Ball is going to the left, not a hook.

[hacker101]

All,

I have been working on my swing the last month or so and need some help.

I am hitting the ball farther, higher and straight but it is left of what I think my target is. I have messed with my set up not only the club face but alignment but what I am finding is when I do get the ball on target I feel my body is pointing way right?

It is not a hook it is straight as an arrow just going left.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks

[Golfingdad]

First thing I'd try, if you are not already, is to use alignment sticks at the range.  It could simply be that you've always been open to your target and hitting pushes.  Now you're hitting it straight and just need to recalibrate that alignment.

It's at least one possibility and seems like the easiest to check, so I'd do that first. :)  After that ... I don't know. :)

[billchao]

I'm with Golfingdad, check your alignment. You may not be doing what you think you are doing.

If you are indeed hitting straight pulls, my next question is, can you play it? Is it consistent enough that you can play good golf with that shot? I ask only because I used to sport a fabulously consistent straight draw, but under some misguided delusion, decided it was not the ideal shot shape, so I decided to fix it. Haven't played as well since then, but my swing is technically better now, so I'm just waiting for the dividend to pay off.

I guess my point is, sometimes we mess with our swings too much.

BTW what is your new miss?

[hacker101]

Thanks guys.

billchao I was hitting and still do a little left to right but for the most part I was hitting what i thought was straight, not high or far.

So in my limited and something not so smart wisdom i changed things up. So now I get a nice high ball flight about 10 plus min yards in distance but it is left of the target. Now it is not a lot, say the pin is in the middle of the green i will be off the green so we are talking about 5 plus yards.

Can I play it sure.

[billchao]

If you are happy with the new flight, then learn to play it. Instead of aiming for that pin, aim slightly to the right of it, then let your shot do its thing. I understand its hard to adjust alignment, but you just have to trust the new shot. But since you still miss it right, aiming farther right might hurt your game. I'm not sure how often you miss, so I don't want to steer you in the wrong direction.

Its important to manage your misses. That's why I asked where you miss currently. For example, I now play a slight fade. I line up to the left edge of the green. Sometimes I'll hit it dead straight and miss the green. Usually it fades slightly and gets me on. Sometimes I'll block it and miss to the right of the green (what is that, like a 10-15 yard miss?). The push is the reason I don't attack pins (well that and lack of skill). If I get greedy and aim towards the middle of the green for a right hole location, there's a chance that I'll push it right OB.

I'd rather have a 30ft birdie putt than a 3ft birdie putt if it means I can chip on when I miss as opposed to taking a drop. I'm not good enough to hit it where I want to or expect to all the time, so I learned just to avoid hitting it where I really don't want to.

[zipazoid]

It's a pull. Which, if it's any consolation, is about the most solid mis-hit you can have. Just check your alignment.

[teed off]

Swinging the club to fast/hard can cause a pull or hook. Try slowing your swing down to around 80% of your "full" swing speed.

[Russtopher]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

It's a pull. Which, if it's any consolation, is about the most solid mis-hit you can have. Just check your alignment.

It's my major miss-hit with irons too, and when I hit a pull it almost always goes 10 yards further than a straight hit... it's just a good 10-15 yards left too. Ball feels wonderful coming off the face, it just ends up further left than I wanted.

[joekelly]

These shots for me indicate that my hips are too static and are not leading my shoulders into the proper swing path. Result is my shoulders, arms and clubhead come from outside and swoop towards the left of target.  And yes, often a good strike but off target.  I must get the hips moving first, on the correct path.

[flintcreek6412]

I used to have the exact same problem.  It was my swing path and hip rotation.  I was getting my arms ahead of my hips swinging outside in.  Slow down your swing and almost stall out at the top of the backswing to let the hips start the movement, not the arms.

Are your clubs fitted?  I think if your clubs are too upright it causes left misses.

What is your divot doing?  Is it pointed left too?

Have your pro look at your swing.  Might be the best $50-100 you spend to get a quick look and lesson and then work on your own.

[Stretch]

Club path is to the left of the target line. As mentioned already, if it's consistent you can just aim a little right and play for the pull. Or you can work on getting your path more out to the right.

[billchao]

Originally Posted by teed off

Swinging the club to fast/hard can cause a pull or hook. Try slowing your swing down to around 80% of your "full" swing speed.

Not necessarily true. I block it when I swing too fast/hard.

I do agree that more control is a good thing.

[hacker101]

Originally Posted by flintcreek6412

I used to have the exact same problem.  It was my swing path and hip rotation.  I was getting my arms ahead of my hips swinging outside in.  Slow down your swing and almost stall out at the top of the backswing to let the hips start the movement, not the arms.

Are your clubs fitted?  I think if your clubs are too upright it causes left misses.

What is your divot doing?  Is it pointed left too?

Have your pro look at your swing.  Might be the best $50-100 you spend to get a quick look and lesson and then work on your own.

Yes my clubs are fitted and where fit with yellow dot pings three different times but due to my upright stance that was all three recommendations so now I have to wonder if this could be the issue since I have changed a bit of my swing?

I am leaving the face really open also so at this point it must be in my set up I would think. So dam busy at work have not had time to hit the range to work on this. And I have not really looked at my divots, that will be the next thing to check for to see how they are coming out.

Thanks for the help.

[tuffluck]

try to move your hands forward (counter clockwise) on the grip, which should leave the face slightly more open at impact.  it's either a slice swing with a very closed clubface, or just a closed clubface.  you really want it to be the latter.