mancgolfer

Nope, not a City fan. Golf only! :-)

Going off these practice swings (which as Stretch points out, could be totally different to your normal swing of hitting a ball) then: From face on, you're trying to retain too much flex in your right knee and you're also sliding to the right a little bit. This isn't getting your right hip out of the way so you're turning flat with your shoulders. It's also making you pick the club up with your hands from the down the line view rather than more of a one piece takeaway where your hands go back towards your right heel in the first move. Feel as though the right leg straightens a bit and the right hip turns behind you and even towards the target, this will give you room to allow your left shoulder to go down towards your right toe with your hands going deeper and your shoulder on a steeper turn. you should be able to see your right foot all the time in the back swing if you feel like you're peering over your left shoulder too much then your shoulders aren't turning steep enough. When your hands are picked up like that with your right hip in the way, you have no choice but to come over the top slightly as there is no room for your arms/ hands on the downswing. Also looks like you have no spine tilt away from the target, coupled with your slight overswing, the hips move away from the target and the body tips over towards the target, this will tend to assist you coming over the top even with a good lower body action. Maybe the steeper shoulder turn will sort this issue out but something to look out for. You've got good posture, though removing a little bit of knee flex and increasing your spine angle over the ball wouldn't be a bad thing. You come through the ball really well though and have a nice tempo. Sort out your pivot/ takeaway and then post another video, this time hitting a ball :-)

You are not alone my friend. I also just don't get on with hybrids. I replaced my old ping eye 2 persimmon 5 wood, with a cobra baffler hybrid, a few years ago and since then have changed 4 or 5 times. I hated each hybrid slightly less than my previous one and bit the bullet earlier this year, purchasing myself a ping i20 5 wood. Best decision I've made for ages, absolutely love it!

Just to add to this, blades essentially have a small COG directly behind the ball. Because the COG only has to be moved slightly to have a large effect on flight path low, high, fade draw etc, this can be good for someone who can control it, but enough rope to hang yourself with if you can't. To start with, you have to hit the sweet spot which again is smaller even to make a mess of the shot by positioning the COG incorrectly. :-) For this you need to have practiced a lot and have repeatability in your swing. A GI iron will have a much larger sweet spot and the COG will generally be below the ball so as to help getting the ball in the air, with the COG being larger it takes more effort to work the ball for a low handicapper player, but again reduces the amount of curve a higher handicapper will put on the ball. But, ultimately to become a good ball striker you need to move to blades as some point, we respond to the stimulus of bad shots, which you just don't get with GI irons. So plenty of practice with blades will make you a better ball striker. When you get to 12 or below with a repeatable swing, that would be when to change as long as you're prepared to put the hours in (range at least 3 times a week) Working the ball is something that even the top players try and avoid if they can, they all have a "go to" shot that they like hitting under pressure and they all have a favoured shape. Distance control and hitting it where you aim will get you to single figures without ever having to work the ball, but distance control comes from hitting the sweet spot consistently. For me, when I picked up golf again I went from: 2000 - Cobra King 2 forged: 20 - 15 handicap (forgiving players cavity back) 2004 - Mizuno MP-30: 15 - 11 handicap (players cavity back) 2005 - Mizuno MP-37: 11 - 10 handicap (got ahead of myself, very unforgiving blade and wasn't ready for them) 2006 - Mizuno Mp-32: 10 - 7 handicap (very forgiving blade easy to hit) 2009 - Vega Raf-cm: 7 - 5 handicap (reasonably forgiving blade but feel I could hit anything now). Think the dates are right but my mind maybe failing me. :-) That's just me though but hopefully it's useful to see the kind of clubs I had at different handicaps.

This made me laugh... and cry! I suppose analysing a swing is a pretty negative process, as you're always looking on what to improve. Sometimes you do have to sit back and appreciate how much progress has been made too.

In answer to your question Stretch, I've been through several issues with my swing, hips too square at impact, high hands, early extension, backing out of the shot, lifting the arms in the takeaway, the list is endless. I believe the fundamental of a hitting action whether tennis, badminton baseball or golf is to have the hips open at impact. The closer your hands are to your body at impact, the more you can be turned on the ball with the shaft returning to the original hand plane as an ideal. This is essentially what I've been aiming towards. One has to have a flat plane on the downswing to achieve this as a steeper plane leads to pulls/ slices, or early extension to get the clubhead back on the inside to avoid pulls/ slices. My shoulder plane being flat and picking the club up in front of me makes me get to the top of the swing in a position where I need to drop the club back onto plane and this just isn't possible with my limited shoulder turn and quick transition. I have been working on this for a very long time and it has been impossible to resolve. :-( Cipher - I think you've picked up on the fact that above the waist I'm a low handicapper, nice arm position etc, but below the waist I'm a high handicapper, not sure if it's my pivot on the backswing or my transition move but I cannot get into the correct impact position described above. Here's a swing from today, slow motion then a few at standard speed so you can see the rhythm, also it's a driver. In this swing I'm essentially allowing the club to set on the same plane as the shoulders, i.e. very flat. there is more forearm rotation to allow this and to be honest I was getting through the ball really nicely and a fuller shoulder turn than normal. I did then try steeping the shoulder turn (and allowing the club to set on the steeper path to match) but it just didn't work as well, probably because of the poor lower body action. Thanks all for your comments/ help and taking an interest.

Stretch, funnily enough this was something I was looking at yesterday :-) maintaining that flex in the left leg and having the left shoulder work down rather than spin out flat. My shoulders level out very quickly in the downswing which means the hands come in high into impact and on a steeper plane. This is something I'll try and work on today also so many thanks for your comments, good to know I'm on the right track.

No. No it doesn't and you should be pleased with your initial deduction as it was absolutely spot on. i.e. the "manc" is short for Manchester and the golfer means I play golf. No need to apologise, remember, there's no such thing as a stupid question.

Thanks all for your suggestions. I'll look forward to trying them out at the range tomorrow! :-)

likewise I'll respond here :-) Thanks for taking the effort to post twice, here's my response from the other thread "I have tried a steeper shoulder turn (and something my teacher is always trying to get me to do) but more often than not, end up dumping the club head in the ground behind the ball. I have a swing from a session where I managed a steeper shoulder turn and hit it well, but still managed to attack the ball with the same steep plane." 6 iron down the line - steeper shoulder turn

Thanks for the response! I have tried a steeper shoulder turn (and something my teacher is always trying to get me to do) but more often than not, end up dumping the club head in the ground behind the ball. I have a swing from a session where I managed a steeper shoulder turn and hit it well, but still managed to attack the ball with the same steep plane. 6 iron down the line - steeper shoulder turn

I've been Playing Golf for: 20+ years My current handicap index or average score is: 5.9 My typical ball flight is: fade The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: pull/ slice I originally started this thread in the wrong area " Golf Forum › The Practice Range › Instruction and Playing Tips › Coming over the top, early extension." , but have now read the posting rules. Apologies to the forum administrators and please feel free to lock/ remove that thread as you see fit. From original thread: " I'm having real difficult flattening the shaft in my downswing, so I'm coming over the top. I have early extension due to the steep shaft and just feel if I can get it on plane I'll get my ball striking where is should be. Been working on this for a long time. Although my issues may be subtle, I think it's the subtlety that is making it difficult to progress. Here are a couple of videos from last week. I did go to the range today to try with a fuller shoulder turn but still had the same issues, can upload that too if it helps. Help much appreciated! :-)" Videos: 6 iron down the line 6 iron face on:

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And here's a 6 iron from face on:

Hi, Newbie here. wondering if anyone can help? :-) I'm having real difficult flattening the shaft in my downswing so I'm coming over the top. I have early extension due to the steep shaft and just feel if I can get it on plane I'll get my ball striking where is should be. Been working on this for a long time. Although my issues maybe subtle, I think it's the subtlety that is making it difficult to progress. Here are a couple of videos from last week. I did go to the range today to try with a fuller shoulder turn but still had the same issues, can upload that too if it helps. Help much appreciated!! 6 iron down the line