Cannot hit my hybrid off the ground!

[PDilyard]

It happened twice. I changed something in my swing and it hasn't happened since. If you Google it, you'll find that some people dislocate shoulders with a lot less stress than swinging a golf club. After it happens once, it's more likely to happen again. And it's more common in young people from what I've heard. So cut me some slack. But I just don't think it's a reason to stop playing. It happens to a lot of people in other sports. All my doctor recommended was to do some rotator cuff exercises, which seem to be helping.

[Strandly]

Yeah definitely don't just roll out there and start swinging without stretching, that's asking for trouble imo.

[inthehole]

I'm a big believer in a slightly slower tempo backswing to keep all the moving parts of the swing where they need to be & then accelerate hard from the top through - might try this - I bet it would be much easier on your shoulder ...

[Hacker James]

Originally Posted by Strandly

Yeah the left foot should never come off the ground on any swings so I think you were definitely doing something wrong.  When you take your backswing turn your left shoulder towards the ball/ground, which should cause your left knee to bend inward instead.

never say "never". Although I more or less agree with you, there have been a number of old time pro's who did that very thing. Nicklaus "may" have been one of them, I am not sure. The way it was often depicted in commentary was the left heel raising and then being "slammed" down on the down swing. But, I would agree that is something I would not wish to do.

[rehmwa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDilyard

Obviously, hitting off the tee is a lot easier than hitting off the ground,

It's a silly game and nothing is ever "obviously" in the activity.  I'm your exception to that statement:

I 'tee off' all my iron shots by just putting the ball on a flat spot with firm grass.  Hitting off a tee invariably goes with a crappy hit.  But just off the turf is great.

Hybrids?  about 50/50, I just as well just place it on a nice spot and use no tee at all.

Fairway woods?  pretty much good contact either way, but usually straighter also when just set down on good turf.

I'm sure it's all mental.

If I'm trying to experiment, I'll tee all these so very low with a broken tee so that it's still a shot off the grass.  Lately, I'm just setting it without as that's doing fine.

In all cases, I've tried to tee it up, and just tee it so it appears to be a perfect lie on the grass.  Still much better, in general, to just set it straight on the grass.

(in all cases, none of this applies to crappy courses with bare and dried out tee boxes)

Quote:

All my doctor recommended was to do some rotator cuff exercises, which seem to be helping.

Great book with preventative exercises - "The Seven Minute Rotator Cuff Solution".  Absolutely excellent.  Great workouts and anatomy discussion.  Used copies are very expensive, but I believe on the internet there are scanned copies available now that the copyright period is expired.

[PDilyard]

Alright guys, thanks for your recommendations. I'll definitely try out the slower backswing, eliminate the knee dip during my backswing, and check out the "The Seven Minute Rotator Cuff Solution." Thanks for your help!!

[Lihu]

Alright guys, thanks for your recommendations. I'll definitely try out the slower backswing, eliminate the knee dip during my backswing, and check out the [COLOR=181818]"The Seven Minute Rotator Cuff Solution." Thanks for your help!![/COLOR]

Just be careful, its not worth getting injured.

[Pretzel]

Just be careful, its not worth getting injured.

Absolutely. At least make sure to stop for the day should you feel that your shoulder was dislocated or you feel a sharp, burning pain in your muscle. My grandpa tried to play golf with a torn rotator cuff and ended up making it far worse than it would have been otherwise.

[mvmac]

Recommend taking a look at this drill and trying to incorporate the feel

http://thesandtrap.com/t/61376/5sk-video-thread#post_791160

[leftygolferman]

Great comments from everyone and some good advice.  I'm a PGA Master Professional down in Ft. Myers and sure see the hybrid issue nearly every day with one of my students.  I agree totally with lots of the other posts that you should think of a hybrid as an iron.  It's more of a descending blow like an iron is than a sweeping swing.  I have my students play their hybrids about 2 inches forward of center and that seems to help.  Lots of times I tell them to just 'imagine' there's a tee under the ball and to 'hit the tee'.  The thought of hitting down to the tee tends to let them swing down better and get the hybrid up easier.  Hybrids have certainly helped out thousands of golfers and they're sure easier that the old 2-iron for most folks.

Good luck with everything and keep us all updated.  A video of you would help out for sure.  LOL

Steve

[Beachcomber]

OP learn to control your low point. Try this drill: [VIDEO]http://youtu.be/xq6B6xONedM[/VIDEO]

[Golfingdad]

Op, I noticed that moving the ball forward in your stance was not one of the things you've tried. I recently did that and it helped immensely. Maybe experiment with that too?