Hitting at, rather than through, the ball...

[iacas]

However, I would argue that the vast majority of beginning players with a poor swing develop that over-the-top with not-much-turn swing because they're trying to hit the ball.  The "natural athlete" on the other hand recognizes the goal is to deliver the energy to a target and the ball is simply an obstacle in the way of the swing.  Therefore, they develop the good turn, head behind the ball, full-extension release-to-target swing much more quickly than the poor schlub that's directing his focus down to the ball.

I'm convinced of this because I did the wrong version for 40 years.

The last sentence is telling, though. I think you're putting a lot of emphasis on what you think or felt you did/do.

I disagree with the stuff before it; that the golfer swings over the top because he's trying to "hit at" the ball. In my experience, he's trying to shift low point forward (hit the ball somewhat solidly).

[dchoye]

Deekay . Great thread I haven't thought about distance from the ball for a while. When I started I had problems being too close to the ball and position the ball too much like my wedges and putter Consequently I would feel "jammed " at contact with the ball Whenever I feel I might be too close I tend to hinge my wrist up then position my feet then bring my club head down and club head will fall behind the ball. For tee ball with driver when I tend to "pull out" more and address ball further out at the toe. Not sure why but I suspect that whenever I contact the ball on the upswing my arms natural pull out more by CF

[HawkNballs]

I just swing and the ball kind of gets in the way.  I think of the "end of the swing" as being on the target side of the ball when my arms become fully extended... just before being waist high.  From there... momentum just finishes the swing for you.

If you think of the ball as being the end of your swing, you will probably stop shifting your weight and your hands will take over and flip to save the shot.

Just my $.02

[joekelly]

Many 'natural athletes' are crap golfers.  Guys who run, jump, swim usually don't have long sticks with metal heads on the ends of their arms.  Good eyes, coordination, strong legs all can help learn golf.  But, for the vast majority of low HC players, and golf teachers, etc, they all learned golf as kids.  By the time these 'kids' have gotten to age 22, they have played a 1000x times, practiced till dog tired, went to summer camps devoted to short game play, competed in HS, college, minitours, etc.    I watch kids here, ages 8 to 15, under instruction, and can see how easy and natural it seems for them. And few, if any, of the kids are paying the bill.

For adults, it's all different.

[ryunin]

I have almost the same problem, although I have only played for a year. I realize that without a ball and on grass I naturally shift weight, relax and swing through. If an invisible ball was there I would probably collect it on my way and the ball would be hit solidly. But with a real ball there I feel tense and feel I should hit the ball. I know I shouldn't but the mental issue is already sitting in my brain.

So I think the problem is absolutely not the technique, but the mental block. What helps me is to imagine that the ball is made of banana ice-cream and somebody forgot it on the mat or the ground. You just do your swing and collect the banana ice-cream ball on the way. I used to do this mental technique and forgot, I have to try again today. Relax muscles, no tension, sure, but to be able to relax really, it may help to imagine the ball is ice cream and that we just collect it on the way.  What is also interesting I think is that once you succeed to collect the ball correctly, it does feel like jelly, not sure about ice-cream, but it definitely doesn't feel like the hard thing you know from experience.

[DrvFrShow]

For me it ends up the difference between trying and doing. Example: Yesterday I was looking to buy a "beater" driver for winter range work. Unlike pros I have to buy my clubs. I have a Big Bertha that I don't want to beat up. I found a Razr Fit for a very reasonable price in the clearance bin.

While trying to kill the ball I was hitting it all over the place. While trying to swing properly I was hitting it all over the place. Swing speed was low. Launch angle low. Yeah, I was still getting over 200, but I sucked. I stopped. Then instead of analyzing what I was doing wrong, clear all those swings I watched from my brain.

I just relaxed and started swinging the club and hitting the ball. My club head speed went up from 80 to 92. Launch angle from 7 degrees to 14 degrees. Distance from 200 to 235. Notice what word is missing? Trying.

Forget about trying and just do it.

I realized I have my own swing, and apparently it's not that bad. I just need to work out the kinks in it with my pro, then groove it into my muscle memory with repetition by hitting thousands of balls. Don't forget lessons are included. I can get in 6500 balls between Nov 1 and the end of March. Boring? Perhaps.

[ryunin]

I can imagine my banana ice-cream ball tip doesn't work very well.

I think this is a great video with very simple and logical tips on how to swing rather than hit.

[ayan]

[if gte mso 9]>

Oh I don’t doubt that fat shots are primarily the result of not getting one’s weight forward. My question is more  “How come I hardly ever chunk a practice swing?”

 

A related question may be “How come I can make a slow, relaxed practice swing, but any attempt to “swing easy” with a ball is nearly always a disaster?

 

I feel that if I don’t overcome this “hitting instinct” I will never really improve my golf.

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I'm sure in some, if not most, cases we probably think our practice swings are better than they actually are.  The mechanics may feel fine and all of that, but for all we know, that (practice) swing would have bottomed out half a foot before where the "imaginary ball" we were playing was lying.  But, we'll never know because there is no spot painted on the turf where the imaginary ball is supposed to be and no camera recording the practice, ball-less swing.  However, when the swing is for real it may be going great until we see that we will miss the ball, or that the club face won't square in time, etc.  Then we tense up, attempt to make last-minute corrections and we end up with a lousy shot.

Now, I am not suggesting that the impulse to hit the ball doesn't exist and that it doesn't get in the way of hitting a good shot.  I can only speak about my own experiences, and something that helped was hitting a whole bunch of balls with a preset and exaggerated forward shaft lean.  The purpose was for my brain and my eyes to get used to the notion that a ball definitely can be hit well even though contact is made after the hips, arms and hands have passed the ball.  After that was engrained, I started visualizing my hands quickly getting to the correct position rather than the club face making contact with the ball when I made a shot.  I suspect it's not easy to overdo shaft lean but even if it were done, the consequence would be delofting the club more than intended which, to me, beats hitting a ball thin or fat.

So maybe you can try hitting (and I mean chipping) 30 balls the way I described above, then do a couple of slo-mo swings, followed by slow 1/2 swings, 3/4 swings, etc.  Once I got the feeling it was there for me, even if I couldn't pull the shot off.

Good luck,

Gil