Can't get rid of this fault

[allin]

I have a tendancy to slide my upper body (shoulders) forward when I start my downswing. I have tried not doing it, just focusing on my legs or turning my torso etc, etc, etc. I usually do this when I need to hit a shot hard or into a green after a good tee shot when I want it bad, trying to be perfect? So I will work on the mental part, but what has worked for you when you have a fault and you know whats wrong, what you should do instead, but you can't seem to eliminate a fault? This move costs me big time, thin shots or low hooks from the fairway mixed in with occasional pushes from the tee. I do it three or four times a round, but it can easilly cost me up to six strokes. This swing is the one that is keeping me from single digits.

[sonicblue]

Just my own opinion, but I would bet this is rooted in your hips being stuck. If you start your downswing with a weight shift to your left foot, and then a little "bump and turn" of your left hip, as long as you didn't fight it, your shoulders would open toward the target instead of sliding toward it.

[JaY_B]

To be honest the description of the problem itself doesn't tell us much and for that reason i will not give swing advice, how ever if you can make a video of your golf swing available i would be glad to help.

If you think you know what your doing wrong then my advice would be as follows:

Repeat the correct move/moves 3 - 4 times, focus on exaggerating the correct movement to gain a feel for it.

Take a full swing (say with a 7 iron, has to be a full swing mind)however this swing does not need to be a powerful swing, the ball only needs to travel about 50 yards, its effectively a slow motion full swing.

The slow motion effect gives you time in your swing to think about the correct move you are trying to implement in your swing, and is far more effective to influence your 'muscle memory' than a full blooded swing with a driver.

JaY_B

[golfnut_rlv]

I agree that it is tough to pick a solution without a visual, but try this drill. My theory is that your hips and shoulders are out of sync, for example, one moving too soon/late etc,

Feet Together Drill: Take a short iron, and address the ball with your feet very close, as in touching each other. Take some 3/4 swings either hitting balls, or not. This drill forces your hips and shoulders to work together, in sync. If one goes out of sync, you will have a very hard time keeping your balance.

Hope this helps!

[ks8829]

When I need to keep my head behind the ball and not slide, I try the following:

1) check my grip pressure, if your holding too tight you tend to follow your arms.
2) make sure my right shoulder is dip slightly if you are right handed, this helps you stay behind the ball on your follow through.
3) practice the drill of skipping rocks on top of water, this motion keeps your head behind the ball.

hope it help

[Chas]

I just learned that hip and shoulder sliding has been the main reason for me consistently pushing my drives, a major problem with my game of late. What worked for me, on the back nine last Sunday at least, was simply to visualize my hips as a door opening and then closing again. The hinge doesn't move. Of course it isn't that simple because of weight shift but still this one thought really helped me to quieten my lower body and eliminated the push - clubhead path was no longer inside to outside like before. I did tend to draw more or less strongly though as a result, but that's another story.

[Tomboys]

I have a tendancy to slide my upper body (shoulders) forward when I start my downswing. I have tried not doing it, just focusing on my legs or turning my torso etc, etc, etc. I usually do this when I need to hit a shot hard or into a green after a good tee shot when I want it bad, trying to be perfect?

It's called putting too much pressure on yourself. I've been battling this for years. I've made some in-roads lately and I'm quite pleased. But, make no mistake about it, it's a constant vigil. Just to give you an idea, this happens to all golfers, even pros. Johnny Miller is a broadcaster because he couldn't putt anymore. Hank Haney (Tiger's swing coach) refuses to play in pro-ams because he can't hit a driver. Physically, there's nothing wrong with these two and they certainly know how to hit a good shot. So, why haven't they been able to? I think it's because they've they've allowed their minds to convince their bodies that they can't.

So I will work on the mental part, but what has worked for you when you have a fault and you know whats wrong, what you should do instead, but you can't seem to eliminate a fault? This move costs me big time, thin shots or low hooks from the fairway mixed in with occasional pushes from the tee. I do it three or four times a round, but it can easilly cost me up to six strokes. This swing is the one that is keeping me from single digits.

You hit the nail on the head; it's your mental game. I do exactly what you're doing. I want the results of a shot so bad that it affects my swing. At that point, I'm all over the place except where I want to be. While having some drills to work on your swing will help, you have to work on your mental game more. Understand what causes what. Sure, your slide causes your bad shots. But, what causes your slide? It's your mind. If you had a swing flaw, you would slide on every shot. The fact that it only happens some of the time (and usually when you're placing a tremendous amount of pressure on yourself to "succeed"), tells me the biggest benefit would be coming from improving your mental game.

How do you go about correcting this? Well, I'm sure it's different for everybody, so I'll simply share what has been working for me lately in my effort to correct my mental "flaw". Whenever I had a critical shot (one that I put a lot of pressure on myself to execute) I could feel the tension in my legs. They felt really heavy like they were stuck in cement. Whenever I got this sensation, I always stopped my body rotation and my swing would become all arms and handsy. At that point, while I knew what I was doing wrong and how to fix it, I couldn't. I would take a lesson and practice hoping that each time, I had "fixed" my problem. Get to the course and I'd get "stuck" again. Finally, in the past few months, I've made a conscience effort to change my mental approach. I've decided that I will just trust my swing. This sounds funny, but really, the reason why we have problems is because we try to be too perfect with our swings under pressure. It's almost like our "normal" swing isn't good enough to get the job done. So, we have to do something "special" for us to pull off that critical shot that we desperately want to execute. At that point, our mind is sending so many signals to our body that it gets confused and we end up with swing that looks like a bee just flew into our shorts. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. DT