jboren

I would think your arms being faster than your hips would be causing more hooks than your hips being too fast. I agree with the arms attached to body comment. It will keep things more in sync.

Thanks for the help...both of you. I had never really thought about cutting/fading a pitch or chip shot. I always assumed at such a slow swing speed such things didn't matter much. I am just getting into shot shaping so I'll see if I can replicate these chips and pitches on the practice greens this weekend. While I don't plan on attempting to hit these shots in a round, I think just knowing how they feel will help me sort this stuff out. Thanks again!

What is your typical shot shape? A fade?

Thanks for the tip Zachari208. Does the side spin to the right come from the spin on a chip/pitch shot that was a slight draw or a slight fade? I just wonder because I never see professionals hit pitch or chip shots with side spin even though I imagine it would be beneficial sometimes if they were able to control it.

8 feet not yards sorry

Hey guys I've noticed several of my low pitch shots have been kicking to the right when they land. They fly fairly straight but when they land its like they have side spin or something and roll out to the right 8 yards or so. I noticed this when they started to go against the slope and grain of the green. These shots have all been less than 40 yard shots and with a AW. More like a long chip than a pitch really. It doesn't happen all that often...maybe 2 or 3 times a round. Any thoughts on what may be causing this? I didn't know such a shot was possible.

Looks to me like your wrist is not flat at the top of your backswing. Appears it might be bent in such a way that leaves the club open at the top. Might try to keep the wrist flat at the top and see if that helps. I'm looking at this on my phone so can't see too much, but that's what stuck out to me most--besides weight transfer.

I'm not a great golfer by any means, so take what I say with a grain of salt. However, these are my observations. It looks like your clubface is closed at the top of the backswing. If it remains closed at impact and you are still hitting a slice, then you must be swinging even more left than the club face is angled. This would cause the slice. So you might try swinging "in to out" or to the right while remaining that closed club face and you will get either a draw or a hook. If it's a hook, then either straighten your club face out, or swing less to the right or less "in to out." It also looks like you might be getting too steep on your downswing. A flatter swing plane promotes a draw flight path. Additionally, your lower body may be getting ahead of your arms. Everyone's goals are different so I'm not sure if you are looking for a techniquely correct swing or if you want a quick fix. But I think these are some general observations that might help you either way.

I agree, because I'm sure it would take a crazy swing speed to be able to do it without wrist hinge. While I think I have a driver swing speed over 100mph, I definitely do NOT think even my fastest swing speed is over 120mph. Since I bought clubs without getting fitted, I'm unsure how to get my swing speed accurately checked where I live. There is a Dick's Sporting Goods, an Academy Sports and Outdoors, and a Golf Galaxy. I'm unsure how accurate the first two would be based on what I've read about their clubfitting, and I've heard GG is expensive--more so than it should be to just use their launch monitor.

Thanks everyone! I've been reading some other threads and looking at Youtube videos and I believe I am correct in assuming the wrist hinge or wrist cock is the bending of the wrist toward the thumbside forearm along the pinkie-thumb plane of the hand. That sounds confusing now that I've typed, but I think I got it. I'm a picker of the ball and I think I haven't been maintaining my wrist hinge like most people who take proper divots do. Without slowmotion video it is hard for me to be sure. I may be brushing the top of the grass after the ball with my irons, but I think my high launch may be the result of not doing that. I believe I am slightly casting the club on most of my hits and only occassionally maintaining what might be considered a proper wrist hinge. I'll try and post a video of my swing eventually, but the only camera I have access to is the one on my cell phone.

Thanks for your reply! Like I said I definitely don't hit it that far every time. I edited out a large portion about this. Most of the time I hit it around 270 (total distance). I guess I just don't understand what the wrist hinge is. Is it hinging the wrist so that the palm side of my hand becomes closer or further from my forearm or hinging the wrist so the thumb/pinky sides of my hand come closer to my forearm? And just so I'm sure I understand, wrist hinge adds power to your swing? Am I correct in assuming that I need to incorporate a wrist hinge in my full swings, but not my pitches? Or do most people perform pitch shots with a wrist hinge? Thanks again!

Haha fail on my first post. I just read the post a few before mine talking about "how high should I hit my driver?" Sorry for making a rookie mistake. However, my question IS slightly different since I'm wondering why my standard trajectory shots don't go near as far as some of my high shots. However, since I've not been on a launch monitor I guessing you all probably can't give me accurate answers to my question. Sorry again!

Hello everyone! I'm a long time reader, but this is my first post. I started playing golf last June while on summer break from college. I'm self-taught, piecing together advice from various sources (mostly the Internet, but a few single digit handicappers as well) to create the swing that I have now. Over the last year, I've changed from swinging mostly with my arms to now swinging with a shoulder/hip turn. I can't really post a video of my swing at this time, but I have some general questions that I hope someone can answer. High Trajectory: I have always hit very high shots with all of my clubs. I hit a 9 degree Cleveland Classic 290 as high as most people I play with hit their 5 wood or 5 hybrid. While at the range today I bombed one drive 300 yards (as measured with a google maps distance calculator that I found after some googling) but I don't think that it got very much roll based on the trajectory it came down at. It was also a 30 or so yard slice so that probably took some distance off as well I assume. I was playing on a level range with a 5-7mph wind at my back. My problem is that when I do hit lower trajectory shots (what I would call a normal trajectory) I don't come near that. I probably carry those 260 and get 20 additional yards of roll. I guess my question is why do my high trajectory shots go further than a standard trajectory shot. It seems like the opposite should be true (from what I've read). It seems hard for me to believe that I just don't get good contact every time I hit a lower trajectory shot. I was thinking ball spin might play into this...can anyone help me out? **btw I am really not trying to impress anyone with these numbers. I've read many posts where people argue over high handicappers hitting 300 yard drives. This is not my average drive distance, and I realize that longer hitting almost never equates to a low score--the goal of this great game. I will be the first to tell you that I am not good at golf. I shoot over 100 almost every time I go out--typically well over 100 on relatively short courses. However, I truly love this game and have a strong desire to get better at it. I'm learning that I'm much more accurate and consistent when I don't swing so quickly, but eventually I would like to find a middle ground between power and accuracy. Wrist hinge: I used to struggle with pushing all my shots right (typically with a slight fade to a severe slice--but always pushed). This year, I have been setting up with a flat left wrist (I'm right handed) at address with the club shaft forward of the ball. Basically I just turn my shoulders and don't try not to move my wrist at all. I've gone from pushing the ball right regularly to hitting slight draws or slightly pulling the ball (not near as severe as my pushes and fades/slices used to be though. Is this something I should continue doing or not? I've read about a wrist hinge, but I must not understand something about it. It seems to me that I can't have a wrist hinge while keeping a flat left wrist--both things that I have been advised to do. Is the wrist hinge just an upward hinge and not a bent wrist hinge like what Dustin Johnson does? Am I losing power by not doing a wrist hinge? It it something I must be doing, but not realize it? Thanks in advance everyone! Sorry for the long post. If something doesn't make sense, please forgive me and ask questions. I cut a great deal out and rewrote it a bit after realizing how long it was. It was at least twice as long as it is now. haha