Aiming 25 deg right with driver...

[GaryRead]

Hello,

Ok a bit of info may be a good idea for anyone who wants to help. I have a swing speed average of 122-125mph with the driver (trackman verified on many occasions), have been prone to hit down 2 degrees and get spin up to 3500 (believe it or not I have managed a mighty 12000). In an effort to hit up and reduce spin I have worked on flattening my swing and delivering the club from the inside (I have a tendancy to have a negative H swing path)

I have been hiting the driver very nicely by aiming quite severley right and having the ball tee'd up right off the big toe and thats with my left foot flaired 30 degrees or so, high ball flight with a soft draw, with the ball starting at about 0degress to 5 degrees in relation to my 25 degress closed shoulder line - so you could say the ball is starting left of shoulder line by some way. In fact my golf buddies nearly laugh themselves when they see me set up 25 degrees or so to the right.

I guess my question is, if I am having to aim so far right to hit the ball straight down a farway, must I be pulling all these shots and coming across the ball? I cant see how this can be when the ball is going so high and soft. Is it strange to have to aim so far right? I dont see the pros aiming so far right.

Thanks

P.s I am aware that the D plane for a driver dictates that to hit a straight shot with a 0 H swing plane you should aim right as you are hiting up, so the more forward you have the ball tee'd the further right you need to aim?

 

[mgranato]

Do you mean 25 yards to the right?

 

[GaryRead]

No...

I actually mean 25 degrees...

Ok so I havent actually measured the degrees, it may be more like 15-20 when I get a set square out, but over 320 yards, im probably aiming 100 yards right.

If you were looking at me from behind, it would look like I was aiming to hit the fairway on the parallel hole to the right

 

[Rick Dandy]

The better players, tend to swing inside out to hit up.

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

I have a hunch that you aren't swinging inside/out, because if you were you wouldn't need to aim thaaaaat far to the right. My hunch is that you are hitting some kind of pull draw versus just what looks like a slight pull when someone aims a bit right to allow the up hit to straighten/pull the shot slightly.

 

[Rick Dandy]

With your foot flared out 30 degrees and the ball on your left toe, go ahead and move to square up the left foot.

You may see your ball position on your little toe or very target side of your left shoe.

I'm pretty sure that a pull hitter like Snead had a ball position inside his shoe on any bad day.

I have not seen any evidence to suggest that Snead played a ball position off the left toe.

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[GaryRead]

Thanks for the responses.

Rick, could it be something to do with the thinner faced driver back in his day requiring the ball to be set up further towards th middle, whereas todays deep faced drivers allow a tee'd up ball to be hit in the up and therefore placed further towards the left.

If Sam pulled the ball with the ball more central than I have it, I am guessing he would have to aim as far right as I am if he had my moden setup.

Am I right in thinking the more leftward (towards target) you place the ball the harder it becomes to get the ball from the inside (when comparing it to shoulder line) as the club has to go around and left sooner or later.

 

[Kevin Shields]

What are you using as verification you're aiming right, your feet?

 

[GaryRead]

Hi Kevin,

I am using my shoulder line as a reference. My feet are probably marginally closed to the shoulders. I am starting to think the further left the ball is positioned at setup the more difficult it is to contact the ball from the inside - But saying that, as far as the ball is concerned, what does from the inside mean? If I contact the ball on the up, with with added loft and a face slightly closed to the path, even though I am swinging left, am I coming across the ball? if you were to track the sweet spot it would look like I was coming across but the ball wouldnt know the difference.

Does an inside to out swing relate to your body position or the collision with the ball?

 

[Rick Dandy]

It's like this.

If you can get to it it really doesn't matter where your feet are.

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[Rick Dandy]

@FieldstoneGC

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[Rick Dandy]

in edmonton

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[bryan@nobackswing.com]

It's like this.

If you can get to it it really doesn't matter where your feet are.

i would tend to agree. does your clubhead speed improve at all when your stance is closer to square? if not, and if your impact numbers are consistent and close to optimal, you should be good. i've never seen anything written that showed a closed foot line to be less efficient than any other stance.