Swinging Motion & Not Hitting Motion

[navidfirouz]

Hi

As a beginner I naturally thought that the harder I "hit" the golf ball, the longer it will travel.

I'm a former athlete and I hit the life out of the golf ball, to my surprise resulting in short distance followed by all sorts of (expected) elbow and wrist pain etc.

Recently I'm trying to teach my brain that the natural down-swing supported by gravity and the right wrist action will hit the ball further than my muscle power.

Apparently a more relaxed wrist, reduced pressure on your grip and a less "forced" swing are part of achieving more distance.

I'm really struggling and can not get over the (mental) barrier that makes me hit it fast instead of slowing down and swinging it with the power of nature.

Any good golfers out there who successfully transitioned from hitting the ball to swinging the club?

It would be great if you could share your story and advice.

Thanks,

Nave

[VegasRenegade]

Welcome to my world

[waynec1983]

Im going through exactly the same thing at the min!! When i try to hit the golf ball it ends up a fade/slice, and when i do loosen the grip and relax the arms and have a nice smooth swing it does go on a better trajectory and slightly further, still havnt mastered it, not even close in fact but a tip i was given was to hover the club behind the ball and loosen everything, its ment to relax the muscles a bit instead of having the club on the ground where you have somewhere to put pressure on it.....Im no Pro and my driving is the worst part of my game but im seeing slight improvements! Fingers crossed itl help

[navidfirouz]

Thanks waynec I will definitely try hovering it today and see how it goes.

[Ernest Jones]

It's really more of a mindset then anything else. I improved when I started to think hit, but I direct the hit to a spot past the ball. When I think swing I end up hanging back with my weight and scooping at the ball. In reality a great golf shot is both a hitting and a swinging motion but some players feel it as a hitting motion and some as a swinging motion. Find the feel that works for you but remember, it's just a feel and not necessarily indicative of specific mechanics.

[joekelly]

Navid, your problem is shared by the vast majority of 'golfers'. The mental impulse to 'hit the ball' is totally counter productive yet very difficult to root out of our head. I believe this impulse infects even the very best golfers, the touring pros, when they tell us that 'i need to trust my swing'.  If you can start the golf learning early in life, before age 12, let's say, then a good fundamental and sound image of the motion is possible.  Very few pro golfers, like few pro musicians, start after age 12, and many much younger. I am slowly rubbing out this tendency in me and can thank, no end, Mr. Percy Boomer and his book about Learning Golf.  It's an old book but full of wisdom and not one

'tip', just a lifetime of playing and teaching ideas. Check ABE books for  a used copy.

[cipher]

You need to stay relaxed enough to get your arms to fall to the bottom.  Too much tension and you will be turning your wrist over to early and start coming over the top and casting the club(loosing power).  I don't know if it makes sense but I think about it as an upside down catapult where the arm falls, and then hits the stop at the bottom which in turn accelerates the rope/club to create all the speed.  Basically this is the thumbs going from pointing up in the air as long as possible to pointing at the ground in a very short time.  To me that is where all the club head speed comes in.  From there that motion just pulls you up into the follow through.  It is not really timing, because it naturally has to happen in order for you to hit the ball.  But basically I just try to feel like my hands are falling and I maintain my wrist angles to the bottom.  The only hand action from the top then is rotating the hands towards the bottom.  You start to feel the tension if you are relaxed at the bottom in your right wrist angle at the bottom and that pretty much just forces you to turn the club down. You cannot start opening your shoulders too early though or you will slice the ball off the face of the earth.  If I am not making sense, somebody who is more intelligent please help me out.

I like Sean O'Hair as a swing example of this.

[navidfirouz]

Thank you guys, that helps!

Ernest:

“… direct the hit to a spot past the ball ”. I’ll definitely try that next week, I heard about this a few times and never did it. Thanks!

JoeKelly:

Yeah, I feel it is a mental matter. Thanks for the book recommendation!

cipher:

You’re right - I need to relax more. Heard a few times that my posture looks tense. I watched the video, he just drops his arms and then the club follows – awesome.

In my case my arms pull the club by force …

Interestingly I hit my fairway woods reasonably consistent and seriously much farther than my driver, I don’t know, what’s up with that?

I hit the driver fairly straight as well, but it doesn't go far. It is really frustrating to barely reach the fairway from the tee and then have to make up for the lack of distance with a longer fairway wood shot.

Nave

[Mordan]

Originally Posted by navidfirouz

Interestingly I hit my fairway woods reasonably consistent and seriously much farther than my driver, I don’t know, what’s up with that?

I hit the driver fairly straight as well, but it doesn't go far. It is really frustrating to barely reach the fairway from the tee and then have to make up for the lack of distance with a longer fairway wood shot.

It's not that uncommon. At a slower swing speed the extra loft of a 3 or 5 wood actually means that the ball travels further than with a driver. Especially if you're hitting a driver set up for a more accomplished player.

Over time you'll hit the driver further, but for now you may be better off using a more lofted wood off the tee as you'll hit it further.

[Russtopher]

When I was playing with a friend of mine towards the end of last season, he remarked that my practice swings looked good (for a noob) but when I stepped up to the ball, I swung completely differently - I tried to kill the ball. So I know exactly what the OP is going through.

This winter, all I've been doing is practicing my swing without a ball (and when I do use a ball, it's those soft orange Callaway balls) so I can focus on what the tempo of the swing is like, and how it feels to have a slower, relaxed swing. I also work a bit with the Tour Tempo tones, since my "normal" swing was even faster than THEIR fastest swing, which tells me I've been doing things very wrong so far.

I'm really hoping that when I can get to an open range sometime next month, I'll be able to have my body remember what a relaxed swing felt like when I now have a ball in the way of my clubhead. Swinging more relaxed also has really helped me with my timing, and getting a good hip slide/rotation, which I could never do before because I was swinging so hard and fast, intent on killing the ball, which I'm sure contributed to my massive banana slice.

[jbishop15]

One of the things that I try to do (along with my regular swing mechanics) is feeling like my right shoulder stays behind me a bit longer as I push my hips forward. It helps me feel like the arms whip through.

[waynec1983]

just found this, going to try this in the morning before my round!!