Help Improving Impact Position

[twentyfour]

What's a good drill to get some shaft lean and a better impact position with hands forward?

 

I hit the ball a mile high and want a better ball flight. I tried mimicking what Ian at TXG did with Ryan B for their two 'compression' videos, but when I get to where I 'feel' that my hands are ahead, I can't finish my follow through much past waist high.

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by twentyfour

[rooski]

Your sequencing from the top is definitely off. You basically start your downswing by casting the club, and no amount of drills concerned around impact will make any meaningful difference if you don't fix that first.

 

I'm not much of a teacher but that's at least what I notice. Check out the difference in the shaft between the position of you and Tiger on the downswing. 

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2022 by rooski

[golfarb1]

I can not see your left hand , but your right hand is too weak on the grip.

 

Flare your lead foot 1/4 turn towards the target . This will facilitate left hip rotation going down 

 

Shaft lean is the other side of the coin of torso rotation .The better your rotation thru impact , the more shaft lean .

 

You must walk before you can run

 

Pelvic  punch drill

take the club back to about 8:00 with very little wrist set

then hit the ball .

the lack of the levers in the wrists will force you to pivot better . After improving your pivot with this drill , take the club back to 8:00 with some wrist set. Going down maintain the angle of your trail wrist thru to the finish. Again you will be dependent on torso rotation to hit the ball.Maintaining the angle of your trail wrist will teach you how to hit the ball without flipping your wrists .

Then do both drills  to 8:30 and then to 9:00.

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by golfarb1

[BrianMcG]

Your right hand is so weak on the grip if you had any shaft lean at all the ball would go 40 yards right. 

 

Here's a pic of Jack, Tiger and Rory.  They are considered to have pretty neutral grips and they look like Dustin Johnson compared to your grip.

 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by BrianMcG

[twentyfour]

Thank you all for the feedback! This is very helpful. 

[twentyfour]

Thanks again for feedback. Been trying to make some improvements. Baby steps, not close to that position rooski posted... but slightly more wind-up in the shaft position on the downswing (attached an image). 

 

As golfarb1 and BrianMcG point out, also tried strengthening the grip, and I spent some time with that pelvic punch drill but it is difficult for me. At impact now though, am seeing a little difference, a screenshot of impact attached as well.

 

I don't know if the new swing is an improvement, but it feels a little different and I think I prefer it.

 

If you have any feedback on my attempted changes, please let me know, or other ideas to try, etc. Thanks.

 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by twentyfour

[golfarb1]

Keep with the pelvic punch drill.

You will teach yourself to to move your lower body better

[BrianMcG]

That impact position is a huge improvement.  How is your ball flight?

[twentyfour]

It's a noticeably lower flight, especially with the mid irons, and a more consistent draw shape. I do think the grip change you mentioned and trying to get some rotation improvement have helped. I'm honestly pretty excited about it and thankful for the review and tips. Still have some work to do but if anything else you notice let me know.

[BraxtonFullerton]

Much better shaft lean.  Take notice of how your shoulders are at impact:

 

Here's Rory:

 

His shoulders are closer to parallel because he's allowed his lower body to make room. By pushing that front hip open. While you've improved, your weight distribution is not doing you any favors. Notice how far back your upper body is in your original swing and is now. You want to put weight into your front leg to straighten it and allow the front hip to clear out of the way before impact.

[twentyfour]

On 5/9/2022 at 8:07 AM, BraxtonFullerton said:

His shoulders are closer to parallel because he's allowed his lower body to make room. By pushing that front hip open. While you've improved, your weight distribution is not doing you any favors. Notice how far back your upper body is in your original swing and is now. You want to put weight into your front leg to straighten it and allow the front hip to clear out of the way before impact.

 

Thanks. I do not quite understand what you mean by shoulders closer to parallel, can you explain? 

 

I do see about the clearing the hips part and getting that front leg straight, something I'm working on, my swing thought is to think of driving that hip around earlier and harder, instead of sliding forward.

 

I have tried to work on that for a couple range sessions, and while it feels like I'm doing it, the result on video is barely any change, maybe a fraction straighter on the leg at impact but not much, so still plenty to work on.

 

 

 

[BraxtonFullerton]

Your hips are still not clearing. You get very close to flipping the club:

 

Your upper body is hanging back, like you're trying to hit driver. Get the body moving towards the target and get your hips to "exit left." This will ensure you're compressing the ball:

[twentyfour]

Thanks, I understand now. Watching some other tour guys swings in slow motion I see the same, with that lead shoulder in front of the ball, and wrist even further in front, in front of that shoulder, leading to ball getting compressed well.

 

I am not able to achieve it thus far on anything other than a half swing (golfarb1's drill from above). 

 

Below is my best effort trying to get hips around and opened up, and in video I can see I'm not really close. And still lagging back and my wrists are not close to creating that leading 'main lever'

 

At some point I probably need a lesson, but any other drill or tips I can work on in mean time to try to get closer?

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by twentyfour

[golfarb1]

First still  from 4/29 post 

Second still  today

15 days 

Do you see any differences 

Let me point out some

1. Footwork - weight now towards outside of left foot and towards the inside of your right foot - 

2.No shaft lean in first . Obvious shaft lean in second 

3.More spine tilt  in the second than the first 

4. the clubface is obviously delofted in the second still vs the first 

 
I do not know if your expectations are to win the US Open next year , but the changes that you have made are dramatically better - this is in two weeks!!

Your goal is NOT to be similar to Tiger above . Few touring pros, even Tiger achieve the shaft lean like that still. 
 

You need to continue with the pelvic punch drills 

In addition you might want to introduce 

the 9-3 drill , originated by the legendary Slicefixer 

In this drill you make a shorter swing ( back  to 9:00 and thru to 3:00) and slower ( 1/2 speed swings). During this swing the emphasis is on the pivot  back and down WHILE MAINTAINING RIGHT WRIST EXTENSION  ( right wrist bend ) during the downswing all the way to 3:00

This is an exaggeration drill designed to teach yourself to the correct wrist positions at impact . In order to retain that right wrist angle , you must have your right arm bent at impact and you must have right side bend at impact 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by golfarb1

[twentyfour]

6 minutes ago, golfarb1 said:

First still  from 4/29 post 

Second still  today

15 days 

Do you see any difference

 

Thanks for taking another look. Yes, there is some difference. Just from feel when I hit the shot, it feels like some improvement maybe. But also seems like still not quite there as far as getting that full compression.

[golfarb1]

It is right wrist extension which is the key component of compressing the ball.Right wrist extension is demonstrated in the YouTube video by Ron Cheney  “ every golfer does this - trail wrist bend “

 

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by golfarb1

[Righty to Lefty]

You are out of position in relation to the ball and that is why you are not levering it and that is because you are losing your lag tension prior to impact.  This is easy to see because your trail arm is fully extended at impact and it should not fully extend until after impact. It is important to note that you should not be trying to make it happen, you should be in a location in relation to the ball such that it happens to still be bent without manipulation.  The fix is to move the ball to a different location along your swing arc and much of what ails you will begin to sort itself out. Don't worry about where the ball is going at first because you will think that you are hitting a push but that is exactly what should be happening because you will need to move the ball further back along your swing arc to find leverage and regain lag tension and this will orient the face further to the right for a ball being hit off the ground. 

 

Until you are in the correct orientation to the ball you will have all kinds of crazy things happen because your body is compensating to try to just hit the ball. For how you currently release the club, you will need to figure out how many inches in front of the ball you need to set your low point, but this must be monitored on every shot that you ever hit. This is non negotiable and must happen as this is why you are hitting high shots that would be eaten up  in the wind.  

 

This is a video of exactly  what is plaguing you: 

 

You will need to set your low point of your swing arc in a different location in relation to the ball and you will find leverage but trust me it's there...it's just that the ball is not present at that location.  Here is a video that I made for a buddy that will begin to give you some awareness of low point and how to set it.  It doesn't matter how it looks visually, the resulting ball flight will tell you if it is correct for your body type and that is what matters.  If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask and I will clarify further.  

 

 

 

[Righty to Lefty]

A further video that I found to be very helpful: 

 

[twentyfour]

I appreciate all of the feedback you guys took the time to give. With changes thus far, (thank you golfarb), I've been hitting more consistent. I have a better understanding of a proper impact position now. I can see I'm getting a little bit closer, but still not quite there. 

 

With above mentioned 9-3 drill, I can pretty much get right wrist extension on the partial, slow swing. But I cannot get it to translate to full swing (what's seen in Righty to Lefty's first and 3rd videos). 

 

I'm honestly having quite a bit of fun trying to achieve this better right wrist extension, and what's driving me is that wooooshhh of a pured iron from guys that can do it; it's a different sound and flight when you get it just right, and I'd like to get there!

 

Below is my latest swing, if you guys have any feedback or tips I'd be appreciated. Especially on how to translate from the right wrist extension on the 9-3 to the full swing, or just anything in general. Thanks.

 

[BraxtonFullerton]

 

 

The bad:

Still not getting that "lever" effect with your lead wrist to compress the ball. That's because your body mass is still well behind the ball and the only way to make contact is to extend your wrist and trail arm all the way out. Look at where where his hips are because his weight is forcing them open, his front hip is in front of the ball, he's posted weight on that front leg already.

 

 

 

The good:
Notice that the back of your lead hand is now facing the target at impact because you've made room with your front hip. Going to lead to much better face control and starting lines for your shots.

[TheDeanAbides]

On 4/29/2022 at 2:14 AM, BrianMcG said:

Your right hand is so weak on the grip if you had any shaft lean at all the ball would go 40 yards right. 

 

Here's a pic of Jack, Tiger and Rory.  They are considered to have pretty neutral grips and they look like Dustin Johnson compared to your grip.

 

 

Not true. I always had a weak right hand grip and had no issue compressing the ball. It’s about a balanced grip where the hands work together. 
 

The OP is so out of sync that if he doesn’t cast the club he’s gonna miss the ball.