Still can’t stop hitting it left…please help! (Video)

[rkodavey]

When I first started playing golf, I had a bad slice, but somewhere along the line as I got better, it turned into a hook that I can’t seem to fix. I have posted my swing a couple of times in the past. I’d say this problem has been going on for over 10 years. Misses tend to be pulls, and pull hooks, and shots where the ball starts at target and misses left (ball rarely starts out to the right, and if it starts left it never fades back).

 

I took this video while on the course the other day. Had about 220 into a par 5 and was going for the green in two. Hit the ball solid, but it ended up pin high, 25 yards left. If I had to guess, I’d say I miss the green left maybe 10 or 12 times a round. The hardest thing about that is I tend to hit is solidly, and my “best swings” send the ball way off to the left. I don’t have a feel or a swing thought that I can exaggerate in order to not miss it left, and this makes it very tough for me to fix.

 

A few observations on my swing:

 

• As you see in the video, I don’t quite get off my right side and I lose balance. I believe that this is something I do to try to “save” the shot. In other words, I think I hang back as a result of something else going on in my swing. I think this is an important piece to the puzzle, but I have no idea where it fits.
• I noticed that I appear to be aimed right of target here (not on purpose). But I’ve tried closing or opening my stance and nothing helps with the lefts. The face is closed to whatever path I tend to swing on. I’ve had several lessons, and my instructors tell me that my face is closed at impact. Unfortunately, the lessons didn’t really help me (won’t go into the reasons why). I’ve tried weakening my grip, but when I do I just feel like I lose control of the club and I tend to hit it all over the face and miss it off the planet. 
• There are days that it’s so bad that I feel like quitting, but that obviously never lasts more than 5 minutes or so. Every round is a journey to see if I can maybe just not miss it left all day. 

 

I really appreciate you guys taking a look and offering your pointers. What I’m most interested in, is what I’m doing in my swing that is causing the ball to miss left. Thanks to anyone who wishes to reply.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScGGzBKGlDA

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by rkodavey
Trying to embed YouTube video...

[glk]

Hands/arms work away from body in takeaway resulting in little depth in swing and not much pivot (your chest doesn't really turn much and you use your shoulders to complete the backswing).     Hands should end up at or just behind your shoulders - you probably are over bending the right elbow too - you set this up by early rolling your forearms and then bending your right elbow too much too early - shuts down torso rotation - with the club going out instead of in you end up with too little depth so resulting steep downswing - you can't shallow from there and swing more in to out cause you'd hit it right (and sometimes right of right).

Face on would tell more but here's what you may look like at the top and a drill to improve - straight arms and you will rotate the chest - in and up.

https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/868322-get-your-arm-swing-and-pivot-in-sync/?tab=comments#comment-868220

 

 

[KMeloney]

I have suffered the same. I probably can't give you any corrective advice, but I'd offer the following, based on what you've said:

 

- Hanging back absolutely promotes a closed face by the time it gets to the ball

- Setting up "right" is really us setting up closed, and I think our brains make sure that the ball doesn't actually go out where we're pointing

 

I think that these two things, for starters, are actually big issues.

[N0rs3man]

Reverse pivot. 

 

When you throw a ball you don't lean forward, you will load the back side. Do that with the golf swing.

[Lefthook]

23 minutes ago, glk said:

Hands/arms work away from body in takeaway resulting in little depth in swing and not much pivot (your chest doesn't really turn much and you use your shoulders to complete the backswing).     Hands should end up at or just behind your shoulders - you probably are over bending the right elbow too - you set this up by early rolling your forearms and then bending your right elbow too much too early - shuts down torso rotation - with the club going out instead of in you end up with too little depth so resulting steep downswing - you can't shallow from there and swing more in to out cause you'd hit it right (and sometimes right of right).

Face on would tell more but here's what you may look like at the top and a drill to improve - straight arms and you will rotate the chest - in and up.

https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/868322-get-your-arm-swing-and-pivot-in-sync/?tab=comments#comment-868220

 

 

I agree 100% with glk.

 

And do add... you need to take your right hip deeper during takeaway and back swing. It will give you more space for  a proper turn ... and more space towards impact.

[RobertBaron]

No turn leads to hands staying too far in front leads to over the top pull. 

[scooterhd2]

Would require a face on view as well, but...

 

Looks like a classic reverse pivot. If you didnt sway back on your right foot youd probably hit your left foot with the club. 

[MonteScheinblum]

Restricted hip turn, leads to right hip getting no depth, leads to hands not getting deep enough, leads to right elbow over bending.  From that position at the top, the ball is going to start left......or it’s a push slice.

 

Lose flex in the right knee and free up the hip turn.

[mgoblue83]

Everyone focusing on your swing is bringing up good points but at the end of the day your swing is decent and the ball is going left because your club face is closed to the path. I have a similar miss where I can flush every shot but always hit a left to left miss because the face just points left of the path no matter what. Going to a weak grip was not the answer because just like you I lost control of the club head, couldn't find the middle of the face, and lost significant speed.

 

The solution that worked for me was to grip the club firmly in the palm of my left hand. As long as the club is secure in my left palm I hit baby fades but the second I grip the club in my fingers like most people recommend I miss left every time.

 

May not work for you but it's worth trying. I would experiment with your grip until you can deliver a square face instead of a closed face before you mess with the rest of your swing.

[harolease]

I used to hook  more of a snap hook  than a pull hook

problems is the face is closed at impact cause I tried to save the shot by crossing my hands too aggressively  
Things I did ( might or might not work for you)

1) Change my grip so at address clubface appeared fraction open rather than square    This force my release to be more of a gentle rolling type rather than “crossover”feeling 
2) Change my posture so my shoulders were more closed and left shoulder much higher ( this felt weird at the beginning cause it felt like I was going hook more) This posture change made me work the shaft more “under “ and less steep so I did not feel the need to save my shot by snapping my wrist and used my upper arms and shoulder more effectively turning in transition so my swing wasn’t all forearms    from the top 
This Created more of a control draw for me. 
There are lots of days when my sequence is off and swing too fast.  That’s when I start hooking again. So important to remind myself to slow my tempo a little bit 

Edited August 27, 2020 by harolease

[Carl Reader]

I agree with the above comments, turn your right hip more! Also be careful not to just use your arms from the top!