ones on lag, IIRC) but I think last I heard he was planning to re-make the COAFF video(s). OP, it might be worth asking."

To be honest, I bought the video and while it seems fundamentally sound, I found it VERY difficult to achieve the lean he advocated and maybe too many people are having trouble getting the kind of lean he's talking about. I mainly bought it because I was interested in the drills others had mentioned he provides.

I'v seen others using all kinds of drills design to make one feel that position.

For instance, the impact bag or hitting the clubface against a golf cart tire (I've seen several instructors have their students do this). I would think this doesn't encourage shaft lean and may get a student too focused on 'hitting' instead of swinging.

[Stevep21]

Thanks for the posts everyone, and thanks for the videos Mike, I tried those drills and it did feel better. After putting in a lot of work I just knew I wasn't getting it right, it felt too similar even though I started flushing it and I know from past changes that when it feels too normal too soon then it's not changing at all and after videoing myself it was obvious that I am still making the same mistakes.
So anyway I had another lesson today with a former pro at my club who is a very good player, I didn't tell him I just had a lesson so recently or what I thought my problem was since I don't like telling someone who has more knowledge than me what I am doing wrong, I'd rather hear what they think and he basically reiterated what the other guy said but he said my hands were behind the ball because I was releasing early due to my leg movement.
I basically have another problem where my right foot comes up too soon and he's basically just solved all my problems in what felt like a 2 minute lesson, he said the start of my downswing is good, I shift to the left but instead of "twisting" I just carry on moving left which causes my body to arc too much my hands are behind the ball, I'm flipping and my whole swing basically just relied on timing. Now because he explained it so much better and got me in the right position at impact it just feels like I have to straigten my left leg after impact instead of keep moving left, feels like im moving my hips out of the way and giving my arms soooo much more room to work instead of trying to thrust my hips forward giving me more distance (atleast I guess that's what I thought I was doing) but he also said the way I was hitting it I was turning my 7 iron into a 9 iron, and I gotta say when I get it right now it sounds like a bullet and I am atleast a club longer. Very happy with the change although I am spraying it everywhere at the moment while I get used to it, but it feels different and it feels right so that is the main thing :)
Thanks again for the posts and any other advice is much appreciated :) Sorry for the late-ish reply