SidRixon

Come on then, spill the beans, what did he tell you to do?! I have had the shanks recently, on short pitches. I have to remember to stand a bit further from the ball as comfort zone has me standing too near.

I am in a quandry about this too. I am not sure why I should want to get fitted when I am still struggling to hit a decent ball consistently. I have been playing for a year. I have a set of O/S cavity backs that I would quite like to change and am tempted not to bother with a fitting but buy the irons i like after trying out and perhaps get a fitting in another year's time. Nobody in a pro shop who charges for fitting is going to say that it's not worth the money.

You are struggling with exactly the same fault as me. Been battling it for ages seemingly. I recommend left arm only swings. Not full on of course and not necessarily with a ball. It's impossible to go over the too with left arm only and promotes the feel of the drop into the downswing.

I must be playing a different game. That's a huge caveat 'within reason'? Don't you mean, 'when not in the woods, lakes, rivers, oob, neighbouring gardens, it's better to be long than accurate'?

Can't wait. 'Working from Home' on Friday. Told trouble and strife that the TV is mine for the weekend, apart from when I am out playing on Sunday morning. As watching reruns of the miracle at Medinah last night. Awesome! Come on The Postman! Come on Europe!

My pro once said to me 'Don't hit it FAR, hit it on the FAIRWAY'. I read once somewhere that the average drive for an amateur is reckoned to be 206. Don't ask me where the stat came, i just remember reading it. So if you can do 230, you are doing v well. 245 is an extra 15 yards, measure that 15 on a lawn and see if all that effort to make the extra is really worthwhile. I play with two guys who are huge hitters, but they have no idea where the ball will finish.

Too many practice swings, then by the time you get to address, you forget what you wanted to do.

Agree too with the above that an incomplete backswing (or rather, incomplete turn) can force the arms to get involved in a 'hit' to make any sort of power, and this forces arms out of plane and the ball hits the hosel.

Yes, you are hitting a Sherman Tank, Barclary's Bank, J'Arthur Sh...ank. Been there, done that. You are swinging outside your intended path and are making contact with the ball on the hosel, the rounded bit of the iron right at the heel of the club. and the ball shoots right. I nearly nailed a PP of mine doing this the other week. The reason that you dont do it with the woods is because a wood does not have a hosel. I would recommend some help from a PGA pro. In my case, my swing was too armsy and my arms were not in connection with my body turn, and this forced them outside plane.

This happenned to me last weekend, when I was in a four ball on Sunday afternoon. I have been playing for a bit less than a year, and thought I had it all sorted. Then, last Sunday, I had a nightmare (also had a hangover), and sometimes could not even reach the red tees from my own tee shot. Also nearly nailed a playing partner with a shankeroo that went practically square. I was really unhappy. I thought that I was going to have to give up the game, but I went to the range the day after and worked on basics. I worked on posture, and in particular keeping my knees nice and straight and stable, not swaying. Got my game back and shot 45 on our front nine a few days after. Quote from this thread "One of the biggest challenges higher handicap golfers have to come to grips with how poorly they really strike the ball and how much of an opportunity there is for them to simply improve contact. Since they're no longer chunking, or blading every other shot, they tend to think that they've progressed to the point where their ball-striking is relatively good, and all they need to do is refine course management, short game specialty shots, and working the ball in order to drop that handicap down to the single-digits or below." This is so absolutey true, I agree one hundred per cent. I sometimes hit an iron of the fairway and it goes long and true, and miles better than normal, when I am not even trying. Shows it's the strike that matters. Also, yesterday, I was in a bit of trouble off the tee and tapped a hybrid out between some trees to get back on the fairway. Again, it was so clean and went a long way, and it made me think how important is good contact.

This happens when your arms work independently of your body. You might be trying to muscle the ball and, as per a previous reply, your right arm gets heavily involved and forces the club head to move outside the intended swing path. I was taught to 'pitch with the body'. Make sure you still turn, irrespective of pitch length.

Hi Everyone, Have just joined, hooked on golf, been playing for about ten months and learning all I can. Regards, Paul.