I am at the end of my rope here, instructors please help.

[jbrunk]

I am hitting the ball pretty good, and more consistently straight, and my axis tilt is good.

I decided to video my swing in the house last night just to check my positions at backswing and the transition. After months of working on the downswing plane and swinging more left, I am not even close. I am still swinging too much to the right and I do not know what else to do. Do I need to move my hands out at the top? If so, how do I do it? I have been trying to “hold my hands up” as long as possible during my transition and that has helped, but apparently not enough. Do I just need to force my hands more left at impact?

I am really lost here and would appreciate some help.

 

[jbrunk]

I am struggling to hit 4, 5, 6 because of a steep plane (IMO), and I worry about swinging right with all clubs because I have always struggled with severe underplane issues that I do not want to revisit.

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

Ok, here's what you need to do:

Go get yourself a 2 x 4 that is about 5-8 feet long or something of similar length and HEIGHT. What you need to do is build yourself "a wall." This piece of wood or whatever else you want to replace it with should be your wall.

Now, what you want to do is put balls next to this piece of wood (not that the wood is between you and the ball but on the outside of the ball). Place the ball 4-5" away from the board.

Start with a wedge and PITCH SHOTS ONLY. Pick a target out that is no more 50 yards away and it is your goals to:

1) Not hit the board through impact (even if you use wood you won't damage your clubs)
2) get the ball to START on your target line or ever so slightly LEFT of your target line
3) get the ball to go relatively straight towards the target (or slight pull).

-------------

Now give yourself a grade and be honest about it, keep doing it until you get a bunch of As and Bs.

What you will find that you need to do is:
1) start your backswing a little more to the outside
2) FEEL LIKE you are coming over the top (but you aren't)
3) Pivot A LOT and feel like you are WAAAAAAAAAAAAY open at impact
4) Feel like your left wrist is BENT on the downswing

Do the above and let me know what happens. Based on your results we will move on.

 

[jbrunk]

Ok, here's what you need to do:

Go get yourself a 2 x 4 that is about 5-8 feet long or something of similar length and HEIGHT. What you need to do is build yourself "a wall." This piece of wood or whatever else you want to replace it with should be your wall.

Now, what you want to do is put balls next to this piece of wood (not that the wood is between you and the ball but on the outside of the ball). Place the ball 4-5" away from the board.

Start with a wedge and PITCH SHOTS ONLY. Pick a target out that is no more 50 yards away and it is your goals to:

1) Not hit the board through impact (even if you use wood you won't damage your clubs)
2) get the ball to START on your target line or ever so slightly LEFT of your target line
3) get the ball to go relatively straight towards the target (or slight pull).

-------------

Now give yourself a grade and be honest about it, keep doing it until you get a bunch of As and Bs.

What you will find that you need to do is:
1) start your backswing a little more to the outside
2) FEEL LIKE you are coming over the top (but you aren't)
3) Pivot A LOT and feel like you are WAAAAAAAAAAAAY open at impact
4) Feel like your left wrist is BENT on the downswing

Do the above and let me know what happens. Based on your results we will move on.

I like it, and will do this weekend.

The only thing I see as a potential problem, is that one of the changes I have made this year is getting my hands more inside on the backswing. I had been taking the club away very outside and too steep. This gives rise to my chief concern: The reconciliation of more inside on the backswing and "out and left" on the downswing.

Thanks JIM

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

I like it, and will do this weekend.

The only thing I see as a potential problem, is that one of the changes I have made this year is getting my hands more inside on the backswing. I had been taking the club away very outside and too steep. This gives rise to my chief concern: The reconciliation of more inside on the backswing and "out and left" on the downswing.

Thanks JIM

you probably "over did it" and are taking it too inside. Notice i didn't say you have to take it way to the outside, just more to the outside than you are currently. That doesn't mean you aren't still going "in." Make sense?

 

[Kevin Shields]

Jim, you had me until the left wrist bent thing. Is that to keep the face lofted or to keep the clubhead higher and outside the hands so it can go left?

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

Jim, you had me until the left wrist bent thing. Is that to keep the face lofted or to keep the clubhead higher and outside the hands so it can go left?

People who swing too far right tend too because their clubface is too closed, just like slices tend to swing too far left because their clubface is too open. So he needs to probably keep the face more open than what he is currently. So he might need to "feel" like he has it more bent that what he is doing now.

However i could be wrong but i can't seem him so i'm not sure. But by telling him that and him doing that, based on what happens, i'll know where to go.

 

[jbrunk]

Ok, here's what you need to do:

Go get yourself a 2 x 4 that is about 5-8 feet long or something of similar length and HEIGHT. What you need to do is build yourself "a wall." This piece of wood or whatever else you want to replace it with should be your wall.

Now, what you want to do is put balls next to this piece of wood (not that the wood is between you and the ball but on the outside of the ball). Place the ball 4-5" away from the board.

Start with a wedge and PITCH SHOTS ONLY. Pick a target out that is no more 50 yards away and it is your goals to:

1) Not hit the board through impact (even if you use wood you won't damage your clubs)
2) get the ball to START on your target line or ever so slightly LEFT of your target line
3) get the ball to go relatively straight towards the target (or slight pull).

-------------

Now give yourself a grade and be honest about it, keep doing it until you get a bunch of As and Bs.

What you will find that you need to do is:
1) start your backswing a little more to the outside
2) FEEL LIKE you are coming over the top (but you aren't)
3) Pivot A LOT and feel like you are WAAAAAAAAAAAAY open at impact
4) Feel like your left wrist is BENT on the downswing

Do the above and let me know what happens. Based on your results we will move on.

OK buddy, I hit almost 2 buckets of pitches with a wedge, 9 and 6 iron with board as you said.

B- Overall

10% cuts
40% straight
40% pulls
10% pull hook

My opinion eek: ) is that I am roundhousing and not getting the right shoulder downplane far enough where I can open up enough.

Your thoughts.

 

[holeout]

OK buddy, I hit almost 2 buckets of pitches with a wedge, 9 and 6 iron with board as you said.

B- Overall

10% cuts
40% straight
40% pulls
10% pull hook

My opinion eek: ) is that I am roundhousing and not getting the right shoulder downplane far enough where I can open up enough.

Your thoughts.

Not a Manzella Academy member, but I would say that your clubface is still too closed. The pull hooks are an indication of this, is my guess.

 

[jbrunk]

Update for Jim K.....

Day 2:

Lots of A's and B's

15% cuts
70% straight
15% pulls
5% pull hook

I definitely feel an "over the top" at transition. I have to or I will crash through my board.

I hit some incredible shots today.

I am thinking about putting some lipstick on my board and taking her out to dinner tonight.

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

K...

Sounds like you need to be a bit more open at impact (shoulders not face) with a bit more axis tilt. My hunch is that before this, is that you were tilting without opening and swinging too far right and/or flipping the face closed.

The slight cuts are fine, it's just a result of you getting soooooooo left. Which is what we want for now.

The straight shots are the ideal, good job.

The small pulls are just a result of being open at impact (good job) but not tilted enough, thus you come over the top just too much and you get it going left.

The pull hook is the result of my last comment with a too closed clubface.

------------------------

I'm glad you are hitting some better shots. This "drill" i had you do is what i do to people who need to kinda "start over" and get back to what they need to do. If anything for you, just keep doing this and focus on a bit more tilt through impact and those pulls will go away.

Once you feel comfortable, hit some balls without the board there. You will probably not swing AS LEFT because the board isn't there anymore, but it won't be SO RIGHT either. Kind of back in your 'sweet spot' area of where YOU need to be swinging the club.

 

[purehogan]

Brunk,
Are your irons fit for you?
What loft driver do you have? What shaft in your driver do you have?
That's great that your working on your swing, but if your club when you put a good golf swing on it gives you a falsified ball flight you will never get your golf swing where you want it. I speak from personal experience.

 

[birdie_man]

It's true. I flattened my irons and improved immediately. Next step...shafts.

 

[priceunderpar]

I actually had the same problem of coming from the inside and swinging out to the right. I spent a few months shanking the ball because of it. I had an instructor tell me to put the wood on the outside of the ball too. Here's the thing. I didnt see any improvement until I put the wood on the inside not the outside of the ball. At my range, they have these footlong pieces of wood out to seperate the tee boxes. I put the wood on the inside with the left end even with the golf ball. You cant swing from the inside. It instantly straightened my divots, and I've been hitting the ball much better. Just a different way of achieving the same goal. I practice like this as often as I can, and I have had a problem with shanks in months. Hope this helps you.

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

I actually had the same problem of coming from the inside and swinging out to the right. I spent a few months shanking the ball because of it. I had an instructor tell me to put the wood on the outside of the ball too. Here's the thing. I didnt see any improvement until I put the wood on the inside not the outside of the ball. At my range, they have these footlong pieces of wood out to seperate the tee boxes. I put the wood on the inside with the left end even with the golf ball. You cant swing from the inside. It instantly straightened my divots, and I've been hitting the ball much better. Just a different way of achieving the same goal. I practice like this as often as I can, and I have had a problem with shanks in months. Hope this helps you.

this will work as well, and is similar to Brian's "towell drill"

 

[priceunderpar]

Absolutly! I had forgoten about that. I used Brians towel drill at home hitting wiffle balls in my backyard. The towel drill is probably what prompted me to put the wood on the inside in the first place.

 

[dodger]

range basket placed between you and ball also works really well. I also find when I put obstacle like board or dowel on outside of ball, I bend the left wrist so I won't hit it. Can't do it with obstacle inside.