Addressing the ball with the toe of the club

[highboy]

I have a problem I have been trying to solve for quite some time.

 

 

 

Background:

 

I'm 34, 5'11" 180lbs., about an 8 handicap and have been actively playing for the past 10 years. I have played basedball and tennis my whole life. My clubs are standard off the rack length, lie and loft.

 

 

 

Since I have taken up the game, I have to address the ball off the toe of the golf club or slightly away from it in order to hit the ball solidly. If I address the ball with the clubface in the middle of the ball or slightly to the hosel, my arms get completely stuck against my hips on the downswing and I either hit a dead shank or push the ball out to the right. It feels like a foul baseball swing or a check swing. I'm sure this is not an equipment issue as I do it with every club except my putter.

 

 

 

At address, I am not reaching out towards the ball. When I back up from the ball I hit it solidly but my contact is more towards the heel and rarely in the middle of the clubface. Does this need to be fixed if I can hit the ball solidly from this position? If I recall, Fred Couples addresses the ball off the toe of his club.

 

 

 

Thanks.

[Grum]

If you struggle with a shank(which I occassionaly do, i must admit (cool)), a good drill to do at the range/when warming up/when you're having a bad ball striking day is to address it either on the heel or with the ball between you and the club. Works wonders for me. Might sound and feel completely wrong from the point of view of a shanker, but it does work. Try it with a tee at first. Set a tee up in the ground, set up to the tee as if you were trying to hit a ball on the other side of it. So the tee is effectively between the clubhead and your feet. Try and hit the tee while swinging. Once you master that, try it with a ball. Once you master that, set up normally. I find its helping me. I find it helps me keep the clubhead on the inside of the ball, promoting an in to out swing path I guess.....

a VERY bad sketch of what I mean.....:beach:

 

[highboy]

Thanks for the drill. I'll probably need to get an old beater club out for this drill.

 

 

 

It seems as if I'm coming too much from the inside, hence why I am getting stuck. My arms don't have enough room to clear to swing through properly. When I back away from the ball, it gives me the feeling I have room to swing the club through on the downswing. What's funny is that I'm not reaching out at the ball at impact and my finish is balanced.

[Jim_0068]

Lining up off the toe is perfectly fine.

 

Do this:

 

Setup at a posed impact position with the club striking the ball with your hands ahead and hitting the ball first.

 

Now lower the club to the ground, where's the ball in relation to the face :beach: ?

[Stiff]

You and I battle the same problem--I consistently hit towards the heel of my irons unless I play the ball towards the toe end of the club. Occasionally, I'll even hit the dreaded hosel rocket.

 

 

 

After trying everything under the sun to fix the problem I settled on just setting up that way and living with it. The only other thing that helps is to be mindful of NOT taking the club back too much on the inside on the takeway. This resulted in me rotating my right shoulder out and not down and causing a heel hit.

 

 

 

I'm a single digit index so you can learn to live with it!!!

[tpariff]

A shank is caused by an excessive out-to-in swing, not an in-to-out swing. Here's a link to a Jim Flick instructional tip on The Golf Channel:

 

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/core.aspx?pa...0&select=83

 

As a result of lining up the ball on the toe, you're probably pulling the club too far inside during your backswing. The only way to redirect the club back on plane is to come over the top, thus causing a shank or heel impact.

 

I fight the same thing from time to time. When I start hitting it toward the heel, I make sure to check the path of my backswing. One drill I do is to imitate Lee Trevino's "figure 8" swing. Take the club back outside the target line and re-route it back inside-to-out, then on to follow through. It makes a figure 8 of sorts.

 

Another drill is to take a shoebox or headcover and set it up just outside the ball. If you make an outside-in downswing, you'll hit the box or headcover prior to contacting the ball. If you make a proper inside-out downswing, you'll hit the ball first.

 

Good luck!

[jeffy]

George Knudson advocated addressing the ball off the toe so relaxed arms could stretch on the downswing and meet the ball square. Not bad advice.

 

Not having enough room to swing the arms past the body could be caused by standing too erect or, more likely in your case, standing up in the swing (if you stood too erect at your height, the club's lie would be too flat, the heel would be elevated at impact, and the ball would tend to always go to the right). Standing up is often caused by over-active hips that pull the pelvis toward the ball. Rotating the entire torso (chest, stomach, hips) can help balance things out.

[Stiff]

A shank is caused by an excessive out-to-in swing, not an in-to-out swing. Here's a link to a Jim Flick instructional tip on The Golf Channel:

 

 

 

I beg to differ......a shank can often be caused by taking the club back too much on the inside....read Flick's comment..

 

 

 

"Why we tend to do this most of the time is that our backswings are too inside going back, requiring us to make an "over-the-top" swing coming down."

[tpariff]

A shank is caused by an excessive out-to-in swing, not an in-to-out swing. Here's a link to a Jim Flick instructional tip on The Golf Channel:

 

 

 

I beg to differ......a shank can often be caused by taking the club back too much on the inside....read Flick's comment..

 

 

 

"Why we tend to do this most of the time is that our backswings are too inside going back, requiring us to make an "over-the-top" swing coming down."

 

You beg to differ? Did you read my entire post? Here's the first line just after the weblink:

 

"As a result of lining up the ball on the toe, you're probably pulling the club too far inside during your backswing. The only way to redirect the club back on plane is to come over the top, thus causing a shank or heel impact."

 

Check it out. Next time read the entire post before you start typing. Thanks!

[smarshal75]

George Knudson advocated addressing the ball off the toe so relaxed arms could stretch on the downswing and meet the ball square. Not bad advice.

 

Not having enough room to swing the arms past the body could be caused by standing too erect or, more likely in your case, standing up in the swing (if you stood too erect at your height, the club's lie would be too flat, the heel would be elevated at impact, and the ball would tend to always go to the right). Standing up is often caused by over-active hips that pull the pelvis toward the ball. Rotating the entire torso (chest, stomach, hips) can help balance things out.

 

 

Thank you for this observation. I think you helped me figure out one of my swing issues. I definitely stand very upright and regularly hit balls at the heel side of the club. However, I think I may be compensating for clubs that are over length for me. I am 5'-10" and have a knuckle to floor measurement of about 31-inches (I have fairly long arms for an average guy). I have been told I may need to take a 1/2 to 1-inch off my iron lengths. Any thoughts on club length being a contributing factor?

[cornbred19]

George Knudson advocated addressing the ball off the toe so relaxed arms could stretch on the downswing and meet the ball square. Not bad advice.

 

Not having enough room to swing the arms past the body could be caused by standing too erect or, more likely in your case, standing up in the swing (if you stood too erect at your height, the club's lie would be too flat, the heel would be elevated at impact, and the ball would tend to always go to the right). Standing up is often caused by over-active hips that pull the pelvis toward the ball. Rotating the entire torso (chest, stomach, hips) can help balance things out.

 

 

Thank you for this observation. I think you helped me figure out one of my swing issues. I definitely stand very upright and regularly hit balls at the heel side of the club. However, I think I may be compensating for clubs that are over length for me. I am 5'-10" and have a knuckle to floor measurement of about 31-inches (I have fairly long arms for an average guy). I have been told I may need to take a 1/2 to 1-inch off my iron lengths. Any thoughts on club length being a contributing factor?

 

 

i'm similar...but rather than shorten the club, lower the lie angle...my lie angle is 1 degree flat...it helped trememdously...