Topping short irons and hooking long irons .. arghhh!!!

[Akhil Puri]

Hi guys,

I played a round today and my self worth has it its lowest point ever. One of the worst rounds ever and im making a habit of it. So ive decided to contact a coach and he is going to walk the course with me tomorrow .

Before my lesson tomorrow i thought id get a couple of tips from you guys on what i need to do to address the topic of this post. Any kind of suggestions would be welcome so please feel free to drop a line or two.

Just to give you guys some more information about what happened today . The par 3s. 3 of them - 85 ,  115  and 175 yards. For the 85 yards i decided to hit a full lob wedge . I tee'd up a little more than i normally do and topped it . For the 100 yards one i decided to go with my sand and pulled to the left . And for the last one i went right . Needless to say it was  a confidence killer and result of which i started hooking my long irons . I have a feeling i was not square at impact, slightly closed ,  for the longer irons

What kind of drills would you recommend for bottoming out correctly? I think if im able to figure that , that should sort out 70% of my problem.

Or should i start with my grip ? I'm a righty and my right thumb is in line with the shaft . I choke down hell of a lot so much so that my right thumb is almost at the edge of the grip ... it gives me a sense of control . Is that a bad thing ? Should i be gripping more towards the center ?

Lots of mental pain after a bad round . i have a tournament coming up on Sunday and course correction is needed.

Any kind of suggestions are welcome guys . Im all ears . I love this game and hate to see myself performing badly.

Cheers.

Ax

[Akhil Puri]

http://www.playperfectgolf.co.uk/Masterfiles/Bottom%20of%20the%20swing%20arc.htm

this made perfect sense .

[Hardballs]

You tee'd up for a lob wedge? On a par three tee shot? You teed it up a little higher than usual? And you still managed to top it? Now please don't take offence, but that just made my night! I'll certainly be interested in what your coach has to say about that! Do you have any more funny story's? That ones a killer!

[iacas]

You tee'd up for a lob wedge? On a par three tee shot? You teed it up a little higher than usual? And you still managed to top it? Now please don't take offence, but that just made my night!

I'll certainly be interested in what your coach has to say about that!

Do you have any more funny story's? That ones a killer!

Way to welcome a new golfer to the wonderful game of golf. Sheesh.

@Akhil Puri , welcome to the site. I'd check this out: .

[mvmac]

What kind of drills would you recommend for bottoming out correctly? I think if im able to figure that , that should sort out 70% of my problem.

This is a good one.

[Hardballs]

Way to welcome a new golfer to the wonderful game of golf. Sheesh. @Akhil Puri , welcome to the site. I'd check this out: [CONTENTEMBED=/t/74723/introduction-to-the-5-simple-keys-5sk-learning-system layout=inline]​[/CONTENTEMBED] .

I apologise! My strange sense of humour often makes me chuckle at inappropriate things! To the op, I did enjoy reading the link on your second post, thanks for posting that, and good luck with your coaching! I'm getting some myself as soon as the weather cheers up!

[Akhil Puri]

You tee'd up for a lob wedge? On a par three tee shot? You teed it up a little higher than usual? And you still managed to top it? Now please don't take offence, but that just made my night!

I'll certainly be interested in what your coach has to say about that!

Do you have any more funny story's? That ones a killer!

Im glad something positive came out of that post !

the thing is i have a problem hitting controlled shots . I usually hit my lob 70 yards and my sand 100 . its the yardage in between that in find hard to home in on. It was probably stupid to have teed' up , its anyway a difficult club to hit . I believe in asking stupid questions so please enlighten this poor soul on when you should tee up and when you shouldnt.. like my friend hit his gap 50 degrees from the turf and he was on the dancefloor.. didnt make me feel any better .. lol

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="Hardballs" url="/t/80431/topping-short-irons-and-hooking-long-irons-arghhh#post_1109568"] You tee'd up for a lob wedge? On a par three tee shot? You teed it up a little higher than usual? And you still managed to top it? Now please don't take offence, but that just made my night! I'll certainly be interested in what your coach has to say about that! Do you have any more funny story's? That ones a killer![/QUOTE] Im glad something positive came out of that post !  the thing is i have a problem hitting controlled shots . I usually hit my lob 70 yards and my sand 100 . its the yardage in between that in find hard to home in on. It was probably stupid to have teed' up , its anyway a difficult club to hit . I believe in asking stupid questions so please enlighten this poor soul on when you should tee up and when you shouldnt.. like my friend hit his gap 50 degrees from the turf and he was on the dancefloor.. didnt make me feel any better .. lol

Nothing stupid about what you stated. I think he simply thought it very improbable that you could top a ball under those conditions. Mvmac's and Erik's responses should cover some of the topics that could help you. You can also start a swing thread if you like.

[TimS65]

Just a thought, but if you are gripping down on the grip you are effectively shortening the club. Wouldn't that make it easier to top the ball? ie: a longer club would travel lower to the ground...

[Rynrem]

@mvmac Below is an excerpt from the OPs post. Does this statement contradict the drill you posted above, or does the head remaining still counteract the weight forward at impact, or am I totally lost?  I hope we get to meet up when I get to your area next month...I'm in need of a swing doc

Thanks

Similarly, if you over compensate during the down swing movement and allow the head and the hips to move ahead of the original address position ( towards the target area) and the head and the hips remain in that forward position until the precise moment the club head makes contact with the ball, it effectively moves the bottom of the swing arc position forward by the same amount.

However, because the ball is stationary, it means that the ball position, (relatively to the position of your hips and your head at the moment of contact) , has effectively moves back in the stance, thus creating a situation where the golfer could possibly hit the ball too soon.

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hardballs

You tee'd up for a lob wedge? On a par three tee shot? You teed it up a little higher than usual? And you still managed to top it? Now please don't take offence, but that just made my night!

I'll certainly be interested in what your coach has to say about that!

Do you have any more funny story's? That ones a killer!

Im glad something positive came out of that post !

the thing is i have a problem hitting controlled shots . I usually hit my lob 70 yards and my sand 100 . its the yardage in between that in find hard to home in on. It was probably stupid to have teed' up , its anyway a difficult club to hit . I believe in asking stupid questions so please enlighten this poor soul on when you should tee up and when you shouldnt.. like my friend hit his gap 50 degrees from the turf and he was on the dancefloor.. didnt make me feel any better .. lol

For the in-between yardages, you can use 3/4 and 1/2 swings with a lower lofted club.  This is an excellent technique to use.  The important thing on this technique is to keep your swing speed the same and just reduce the back swing length.

Example:  My lob is 85, my SW wedge 95, my PW 120 and my 9 iron 130.  For a 100 yard shot, instead of hitting my gap wedge, I hit a 3/4 PW.  The cool thing about this technique is it is also a bit more accurate for me than the full swing.  Again, all I do is cut down on my back swing length, but make the same down swing.  For a 50 yard shot, I can hit a 3/4 lob wedge.  You  also get a decent amount of spin, so the ball stops quickly.  Couple practice with the video that @mvmac showed you.

Check this thread out for more detail.