==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 33 Date 08/23/07 ==================================================== ==================================================== Golf Tip & Q&A: hooking the ball, and where to look on the ball ==================================================== If anyone has a golf question that they would like answered, please email your question to: teachingpro@bataviacc.com and I'll do my best to answer it in an upcoming newsletter. Two questions are answered this issue, Question 1 - Delbert M. emailed the following question: When striking a golf ball with an iron, I understand you need to hit down and through the ball so the divot starts below or just ahead of the ball. Is there a place on the ball you suggest concentrating on, front, top or back? Is there any specific advice relating to watching the ball or visualizing the correct contact with the ball? Thanks much; Thanks for the question Delbert. My personal advice is to look at the back inside portion of the ball, that way you should compress it in the right spot and on the correct swing path, from the inside of the ball target line, as well as on the correct angle (swing plane). Where you play the ball in relation to the center of your stance relates directly to hitting down on the ball also. As you play the ball back further from center in your stance, your divot should be more forward of the bottom of the ball - providing that the bottom of your swing remains constant regardless of ball placement. This needs to be mentioned because many players move their ball back in their stance for their shorter irons, but they then make an unconscious swing adjustment so that their swing still bottoms out under the ball. This mistake pretty much nullifies the intention of moving the ball back in your stance in the first place. If you are one of the many golfers that has trouble taking a divot with your shorter irons, it may help to look at the ground just in front of the ball, which should help you bottom out after you've struck the ball. I must mention that I don't favor this much because it may require some mental gymnastics to help you get the clubface squaring up correctly during impact - at least that's what I experienced when I tried it several years back. My advice on the whole matter of hitting down on the ball is keep it simple by looking at the ball the same way for each iron shot, and learn to hit down on the ball by practicing the following drill: outdoors, take your 7 iron and position a ball in the center of your stance, with your feet shoulder width apart. Now place a yardstick behind the ball about 3 inches, right on the ball-target line. Keep your eyes generally focused on the back inside portion of the ball. On the takeaway (for right handed golfers), get your club to a position where your weight has shifted to your rear foot, and make sure that your left arm stays firm while your right arm has a 90 degree bend at the elbow and that your wrists are fully hinged. In my lessons I call this the 3/4 position in the golf swing. Start your full downswing from this position, making sure that you make a good weight shift to the front side and a good turn through the ball, and try to hit down on the back of the ball without hitting the yardstick. As you get used to the drill, you can move the yardstick closer and closer to the ball until it's about an inch away or closer, this drill will get you on the correct angle into the back of ball. You can substitute a one inch wide ribbon if you are practicing off of a mat at an indoor driving range, just anchor the back end of the ribbon so that it doesn't fly into the range if you happen to hit it. It's especially important to have something to help you hit down at an indoor range, because if you hit it fat you often get a decent result because the mat still lets you get through the ball, whereas mother earth lays the sod over the ball. You could develop a false sense of security in your swing, and actually you could build incorrect muscle memory. In fact, you could practice this drill in the winter, in your garage, without a ball. Simply set up to an "X" marked on a mat to represent the ball, focus on the inside back of the mark, set up a yardstick or ribbon as previously described, and build the correct muscle memory for the swing by swinging through the mark. I'd recommend using an old 7 iron instead of the one you play with just to prevent wear and tear on your good clubs. Question 2 - Tom F. emailed the following question: Just ran through the article on slicing. I have a hooking problem. With a new oversize driver (it is big enough to need a license plate) 80% of the time all I can do it send it about ten feet off the ground, then it takes a wicked turn to the left and ends up about 150 yards from the tee box (that's about 50 extra yards extra distance because of the dry conditions). I'm having the same results with the 19 and 23 degree hybrids my future son-in-law made for me. Every fourth or fifth shot goes relatively straight. I did powder one on the fifth hole at Batavia recently; downhill helped but the shot did go off like a cannon. The rest of the time I'm consistently hitting them low, to the left, with very little distance. Any suggestions before I call for that lesson? Thanks for the question Tom. No suggestions Tom, call for the lesson - just kidding :-) Editors note: I sent Tom a follow up email asking some questions about the loft of his driver, shaft flex, his age, and some other details to help me identify his problem. In an answer to one of my questions, he said that his shot starts straight then curves left, which is a pretty good clue on where his problem probably doesn't lie, which is swing path. He also said that his driver has 12 degrees of loft, and is offset. It sounds like there may be a few things happening here to cause the problem, here are a few possibilities: 1) It could be swing related - a ball flight that starts straight and curves left usually means a swing path that is on line at impact, with a clubface that is either closed or closing too rapidly at impact. If Tom's is taking the club away with a closed clubface, it will cause the flight pattern he describes. If he has a handsy - very active hands - swing and release, that also can cause the ball flight he mentions. If his forearms over pronate during impact, it can cause the ball flight he describes. 2) It could be equipment related - Tom uses an A flex (senior flex) shaft on his driver, which is very flexible (soft) and has high torque. A high torque soft flex shaft combined with either a high swing speed or a handsy release causes off the target shots to the left. An offset face also exacerbates the right to left ball flight, that type of face is designed for slicers, not hookers. Here are my thoughts on how Tom can straighten things out: 1) Learn to take the club away with your body rotation at the beginning of the takeaway, not with your hands or arms exclusively. This keeps the clubface square to the ball target line as it relates to your swing arc. My guess is that Tom's clubface might be closed at this point, his descriptions match up with the ball flight of a clubface closed at impact, and the lack of distance matches up due to an improper release because of the closed position during the takeaway. It prevents proper wrist hinging, which negates a powerful release. 2) Don't force the release at impact by manipulating your hands so that they are closing too fast during impact, my guess is that there is some of this happening also. 3) Your swing tempo has to be very smooth with a shaft as flexible as Tom has, it's designed for a swinger type of swing, not a hitter type of swing. Swing speed is not the only consideration for how flexible of a shaft you use, how you load your hands and wrists and how you release are also factors. For example, I got off a stiff shaft last year because my swing speed is naturally slowing with age, but I just switched back to a stiffer shaft because my release is such that I need less torque in the shaft. I happen to be more of a hitter than a swinger, both swings work as long as your equipment matches up with your swing type. It helped me to move back to the stiffer shaft with less torque. I'm not really sure where Tom stands on swinger or hitter profile, because it's something that has to be observed. 4) Hookers do not need an offset head, period. It makes a bad problem worse. 5) I don't like to make concessions to swing flaws. Like a dentist - I'd rather drill the problem out of existence, but another option would be to set up for a fade to counteract the hook. I did this for another student recently so that he could play a decent round until the effect of the drills he learned became second nature. You can fade the ball by setting up with an open stance, the clubface still square to the ball target line, and swing down the line of your feet, or you can fade the ball by manipulating your hands during impact. I favor the open stance technique. Tom's bottom line is that he probably needs to learn the correct way to swing a club, and/or he needs to have his equipment match his swing type. Hope this helps, Tom