Hit impulse

[Brickman]

I have been having trouble with my game for quite a while.  I have taken lessons and the pro and I have been working on it but things aren't improving too much.  I come over the top a lot and have a hit impulse when I swing.  I've tried to harness it but it's not very easy.  Just wondering if anyone has had that problem and might be able to give me some tips to help shake these bad habits. 

[Piz]

I've had some success, combating the hit impulse, by imagining the path thru the ball and then replicating said path.  Instead of attacking the golf ball; I paint a stripe thru it.  

[Ernest Jones]

This probably won't help much, but consider this: it's not your job to hit the ball, your job is to swing the club. Hitting the ball is the club's job. 

[MarvChamp]

Or one can pick a spot on the back of the ball, do the Nicklaus right head turn,  and hit or sweep through  that spot. This helped me keep behind the ball at the beginning of the swing before the hips move forward. Oddly, I hit the ball a bit harder because my club speed increases (I think). -Marv

[IrishAndy]

I've never had a huge hit impulse, but it'll creep in occasionally.

 

May not help, but one thing that worked for me was a common drill just swinging from parallel on the backswing to parallel on the through swing (starting statically at parallel in the backswing).  It's such a short distance to the ball from there and because the club head is largely behind the ball and low vs. way above the ball that it's hard for me to try to murder it... I find it easier to get a through-swing to parallel on the other side.  No instant fix at all, but curbs my tendencies somewhat.

[Brickman]

I appreciate the tip IrishAndy.  I will try it.  Thanks!!!!

 

[billchao]

What exactly is a hit impulse? Isn't it just one of those old cliches people use as a "cause" for flipping?

[Brickman]

To me it's fixating on hitting the ball rather than swinging the club.  

Edited September 12, 2017 by Brickman

[IrishAndy]

Yep, conversely it leads to really bad strikes for me and a lot less power.  With the driver I can hit it dead out of the heel that way.  Horrible shots.

[Brickman]

I went to the range this morning and worked solely on may driver.  After hitting a lot of good and bad shots I came to my own realization.  If I try to swing hard the ball goes low and mostly left.   I started swinging easy with much better tempo and the results were much better.  That is going to be my one single swing thought with the driver:  tempo.

[dzclarkcpa]

On 9/12/2017 at 11:00 AM, billchao said:

What exactly is a hit impulse? Isn't it just one of those old cliches people use as a "cause" for flipping?

Oh, I can answer this one!

It is where my only goal in life is to get the clubhead to the ball! Think of a lumberjack with an axe and that is sometimes how I feel with a golf club in my hands. For me, it happens mostly with irons and it is obvious to my playing partners that my swing stops short. I have to make conscious efforts to finish my swing. I will usually lose 8-12 yards with a hit swing than a swing swing.

In my case its not flipping, as I am still able to compress the ball when I make contact, it is usually just a much deeper divot caused by what I believe is coming over the top.

 

[Buckeyebowman]

On 9/12/2017 at 12:00 PM, billchao said:

What exactly is a hit impulse? Isn't it just one of those old cliches people use as a "cause" for flipping?

 

On 9/12/2017 at 2:36 PM, Brickman said:

To me it's fixating on hitting the ball rather than swinging the club.  

Yup! It has nothing to do with flipping. It has more to do with sawing the backswing off short because you get in a hurry to "hit" the ball!

Way back in the day I read a tip about this. The guy said to imagine the ball, especially on tee shots, as a soap bubble sitting on the tee. All you want to do is swing the club, and pop that soap bubble! If you can implant that in your mind, it has a wonderful way of freeing up your swing motion. It can stop you from "hitting at" the ball, and lead to "swinging through" it!

[downbylaw11]

if your swinging over the top, maybe you should try swinging from under the bottom. that may sound stupid and sarcastic but it's true.  if you try to get your hands and club to just go back down the arc you've created on the backswing, youll now be swinging from under the plane, or more on plane than when you come over the top.  it's one of these concepts that clicked for me recently. i've watched lots of videos and done lots of drills to fix over the top, but what I really needed was to think differently about what I was trying to do, and I really saw it while watching a video of someones swing.  of course once you know, you actually have to do it, and stick to it, and keep doing reps even if you hit bad shots, which you probably will since it's the exact opposite of what you've been doing.   it definitely feels weird at first, but also amazing.  when i first started doing it, it almost feels like im doing a jim furyk-like loop to re-route the club, but in reality, not really because my backswing is not steep like furyks, but it almost feels like im trying to scoop the ball because im going under as opposed to over, but as long as your hands are in front of the ball at impact, then youre not scooping. 

 

does any of this make sense?  it's hard. but maybe not so hard if you change the way you think about what youre trying to accomplish with each swing

oh, and to do this you gotta relax your arms on the downswing, so they have a chance to just fall and whip through the arc instead of being connected to your shoulders and having your upper buddy guide them to the ball.  

as far as 'hit impulse' goes, I don't really think it's a serious issue if youre doing other things right.  i mean, after all, you are hitting a golf ball, so focusing on hitting a ball is probably not the worst thing you can do.  yeah, some people have success feeling as though theyre hitting 4 inches after the ball or similar swing thoughts,  but if youre coming over the top, it's not because youre focused on hitting the ball, it's because youre coming over the top 

Edited September 18, 2017 by downbylaw11

[amishboy51]

On 9/17/2017 at 9:32 PM, Buckeyebowman said:

 

Yup! It has nothing to do with flipping. It has more to do with sawing the backswing off short because you get in a hurry to "hit" the ball!

Way back in the day I read a tip about this. The guy said to imagine the ball, especially on tee shots, as a soap bubble sitting on the tee. All you want to do is swing the club, and pop that soap bubble! If you can implant that in your mind, it has a wonderful way of freeing up your swing motion. It can stop you from "hitting at" the ball, and lead to "swinging through" it!

That's exactly what I feel; I can take a nice practice swing, with decent tempo, then step up to the ball and it's as if the practice swing (and swing thought) never occurred, as I "lunge" to "hit" the ball, rather than just swing. So frustrating!

[Buckeyebowman]

I have the same thing nowadays! My golf buddy will tell me, "Gary, your hands didn't even get shoulder high on that swing!" I'm 65 now and have lost some flexibility, but I can still make a fairly full turn. I just get in too big of a hurry to hit the ball.

[amishboy51]

I'm not even sure that I can still make a "fairly full turn" (although my practice swing feels at least a little fuller than my actual swing).

[Buckeyebowman]

And there's the problem! Mine as well as yours!