Isitthegenes

Thanks for all the suggestions - I went out last week and don't think I was really focusing on anything, as I was all over the place with the driver...I did manage to hit 2 fairways, though, so a minor victory. I'm heading out to play tomorrow and thought I'd choose something to focus on as I'm playing - Rather than adding a bunch of things, starting with one at a time seems to be a better route to go (yes, I am planning on lessons at some point, but that's down the line a bit) The suggestions I've had so far are: - Gripping down on the club - Keeping my shoulders square - Allowing for some lateral movement in my swing - Watching my distance from the ball more closely What are others thoughts on which to pick? I'm leaning towards (and no pun intended) watching my lateral movement on follow through, trying to correct the issue of my weight going to my back foot on follow through. Some of the littler things (gripping down, watching stance) I could try and work in, but I was thinking of waiting until I hit the range to focus on more than one thing at once.

I do see what you're saying there and even noticed that in my practice swing, there's a more natural "flow" that does include some lower body motion as well. The other thing that occurred to me, but is difficult to see from this angle, is that I may be standing too far from the ball, causing an outside - outside swing, a guaranteed slice every time. I'll get a back-view as soon as I can, but am already planning on looking at my address next time I'm out.

Wow, that's quite the compliment - very much appreciated. It took some time to get it into my head to remember I'm not striking the ball during my backswing - it's about creating the start of a good swing plane. I've heard alternating comments about upper body and lower body - some things I've read say you want to keep the lower body quiet (aside from weight shift from right to left) and others talk about slight shift in the hips...Part of why my lower body's quiet is because I was shifting alot in the down swing and when I corrected that, I stopped topping the ball - completely. I haven't topped a single tee shot this year (and now that I said that, I'm going to my next round) ;-)

Just a random question, but are you hitting down with your irons or more of a "sweeping" swing? Also, where is the ball in relation to your front foot? While I can't get those types of distances myself, I know I have a sweep swing and don't get stop on the greens unless it's my PW or maybe a 9i.

It sounds like, by what you're saying, is that I should still keep the shaft perpendicular, but turn the shaft so the club face is square - the first part of this did get my hands slightly behind the ball at address. I think the suggestion of choking down is a good one - I'm not overly tall (6' 1") and never had a club with this length. Combining both of these with working on keeping my weight forward will make a big difference. I'm likely heading out to play this weekend, so will pick one thing to focus on for improvement - and if I'm all over the place, just might stick with the hybrid off the tee until I get back to the range.

I definitely noticed that right away and pretty sure that's something that's taking away some distance - one thing I'm going to try is waiting to accelerate until impact rather than trying to whip through at the top. I'm also looking at videos to find some drills to keep my weight forward on the follow through - I think I saw one that has a "lean and stop" method to get a feel for the weight forward. For the second poster - I think I get that. By open shoulders, does that mean the leading shoulder is further up than the back shoulder or vice-versa? And, for putting the club down, I'm visually a backwards "C" from the club in the air to the ground. Thanks for the input on what's not a very good video - again, I'm working on getting a front and reverse view closer up and converting to a slow-motion video.

This is a bit of a two part question, one to do just with my driver, the other a quirk I noticed today out on the range. This year, I changed drivers and bought a Callaway Diablo Octane driver with regular flex. My driver was from an independent local manufacturer/shop and is at least 10 years old. It was time to upgrade. I've struggled with the push slice, something that happened even before the upgrade. Normally, when I'm addressing the ball, I focus on getting the clubhead square as I take my grip (Vardon grip, still working on keeping the grip into the fingers and not the palm). When I've taken this address approach, I've always felt the like my hands are in front of the ball. I also try to keep the ball lined up a ball width inside my front foot. Today, though, I experimented with keeping the shaft perpendicular to my body, putting my hands what felt like more even if not slightly behind the ball. Taking this approach turned the clubhead slightly closed (from my vantage point) at address. However, I felt like I was striking the ball better, with far fewer and (on a mishit) far less severe push slice. If anything, I was hooking the ball more often than slicing, with most of the shots a nice fade. My question on this is whether that makes sense - it's getting me better results from the perspective that I'm slicing less, it seems, but is it really a long term solution? Is it something that could point me towards a flaw in my swing to correct? (For some perspective on my swing, I have it posted here - though I realize it's not the best video, so a better one will be coming in the near future) The second question came when I switched to my 3 hybrid - also new to me, as I've never owned hybrids before buying the Adams A3OS set (which I would definitely recommend as a good priced set of irons for game improvement). When I was hitting the hybrid, I was able to hit the hybrid off the deck about the same distance as my good strokes with my driver. This seems really odd to me and gets me thinking I should just tee off the deck with the hybrid. One factor I thought could be affecting this is that today I had to hit off mats due to heavy rains earlier in the day, but even then, it seems a bit odd. Any thoughts or feedback would be great! I've just started playing again this year after a 3 year hiatus and have gone from mid 50's my first couple times out down to mid-upper 40's on 9 holes.

There were three things I noticed - this is all said with a disclaimer that I'm nowhere near a pro, but rather someone working on my own swing and things I've been working on this year (after 3 years away from the game) 1. The heel of the front (left) foot is lifting during your backswing, but stayed quiet during those practice swings you were taking with the driver (about four minutes in). I've been working on keeping my front foot planted to keep me from turning too far in the back swing. 2. It's tough to tell from the front angle, but it looks like your back foot is in front of your front foot - I've found that when I do this, I end up with a pull or a pretty severe push slice. 3. Your hips slide back during the back swing and back forward during the down swing - this might add to what the previous poster said about the weight being more on the right foot on the back swing (and contributing to the front heel coming up. Just some things I noticed that have been pointed out to me over the years - and the part about the hips moving, I've heard differing comments on it, but most of them suggest that this is something to avoid as an amateur.

I've been Playing Golf for: 15 years (off and on, just started again after 3 year hiatus) My current handicap index or average score is: 20-25 My typical ball flight is: slice/fade The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Hard right slices Videos: The first swing was a pretty severe slice, but the second started straighter with a less severe slice. My first impression immediately after watching them was my balance - it really looks like I'm falling back to my right foot on follow through - too hard a swing maybe?

I'll try and be as descriptive as I can - it's a work in progress to be sure. My original grip did not have the left thumb/index finger pointed towards the right shoulder - the angle pointed at my chin. The new grip I am trying to adjust to is to have the shaft going from the base of the pinkie up to the second joint of the index finger of the left hand. I interlock the right pinkie with the left index finger and use a similar line with my right hand. This is the grip I'm working on (the middle): I think by the heel pad, you mean the pad closer to my pinkie, which is just below the end of the club. I do squeeze the thumb and index finger of my left hand together and have what I think is an average sized thumb. I can post some photos of what it looks like with just the left, then the left and right together - are there particular angles that would be better for examples?

Since I started playing circa 15 years ago, I've always used the interlocking grip as far as I can remember. I recently got a tip about the position of the shaft in my left hand to help get the angle of the thumb/index better pointed towards my right shoulder, which has definitely been a tough adjustment. Is it possible to OVER adjust and if so, what kind of impact might that have? Since making the change, I feel like I've been getting more soreness in my wrists after rounds (I'm typically playing 9 holes, not 18). Is this potentially a side effect of adjusting how/where I hold the club or is it likely something else? It also seems like I'm still open at impact even with the change and part of me wonders if it's a little weakness in my wrists. I know there are other grip methods and am wondering if I should look at changing it to the overlap or even the "baseball" grip instead. (and I will post a swing at some point in time - just gotta get the girl to hold the phone while I'm taking some sometime!)

I've tried that before and instead of a slice, I would hit the ball off the toe of the club, which was much worse than any slice I'd ever hit. If you get to a place where you correct the mechanics of your swing, now you're going to have to correct your stance again. What's worked for me are two things: - Changing my grip slightly to make sure the angle of my left thumb and forefinger points to my right shoulder. This helps keep the club head square through impact and also keeps my front shoulder slightly higher than my back shoulder - Keeping the triangle from the down swing through my follow-through. I spend time with a club and just take very slow "swings" that stop just after it passes my front foot. When I get to that point, I look to make sure I've got the triangle with my body and arms. FWIW - all of my learning has come through experience, advice from other players and the occasional video I've stumbled across online.

I went out yesterday and played and only hit the one pull, but knew I'd twisted and had the ball too far forward in my stance. I teed up again, slowed down, made the adjustment and hit it perfect close to the 250 mark. One thing I did was focus on keeping my front leg quieter throughout the round and any slice I hit was far less severe than previous mishits. All in all, the slight adjustments led to 9-hole 47, my best round of the year so far. I'll work on getting a video of a couple swings, but it's likely going to be a phone video.

I'm going through the same question myself, as I just picked up a set of the Adams A3 OS 3H - PW. According to the Adams site, the specs are: 3 Hybrid 4 Hybrid 5 Hybrid 6 Hybrid 7 Hybrid 8 Hybrid 9 Iron PW 19º 22º 25º 28º 32º 36º 40º 44º I'm currently carrying both a 3W and 5W as well as a PW that is a higher loft than the Adams PW, Lob wedge and sand wedge. Add the putter and driver, and that gets me to 7 clubs, 15 with the new set. I'm leaning towards ditching the 5w, since the 5 hybrid is roughly the same from a loft perspective and I don't feel like I hit the 5w very consistently (or often, for that matter). I'm thinking my current PW will serve as a good gap wedge, otherwise I'm going from a 44 degree PW to a 56 degree SW which seems a bit huge. I do need to get out and hit the new set and am planning on hitting up a nearby par 3 course to get a gauge on actual distances. With my old set, I pretty consistently hit my 5i 150 and 7i 120.

My fear with the looser grip is falling into Josh Hamilton syndrome , but at least it's not likely to put anyone's life in danger if it actually DOES happen.

Quote: Originally Posted by Derek Ong Quote: Depends. Are you referring to your driver? If you are, and your are doing slices that start at the target, then that's maybe because of a little too much out to in. If you're fading the ball that starts at the target, then you have a normal good swing. If you push slice, it indicates everything is wrong. Your club face is way too open at impact and have a out to in swing. If you push fade, just your club face is too open at impact. If you hit it dead straight, you didn't hit it on the way up. If you hit a straight pull, you hit the perfect shot. For me, knowing the above, I can easily diagnose my problem on the course or range and change one or two things to limit the severity. Also, it also allows me to have some idea how to really shape the ball by changing BIG things that are easy to see and feel. Off the tee, when I hit the slice, it generally does start at the target. I think I need a little clarification on what defines a pull...Is a pull a shot that starts left, but fades towards the target? When I'm on, that's what I hit the most with the occasional straight shot in there. Bad shots tend to be a slice or a hook, with the hook being the result of my turn, I think. I'm heading out to the range in the next few days to work on opening the front foot and sliding the back foot slightly back.

I feel your pain with the misaligned tee box - it definitely gets into my head and I walk up to address the ball less confident than if the tee box is aligned right. I like the idea of focusing on the direction of the front shoulder. What I've normally done is to use a practice swing to see where the button of my pants is pointing to check my aim or use the club face itself to aim. Neither really work when the tee box feels off.

In looking through all of this, I'm not entirely sure how much of it I can apply - I'm not entirely sure if I have an inside-out or an outside-in. Is a slice fully indicative of an inside out? I've started adapting to a slight change in my grip (my left-hand v was not pointed at my right shoulder) as well as trying to loosen up some. One recent round, I apparently had it all going, but this last one - I hit maybe two decent drives off the tee. One thing I noticed in the image from Hogan is the left foot angled instead of pointing straight at the swing plane. I've always kept both feet pointed straight forward and wonder if I've been wrong to do this?

I'm no expert to be sure, but - you may be gripping the club too hard. That's been one of my issues, except the heavy wear has been on the moon of my left hand. My grip alignment was slightly off (the v of the left hand wasn't pointing directly at the right shoulder) and I had too strong a grip on the club. Both changes are ones I'm still adjusting to, but the loosened grip has been tough - I can't recall where I saw/heard this, but a pro tutorial suggested that a grip, on a scale of 1-10, should be in the 3-4 range.

I ended up going with the A3 OS set, which is the 3, 4, 5 hybrids and 6-PW. They'll be arriving this week, but too late for me to take out on my round tomorrow. After all the input and the reviews I read about the A3's they seemed the clear choice to help me get to my goal of breaking 90. It's been 3-4 years since I've played and have only played 9 so far, but shot a 50 my last time out...Can't wait to see what these bad boys do for me! Thanks again for all the input!

Thanks for the info on the list - I've looked and saw that both the A7 AND A3OS received Gold ratings. I hit the A7OS 6 iron and was having "difficulty" mis-hitting that club. Others in the running are the Taylor Made Burners (2009) and the Callaway X-14/16/18 at the right price. Ebay seems to be a great source, but at the moment, I'm very close on an A3OS set - the only thing is that the hybrids are stiff and the irons uniflex - I know I'm a regular shaft guy, so a tad "nervous" about having stiff shaft clubs...

I am a little surprised that the Adams A-series hasn't been mentioned. I'm not necessarily a beginner, but as someone who struggles breaking 100, I've been scouring iron sets after getting the Callaway Diablo driver (very well priced on callawaygolfpreowned.com). I recently hit the Adams A7OS irons and I struggled MIS-hitting the 6 iron. Golf Digest has them both listed as Gold on the hotlist and you can find them on ebay for $200 or less for the A3OS...

Thanks for the input - I've been keeping a close eye on the Callaway pre-owned site. I just bought the Diablo driver and it's made a big difference already. Now I'm just trying not to waste the better drives with duffs from the fairway. One thing I'm also considering with a new set is one that replaces the 3i/4i with a hybrid as I've read they are easier to hit and more consistent than the long irons. I've never hit one before, so have no idea, but plan on trying one when I head out shopping.

Just joined up here after reading some great feedback in some great threads, so hoping to get some thoughts on a direction to go. I'm a pretty high handicap player with a relatively low swing speed (low 90s at best) and trying to decide how to get some improvement in my iron play. Right now, I typically can hit my 5i in the 150 range and 7i in the 120 range with some consistency. My current clubs are a set of Wilson Tour Classic (circa early 2000/late 1990s). I'm not sure on the flex, but they are definitely steel shafts and FEEL like they may be stiff flex. I had them fitted when I first purchased them, but they are pushing 10+ years old at this point. My debate is whether I should consider having the checked out for possible refitting or look into a new set. I'm on a pretty tight budget and, because I'm such a casual player, really want to keep it on the low end. I've seen used Callaway X-14 Uniflex steel shafts for $150, but also looked at Adams Tight Lies 1012 for about the same. I'm also wondering about recommendations on some possible older sets or other brands that, while on the budget end, can help me get more forgiveness with my irons. Thanks in advance!