Problems toe-ing my shots

[Napster003]

With all my clubs, I have a tendency of toe-ing it. I mean ALL of my clubs from driver to woods, irons, wedges. i thought maybe perhaps i was standing too far from the ball but i tried hitting closer but did not work. Any advice? Please help!!!

[TourSpoon]

You may be starting the swing with your shoulders which would give you an over the top move and/or left shoulder bail out which would cause you to toe it.

Without getting too technical, try to get the feeling of hitting against your left shoulder (keeping your left shoulder under your chin longer) as you start your swing. This "swing thought" helped me from pulling off of the ball and to make solid contact in the center of the clubface. Remember this is just a swing thought that will allow your legs to start your swing, your arms to stay in the slot as they drop down and then for your release to happen so that you fire down the target line.

Good luck.

[DaveLeeNC]

Hard to say without seeing your swing. But two possible culprits.

1) Coming over the top in the transition. Then bringing the clubhead back to the ball requires that you come across it from outside in (and you are overdoing it). This is a strong possibility if you are a slicer. Note that this move can also cause shanks in the case where you go over the top in the transition and then go straight through without an outside-in club path. I had this problem as a kid.

2) You are straightening up your spine angle on the downswing. Big push-fades often accompany this move (but hardly always).

dave

[Fried Egg]

If it's not a swing problem, clubs that are too short or a little flat will result in toe shots.

[Tomboys]

Without seeing your swing, it's hard to say what's actually causing it. However, based on what you've described, it sounds like it's caused by your swing path being a little off. The reason why I say this is because a few years ago, I was doing exactly what you're doing now. I would toe my shot, so I assumed I was too far away from the ball. On the next shot, I would move closer. I still ended up toeing my shot. And, like you, it didn't matter what club I used.

So, now we have to figure out what is causing your swing path to be off. In my case, my instructor noticed that I was bringing my club back with the face shut. As a result, on my downswing, I would leave the clubface open forcing me to stop my body rotation so I could pull the club across my body. This was the only way that I could hit the ball fairly straight. It was more like a swing with a hold versus a swing with a release. If I tried to release the club, I would hit some 45* angle pulls. The result of this swing with a hold caused me to toe my shots.

To fix my swing path problem, my instructor had me do some split-hand drills. He recommended that I go to a driving range and get on a mat with one of those rubber tees. Take my pitching wedge and (I'm a right handed player) put my left hand on the top of the grip and my right hand on the bottom of the grip just above the shaft. From there, he wanted me to bring the club back and when the shaft is parallel to the ground, the toe of the clubface should be pointing straight up to the sky. Then he wanted me to bring the club down to the ball. The clubface should be square to the target line. On my follow through, (again when the shaft is parallel to the ground), the toe of the clubface should be pointing straight up at the sky. I had to practice this a few times slowly. After that, I was to tee up a ball and hit it. He reminded me to rotate my body through the shot as I would normally do. The ball should start straight down the target line and then hook. I was to do this drill 5 times.

After the 5th time, he wanted me to take my 7 or 8 iron and hit a shot with a full swing. On these swings he wanted me to duplicate the feel I had when I was hitting shots split-handed with my pitching wedge. After a while, I noticed that my shots were closer to the center of the clubface on my full swings. Not only that, but they landed very close to the target that I aimed at.

Just a word of caution, if you decide to try this drill, be sure to do this on a mat with a rubber tee. Don't do it on grass without a tee because the drill won't work. You can do this drill on grass with a tee, but it will be tedious because you'll keep breaking your tee.

Finally, while we all differ in ability, my instructor said that it takes roughly 1,000 balls to make a single swing change. So, take your time with it because while you mind may understand what you're trying to do, the body needs time to learn and in-grain this new swing.

Hope this helps,
DT

[Dick]

I did that and what helped me was to picture the ball being contacted in the face-center. It helped me. Good luck.

[Gapwedge]

You may be starting the swing with your shoulders which would give you an over the top move and/or left shoulder bail out which would cause you to toe it.

Under pressure this is my default bad swing. Thanks for the tip. I will use it.

[dbornack]

Can be from a number of things..

How much closer are you actually getting to the ball?
Are your arms hanging STRAIGHT down from your shoulders?
Where is your weight balanced? (toes, heels, balls of your feet?)
Does your weight stay in balance for the entire swing?

[TourSpoon]

I started toeing the ball yesterday and my draw turned a little ugly and transformed into a hook that started slightly left of the target. I was at the range today and noticed that I was aligning myself with my shoulders open and given my agressive action through the ball the result was a hook. I squared my shoulders and started hitting it more in the center and stopped the hook.

Does this make sense? I know that most swing problems start before you even swing the club and this is another example of that.