chipping - toe strikes

[Fauntleroy]

what causes them

Hi Folks,

I'm having a problem with my chipping and shorter pitch shots.

I've noticed (via impact marks on my club face) that I'm making contact towards the toe end of the club and my ball comes out out with a weak flight and no spin....the weak flight makes distance control virtually impossible and it's costing me shots every round.

What am I doing wrong?

[Embassy909]

Strangely enough I was looking for posts with the same question because I do the same thing. The ball just pops off the face and end up way short normally...

[eqman]

Since you don`t have videos there are so many swing flaws with hitting off the toe, anything anyone can say will be a guess, that said. Generally a few problems. 1. outside to in path. 2 Your wrists collapsing into impact.or flipping 3. not staying on your left foot.

One way to chip. First set up OPEN with feet hips and 85% of your weight on the left foot and keep it there through out the shot, make no weight shift to your right foot..Next Preset wrists with a curve or cocked in the right wrist keep it curved in, throughout the complete stroke, dont let the curve break down, that is key, club head finishes low. 3. Use less hands to swing the club. swing slow to start with and start with a 7/8 iron. abou 3/4 off the green.

[dlam]

[quote name='Fauntleroy' timestamp='1312047297' post='3436437']
Hi Folks,

I'm having a problem with my chipping and shorter pitch shots.

I've noticed (via impact marks on my club face) that I'm making contact towards the toe end of the club and my ball comes out out with a weak flight and no spin....the weak flight makes distance control virtually impossible and it's costing me shots every round.

What am I doing wrong?
[/quote]


I think hitting on the toe is ideal, to control distance better.
When you hit on the sweetspot then you have to regulate how hard to hit the ball and anticipate the spin ,

[Fauntleroy]

Thanks for the replies, I believe the problem is that I'm cutting across the ball as my clubhead always points way left of the target at the end of my follow through.......but every book I've ever read recommends setting up open which (to my mind) will only encourage cutting across the ball.

Should I really be setting my feet open, and swinging the club straight at the target?

I have a lesson booked for next weekend to hopefully fix the problem, but I have a bit of spare time this week and want to try some 'self help' first

[mikpga]

Swiping across the ball...

[Fauntleroy]

Could well be......how would I go about fixing that?

[dlam]

keep it simple.
set up naturally left of the target and then rather than cutting across the ball.....
close/shut the clubface and realign your eyes to the target.
keep your open stance.

[natep]

Could be standing too far from the ball.

[Fauntleroy]

dlam.....if I set-up left and then close the clubface, will the ball not go left of target?

[eqman]

[quote name='Fauntleroy' timestamp='1312112291' post='3438329']
Thanks for the replies, I believe the problem is that I'm cutting across the ball as my clubhead always points way left of the target at the end of my follow through.......but every book I've ever read recommends setting up open which (to my mind) will only encourage cutting across the ball.

Should I really be setting my feet open, and swinging the club straight at the target?

I have a lesson booked for next weekend to hopefully fix the problem, but I have a bit of spare time this week and want to try some 'self help' first
[/quote]


Isee what you are doing, set up open with feet and hips BUT "square your shoulders to your line you want the ball to travel on ". now when you take the club back it will move slightly inside. and you wont cut across the ball. The reason you keep your weight on the left foot is to eliminate any weight shift and the reason you open your hips is you don`t have time to turn the hips through the shot you are pre setting your hips for impact.

[golfsavvy]

[quote name='Fauntleroy' timestamp='1312148606' post='3439431']<br />dlam.....if I set-up left and then close the clubface, will the ball not go left of target?<br />[/quote]<br /><br /><br />]

Try it and find out if it goes left...don't assume that it will. If you're hitting the ball on the toe and you close the face you may well balance out the problem. You're hitting a weak shot, so learn things that will make it a strong shot, such as closing the face. If you need more loft, use a different club. If you are close to the ball and the clubhead is toe-down -- which is a valuable position to learn -- closing the face will make it stronger and you'll be surprised at how straight you may hit the ball.

Closing the face I call 'cheating' it a bit. Nothing wrong with changing face position and keeping a movement to see what will happen.

If you're too far from the ball I would think you would be having some 'bladed' shot problems, but perhaps not...

[hintzd]

I was doing this all the time. My quick fix was addressing the ball closer to the hosel. Getting better contact on the center of the face. I must have an outside - in swing path on my chips. This is working for me at this moment, but I will try to practice more and get this corrected.

David

[dlam]

[quote name='Fauntleroy' timestamp='1312148606' post='3439431']
dlam.....if I set-up left and then close the clubface, will the ball not go left of target?
[/quote]

No you have to realign, ground the club and regrip this will set your eyes and shoulders square to the target.
You can keep the stance open but square hips are not essential.
The important part is the eyes, shoulders and forearm is square.

The forearms, clubshaft and armpits form this letter Y
You can play around with this letter Y formation and make it look more like "y" for chipping.

[bobcat]

I have often seen this in higher handicap players. It is usually the result of "flipping", (breaking down of the wrists at impact). Solution if to hold the wrist angle while chipping and make sure you keep the grip end of the club moving forward through the impact zone.

If you flip the wrists, you will close down the face from out to in which will lead to very inconsistent, (and mostly toe), contact as you have described.

[klbcec]

Great tip! Really helped to instantly correct this toe hit issue for me.

Thank you

[Golfbeat]

Some say that hitting off the toe is actually what you should do.

[Nels55]

@Fauntleroy, one solution is to practice hitting the ball on the toe, on the heel and centered up. When you can intentionally hit the ball anywhere on the face that you wish the problem will no longer exist. You will also gain an understanding of what causes a toe hit for you.

[Newgs]

I recently did a chipping and pitching clinic with a pretty well renowned teacher in AL and he was coaching us to hit it more off of the toe for certain shots. If I remember what he said correctly when you let the bounce of the club do its work hitting off the toe gives you better distance control and still plenty of spin to stop the ball. It kind of starts with your set up though to be able to execute correctly.

[glk]

2nd toe hit Bit more detail on why