No Face Control - Maybe too much Shaft Lean at Impact?

[tigergs14]

Over the last month I’ve lost control of the face at impact with wedges up through my 3 wood. Most of my misses are left, but I will sometimes have bad right misses too. I’ve never struggled with face control in the past, so I’m not sure what’s going on now.
 

In comparing to older swing videos, I notice my hands are further forward at impact than they’ve been in the past. I’m not sure that’s it, but I know delofting a club can make misses more extreme. I don’t want to chase this as I don’t know if this is the actual issue.

 

I uploaded two swings with a 7 iron (face on and down the line). Off the mat indoors, here were my numbers:

- swing speed 90-92

- ball speed 120-123

- launch 15 (used to be 17-18)

- path - -0.5 degrees left to 1.5 degrees right

- offline - up to ~80 feet left or ~50 feet right of target!

A couple other things about me that may be helpful:

- height 6’2” and wingspan is 6’5”, which I think results in me naturally having a steeper swing along or above the shoulder plane

- As I’ve worked to get my pressure into my front foot as I complete the backswing (pushing down at 10 or 11 o’clock, my face control has gotten worse)

Let me know if you see anything or have faced and solved similar issues yourself.

Edited May 11, 2023 by tigergs14
Added details

[Coy M]

I'm not a teacher by any means so take this with a grain of salt. 

 

Biggest thing that stands out to me is that you're dipping your head (increasing bend at the hips) on the backswing and standing up on the downswing (losing bend at the hips too early " early extending") on the downswing. 

 

I would recommend maintaining your hip bend throughout the backswing (don't let the head dip down) and increasing bend at the hips in the downswing until after impact. 

 

Rory Mcilroy Golf Swing - Iron Swing DTL - 2022 Slow Motion - Bing video

Video of Rory maintaining posture until top of backswing then increasing bend at the hips when starting his downswing. 

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by Coy M

[MK7Golf21]

shaft lean seems fine to me, I think you are a little steep with the shaft on the downswing though. Get on a trackman with an instructor to check out your impact conditions.

[skyleralan]

Swing is honestly really really good.  I would agree with the others comments I would work on shallowing the club on the transition down.  Get the feeling of your hands staying behind you while you rotate, don't pull your arms down at all. 

[slytown]

Yea, shaft lean is fine. Just need to come in shallower. Work on getting the club down earlier and then turning through. Your swing looks very similar to mine at the moment. Nice and wide with good lateral movement. I think you just start transition with the shoulders. It's very minor, but that's probably why. You have quite a bit of face rotation at the bottom in order to square the face. Remember, the turn squares the face, not your wrists and arms.

[SGT]

At impact your eyes are not pointing at the ball, but at your right foot. Try looking at the ball during impact. Even though you won't really see the ball very clearly, looking at the ball can still help your brain with processing information (e.g. where to place the clubhead in relation to the ball). 

[tigergs14]

On 5/11/2023 at 8:33 AM, Coy M said:

I'm not a teacher by any means so take this with a grain of salt. 

 

Biggest thing that stands out to me is that you're dipping your head (increasing bend at the hips) on the backswing and standing up on the downswing (losing bend at the hips too early " early extending") on the downswing. 

 

I would recommend maintaining your hip bend throughout the backswing (don't let the head dip down) and increasing bend at the hips in the downswing until after impact. 

 

Rory Mcilroy Golf Swing - Iron Swing DTL - 2022 Slow Motion - Bing video

Video of Rory maintaining posture until top of backswing then increasing bend at the hips when starting his downswing. 

 

Thanks. I definitely see what you’re calling out. I thought early extension might be part of the problem here, but hadn’t noticed the dip in the backswing. 

[tigergs14]

On 5/11/2023 at 9:05 AM, MK7Golf21 said:

shaft lean seems fine to me, I think you are a little steep with the shaft on the downswing though. Get on a trackman with an instructor to check out your impact conditions.

I’ve chased more shallowing in the downswing before with different instructors. I think I have some challenge with maintaining it given my wingspan and forearm length (my wingspan is greater than my height and my forearm is longer than my upper arm).

 

I’ll get on a trackman with my instructor in a few weeks. 

[MK7Golf21]

2 minutes ago, tigergs14 said:

I’ve chased more shallowing in the downswing before with different instructors. I think I have some challenge with maintaining it given my wingspan and forearm length (my wingspan is greater than my height and my forearm is longer than my upper arm).

 

I’ll get on a trackman with my instructor in a few weeks. 

 

Probably wouldn't need to do anything different if you got the butt of the club a tiny bit deeper at the top of the swing. A better position is closer to around the heel of trail foot.

 

[slytown]

On 5/12/2023 at 12:02 PM, MK7Golf21 said:

 

Probably wouldn't need to do anything different if you got the butt of the club a tiny bit deeper at the top of the swing. A better position is closer to around the heel of trail foot.

 

 

I agree. Work on lower hands and more width at the top. From this position in the picture it would be hard to get the hands moving towards the ball, which is what you want. You already do that well, its just the starting of that movement from the top is too close to the ball. Larry Cheung explains width and depth really well. Don't change that downswing though. Your feels are great.