From a block to a duck hook?

[carpediem4300]

So after a long suffering few months of skying my irons high and right and blocking my driver i decided to start playing with my swing mid round yesterday and from the transition point i started trying to flatten my shoulder downswing plane and really pull hard left with my left shoulder to try and make my swing more rotational rather than "hitting" at the ball Well my irons went from high,short,right,shank,duffs to clean contact, decent distance and starting on line tailing off 5 yards or so right at the end, slightly more pronounced the longer the iron but workable and im overly happy with that The driver though- from hight right blocks/block slices to super low trajectory, duck hooks, tops and still the occasional block :( I have no idea what my flatter swing idea is doing in relation to the swing but the vast change on driver is confusing the crap outta me Any ideas? I dint have a video as yet because i only made the change yesterday but i have a video lesson booked wednesday so should be able to upload one then

[boogielicious]

Did you change your ball position?

[carpediem4300]

No kept it as consistent as an amateur can be consistent, then tried moving it back and the same happened, then foreard was worse lol My mate just suggested my grip was to strong perhaps? Id strengthed it to try and combat the block, perhaps the flatter downswing and strong grip dont like each other?

[MS256]

Ah. My favorite two misses. (Not really).

In my case the club head path is in to out. (Sometimes/many times to a fault).

Clubface square to the path I get a nice long straight ball right of target. (Usually happens with OB or trouble left).

Close the clubface more (either at address or by chickening out) and I get the old duck hook. (Usually happens with OB or trouble right).

[tomvk77]

I think what happend is this.

By flattening the swing.

Your take away is to much on the inside

coming back at the ball you can be blocked by your hipps

and the only thing you basically can do is flick the wrists to make

contact with the ball. In most cases this is with a closed clubface

there is is your big hook.

Same thing happend to me,

i try to focus on a wide (maybe little outside ) takeaway and on the end i try

to point my left handpalm to the target.

I now get a little draw.

hope this helps

[carpediem4300]

Cheers for that tom Had my lesson last night and wow, for years i thought my block/hook/shank was a result of as u say to far inside to out Turns out my backswing is relatively fine, the downswing though i throw my hands away from my body and get the clubhead way out in front and really cut across the ball Last night was blocks/shanks galore So im now trying to do more of what i was trying to stop doing and attack from the inside, hands closer to the body and laggin the club more

[carpediem4300]

On and my weightshift sucked on the downswing, halfway down id start falling back onto my right foot and hips stalled never getting forward

[HawkNballs]

Ah. My favorite two misses. (Not really).

In my case the club head path is in to out. (Sometimes/many times to a fault).

Clubface square to the path I get a nice long straight ball right of target. (Usually happens with OB or trouble left).

Close the clubface more (either at address or by chickening out) and I get the old duck hook. (Usually happens with OB or trouble right).

This ^^^

After awhile... you know you're going to push it right and you flip your wrist to save it.  That's where the duck hook probably comes from.

Sounds like you're swinging inside to out.

[carpediem4300]

Well hit the range and really concentrated on dropping the hands deep on the downswing and attacking from the inside and made some great shots, bit inconsistent but something i can groove, Still struggling from hooking but i think thats flip orientated

[Ernest Jones]

Unless I'm mistaken, a duck hook and a block/push are more or less the same swing with a different clubface orientation at impact. Like @MS256 said, both have a path travelling in to out (probably to an extreme) so when the face squares up to the path you get a big old blocked push and when you get the face to close relative to that extreme in to out path it takes a hard left turn.

It would be good to get some video to see if your "flatter" swing is any different from your other swing. I suspect that you need to work on getting your path a little more neutral, I dunno how, I'll leave that to the experts.

These are my main misses too. I've spent so much time and energy on eliminating my old slicer path that I tend to over do it now and can hit some pretty big hooks. Face control is a pretty difficult piece for me.

[vangator]

The driver though- from high right blocks/block slices to super low trajectory, duck hooks, tops and still the occasional block :(

I'm just guessing, but that probably wasn't one of your better rounds was it?. :-D

[carpediem4300]

I'm just guessing, but that probably wasn't one of your better rounds was it?. :-D

Lol still shot a 97 but been low 80's most of the year so not great!!! Ernest jones - im still steep ish on the backswing, im also quite compact, the pro showed on the video why i was getting confused and thinking i was to inside-out when im actually outside-in, the hooks/blocks happen as my weightshift seings to my backfoot on the downswing combined with the ott move im hooking/shanking/blocking it slightly but with alot of slice spin If i had a good weightshift forward id just shank/hook everything with an ott move I hit alot of blocks with the driver at the range last night with my new swing thoughts but they were straight blocks, probably 15 yards off line....id take that over a 30 yard push slice right now!! I did some hooks to, as i did with the long irons, but that i believe is either me flipping at it or not weight shifting properly

[HawkNballs]

Are the hooks starting right and going left?  or starting left and going left?  You might be pull hooking it.  That's a different beast.

[carpediem4300]

Mixture tbh, mostly starting right and hooking back over again The joys of a swing change i guess Ive soent so many years trying to fix a block/block slice ive gone 100% the ither way haha, gotta work backwards now

[colin007]

Mixture tbh, mostly starting right and hooking back over again

The joys of a swing change i guess

Ive soent so many years trying to fix a block/block slice ive gone 100% the ither way haha, gotta work backwards now

a block and a push duck hook can be similar animals.  if you swing too far out to the right, and dont get the clubface left of your path, youll hit a block.  if the face is pointed even farther right than the path then you can hit push slices - despite having an in to out swing.  if you get the face pointed a little closed to the path, itll draw.  if youre drawing it too hard, then straighten the path a bit, still in to out but not as severely.

the steepness of your swing is probably a byproduct of not getting the weight forward.  getting your weight forward does great things for shallowing out your angle of attack.

[Golfingdad]

a block and a push duck hook can be similar animals.  if you swing too far out to the right, and dont get the clubface left of your path, youll hit a block.  if the face is pointed even farther right than the path then you can hit push slices - despite having an in to out swing.  if you get the face pointed a little closed to the path, itll draw.  if youre drawing it too hard, then straighten the path a bit, still in to out but not as severely.

the steepness of your swing is probably a byproduct of not getting the weight forward.  getting your weight forward does great things for shallowing out your angle of attack.

I've tried to explain this (well, the exact opposite) to my dad on numerous occasions, with very little luck.  He can't figure out how he can hit a big ugly pull slice and then drill one straight and solid but 30 yards left of everything.  I try to tell him it's just a small variation in the clubface to go along with his MASSIVE over the top leftward swing.

[techrx]

I've had spells of doing the exact same thing. My problem was with my release. The inside to out swing is fine as long as you release the club down (towards the ground) instead of out (away from your body). It's amazing how much that small change affects the angle of the club face at impact. Good luck

[colin007]

I've tried to explain this (well, the exact opposite) to my dad on numerous occasions, with very little luck.  He can't figure out how he can hit a big ugly pull slice and then drill one straight and solid but 30 yards left of everything.  I try to tell him it's just a small variation in the clubface to go along with his MASSIVE over the top leftward swing.

yeah, isnt it funny how we cant wrap our heads around something sometimes?  and then when you finally get it, its all like

for me, the easiest and most concise way to think it through is "the ball starts approx where the face is pointing, and then curves away from the path".  easy peasy.

I've had spells of doing the exact same thing. My problem was with my release. The inside to out swing is fine as long as you release the club down (towards the ground) instead of out (away from your body). It's amazing how much that small change affects the angle of the club face at impact. Good luck

im sorry but this really doesnt seem to make any sense?