Too Much Grass! Grrr.

[Miney]

I am a mediocre player i suppose, usually hit around the 90's off the stick with about a 30 handicap.
Lately i have been getting a lot of grass with my iron shots. From around a 5-iron right down to my SW. However, my balls are still travelling well and getting the intended flight but obviously this is minimising my distance. Is there any reason that you think this may be happening? Am i standing too close? Too far away.

Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers

[green6767]

I would guess you mean you are hitting "fat" or "chunking" the ball a little bit huh? When I hit a fat shot, its because of a couple of different factors:

1. I have shifted my weight to my back foot on the downswing istead of the front foot on the down swing, causing my weight to be behind the ball...hence hitting the ground before hitting the ball.

2. I try to "flip" my wrists at impact, this can also cause you to hit it fat.

3. If I try to "scoop" the ball rather than hitting down on the ball.

Taking a bit of a divot isn't a bad thing, but it can be if you do it wrong. Im a divot taker, but I tend to have a steep swing and hit down on the ball. This will cause a divot rather than a sweep, but thats just the way I like it. Lots of good feedback on bad/good shots.

One thing that really helps me before every shot, is to concentrate on hitting down on the ball and to keep the my spine angle the same throughout the whole swing. Dont dip your body on the back swing or follow through. Nice and level. Dipping can cause a fat shot, pulling up can cause a thin shot. This is where trying to mimick Tiger's swing can get you into trouble. He does his signature dip on the down swing and really gets his lower body into it, but he does it well....very well.

[fusioncal]

Getting a lot of grass is good, if it's in front of the ball not the back.

[Miney]

However fusioncal, i am starting to dig grass from behind the ball right up to the front. Sometimes the divots or 'holes' can be up to 15CM long..That cant be a good thing.

Thankyou for the info green. I think come to think of it now that i can feel myself connceting with the ball on my back foot which in turn is making me scoop the ball as you say.
Thankyou, i will try some different things and see how i go..

[fusioncal]

However fusioncal, i am starting to dig grass from behind the ball right up to the front. Sometimes the divots or 'holes' can be up to 15CM long..That cant be a good thing.

That's not a good thing alright, but you're almost there taking front divot.

My question is, do you do that consistently? Like in every swing or just sometimes? How deep is the divot? Well, assuming if take a fair amount of divot and you swing consistently like that then it's fairly easy to fix. Here how, next time when you swing just tell yourself to release just a tiny bit later than usual. Let me know afterwards.

[Miney]

I do it fairly often. The lower i go down the clubs, the more often it happens. Im not sure whether i try and scoop the ball up or something but i dont feel as though i am. The divot is fairly deep usually...I dig up the grasses roots

[fusioncal]

Hmm...the reason I could think of why you take big divot is either you have a very steep swing or your hand is way ahead of the clubhead at impact.

[green6767]

Have you tried recording your swing? I've seen pretty good analysis of video on this forum and have been tempted to post my own swing even. If you have the equipment and the extra person to help steady and focus....I would do it, that way we could better analyze your swing.

[itzzzberny]

try to hit down on the ball not reach down and hit it. when you reach down you change the path from grazzing the grass/leaving a small divot into trying to dig a hole where the ball is lying. from my understanding of the swing.
when looking behind a person swinging (right handed) towards the target
your legs are : |
your back (from the waist ) : /
your arms and club : \
if you think of your spine as an axis. your arms move around it but the spine doesn't move left,right, away or toward the ball...

ex:
take a paper clip and straighten it out. then at one tip bend it 90 degrees.
should look like : _____|. now pretend the long part of the paper clip is your spine and the bent section is your arms and club. spin the paper clip from the longer section and notice how the smaller section swivels left and right when you rotate the long part. i think of that as the best swing possible. of course not including the flipping of the wrists.

to me posture is a very big part of this game. if you have good posture during your swing, you will hit more consistant shots.

weight transfer is just as important. i noticed if i don't get my weight to the front foot by the time of impact, the consistancy of my shots are fade away.

usually for me, i will keep most of my weight on my front foot on my low irons. (9-sw)

these are a couple things that i have learned while playing. i haven't taken a lesson yet but as i play i start to understand more and more about the swing and how to improve. i feel such a sense of accomplishment when i start to fix things in my swing and it shows everytime i tee off. its great.
i started to play on a more consistant schedule (once a week) about 3-4 months ago. i used to play like 4 times a year. i'm almost at my goal of lowering my handicap to 10/or lower. within 2 months i went from 30 to 17, now i'm at 14. gotta love the game.
good luck w/ your game.

[Miney]

Thankyou for your time and knowledge. I think that my biggest problem is not transferring my weight to my front foot or even at all. I think i am far too much on my back foot which is causing me to chop at the ball and therefore get more grass than ball.
I have been trying to transfer my weight but just cant seem to get it how i want it, perfect. Are there any drills that you people know that could help me with this transfer?

[itzzzberny]

i lift my left heel just slightly on the takeaway. before the downswing i step down on the heel, when i stepn down w/ my arms will naturally come down from the backswing.thats how i also initiate the downswing. remember not to let your right knee (if your right handed) lose its coil (aka. reverse pivot). keep in mind it might not be a good idea w/ your 9-sw. with those clubs ,personally, i will keep my weight more ( no heel lift) on the front leg the entire swing. like a 60/40 ratio.

also i am also still workin on the swing.i think its best, when you do your swing (back and forward) don't sway. especially don't sway towards the target on the forward swing. your upper boddy (chest) should stay between your feet and not over one foot.