Quirky swing habits

Practice
#1

All,

I’m not looking for “take a lesson” answers here…so please indulge me. I’m left handed and down to a 11-12 handicap (from about a 20 4 years ago). I have, I’m sure, many swing quirks as I’ve always struggled with path and face control.

I play at address with a slightly closed club face…as a lefty I’m at 1 instead of 12 on the clock face (think 11 instead of 12 as a righty). It works for me…always has…I’ve tried many other swing fixes with lessons and tips, but this is the most consistent dispersion pattern I can get. It’s natural to me - no swing thoughts of wrist rotation or swing positions…and produces a straight ball flight nearly all the time.

Question - this doesn’t seem to work for my driver. Not at least with any consistency. Sometimes I pull, sometimes I slice, sometimes I hit it dead straight. What is the biggest different in the driver swing vs the iron swing that could be causing such a disparate result from the same swing with a different club?

Thoughts?

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#2

My overall guess is that since your driver swing is longer, and your impact position is a little different, you have more time to “correct” your hands… it sounds like your swing requires a decent amount of timing to get everything into the right position at impact, and you haven’t sorted out that timing with your driver…

To me, the impact position of driver feels significantly different than it does for any other club… It’s more hands forward and almost “through” (this is feel, not necessarily what I’m doing)… so my hand position is different overall with my driver…

Honestly, with adjustable drivers, maybe you just need to find what setting leads to more consistent results and open or close the face accordingly… it might be worth it to crank the face as open and closed as possible and see if it changes the way you reach impact position.

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#3

I’d look at that from the perspective of Adam Young.

I’d ask, “What do my patterns show and what do they have in common?”

You mentioned a pull and a slice. Those two ball flights are the same swing (out to in path). The only difference is where the face is pointing at impact.

Using AY’s ideas, I might suggest practicing hitting what “feels” like a pull on purpose and what “feels” like hitting a hook (in to out path).

For example in my own swing, I get very in to out resulting in big blocks or snap hooks. With my driver, I “feel” like I’m trying to hit a slight pull which neutralizes my path to provide a slight draw or straight ball.

Remember, we have to go to the opposite to neutralize our tendencies.

In summary, it seems you have an “out to in” path and your face control varies. Practice the variability of path and face control.

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#4

Interesting on the “timing” thought. The reason I actually close the face slight at address is because (even with a very strong grip) I tend to be open at impact. Unless I try to open the face at address or play with a straight face and then “roll” my wrists through purposely at impact to close the face. That has always be very inconsistent for me and feels flippy and totally dependent on timing from swing to swing…thus the reason I just close the face slightly at address and don’t think about or try to roll my wrists through with timing.

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#5

Love this thought and have had it too. Part of my driver routine is to take 2 practice swings behind the ball with my eyes closed feeling VERY in to out on my path…hoping to neutralize the out to in path of my “normal” swing.
On the range, I can hit hooks and slices as “opposites” nearly all the time when I work on it, but never under control…never a slight draw or slight fade with control.
Again…I just can’t seem to figure out how to make my driver one consistent pattern I don’t mind playing a fade/slice or a draw/hook or heaven forbid, straight…I just can’t seem to make any of them repeatable.

#6

where is your face strike? have you tried foot spray to find your “sweet spot” ?
shameless plug for podcast intended :grinning:

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#7

Yeah…it moves a bit but often higher and more toe side than I’d like with my driver.

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#8

Sounds like face control would be a good avenue for improvement.

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#9

Stronger grip on the range last night helped…I already have a strong grip, but went slightly stronger with driver in hand. It worked pretty well last night without any other changes, so I’ll have to try it again to make sure it’s not just a bandaid.

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#10

So the stronger grip on the driver worked well with 9 holes tonight. Shot 40…which is excellent for me.
Drives:
#1 - 5-10 feet off of fairway, playable rough
#2 - Fairway
#4 - Fairway
#6 - Fairway
#7 - Fairway
#8 - 4 feet off of fairway, playable rough
#9 - Fairway

Not sure that has ever happened before. Hit more GIR than ever…had only 3 chips…all were poor (which is usually my strong-suit…lol).

Sure hope this is a fix and not a temporary band-aid.

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#11

Nice going on a new ‘adjustment’. . I like to think of it as duct tape. Some rounds require a little some alot. But it’s always handy to keep in your toolbox.

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#12

Some good thoughts there for you to digest.

I agree with the longer length of the driver might need more practice.

Always be mindful of what the club head is doing going through the impact; where is all that matters… If you look at all the top golfers’ golf swing, they all come into the impact with the club face position in similar places; no matter what they do in the take-away, the top , and the start of the down swing.

Know (feel) the driver head coming into the impact is the key and from there, you can manipulate the shot pattern/trajectory.

When I was trying to go close to a single digit index, the clubs which got the most practice from the bag back then were, the PW, the driver. and the 4 iron.
Sometimes I’d hit a whole bucket of range ball with just the driver. The driver had become one of the more reliable stick in my bag now.

Of course, correct alignment at the address will promote better swing path, less need for correction coming into the impact and more distance ( because you free up from many of the unnecessary moves in the golf swing ).

#13

I’m always one for advocating lessons. My thought process has always been to take swing advice from someone who understands the mechanics of a proper swing. You know who I mean, if you take swing advice from person that can’t break 80, guess what, you’ll probably never break 80…That said, even with lessons, that still requires one more thing. You have to dig it out of the dirt. You can make a minor adjustment and it may help for a minute, but if you’re finding inconsistencies you actually have to beat it into or out of your system. From a personal point of view, My swing was so bad and I kept making minor adjustments on the course to a point 2 years ago I was so discombobulated I had to start fixing it from scratch. To me golf is about consistency, and I was a 4 hdcp that went to a 12. I was consistently bad. I’m back down to a 7, the swing is becoming dependable. I didn’t take a lesson, I broke it down and worked on every piece a lot of practice balls and swing recordings. So for your driver practice, 2 things, record yourself and play it back, be honest and see what needs adjustment second buy a can of Dr scholls spray foot powder! That does not lie!

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