Hitting Short Irons to the Left of the target

[boober]

Can anyone tell me why my short iron shots are always going left of the target.
My long and mid irons are fine.
And how do I correct it?

[Pingnut]

Aim right :rofl:

Just kidding.. Does your ball start straight and turn left, or start left and continue straight?? Could be either a swing issue, or your lie angles could be to upright on your short irons..

[boober]

Aim right :rofl:

Just kidding.. Does your ball start straight and turn left, or start left and continue straight?? Could be either a swing issue, or your lie angles could be to upright on your short irons..

Nope, ball goes straight left.
Its like I am swing in with my short irons.

[hogannut]

More than likely you swing plane is going across your ideal line. WIth the higher lofts that produce more back spin your ball goes left. However if your ball goes dead straight with the longer clubs my opinion is your wrists are breaking down to early. I have struggled with this (pulling/hooking) and never understood why until this year when I went for lessons. You should go to an instructor and tell him you think either your wrists are breaking to early OR you are going outside you swing plane (more than likely in the downswing). I betcha your problem is one of these 2 issues.

For me I have struggled for this for a long time. It is very frustrating because you don't know what you are doing wrong, and for me anyway was something that happened only periodically......usually when there was a bit of pressure on me.

It has taken me almost 6 months to really grasp how the right wrist is supposed to behave during the golf swing. Many hours of practice and tons of frustration, but since mid August I have not hit many pull hooks, so it is working.

If you would like I can give you the name of my instructor. He is very good.

[corchard]

More than likely you swing plane is going across your ideal line. WIth the higher lofts that produce more back spin your ball goes left. However if your ball goes dead straight with the longer clubs my opinion is your wrists are breaking down to early. I have struggled with this (pulling/hooking) and never understood why until this year when I went for lessons. You should go to an instructor and tell him you think either your wrists are breaking to early OR you are going outside you swing plane (more than likely in the downswing). I betcha your problem is one of these 2 issues.

For me I have struggled for this for a long time. It is very frustrating because you don't know what you are doing wrong, and for me anyway was something that happened only periodically......usually when there was a bit of pressure on me.

It has taken me almost 6 months to really grasp how the right wrist is supposed to behave during the golf swing. Many hours of practice and tons of frustration, but since mid August I have not hit many pull hooks, so it is working.

If you would like I can give you the name of my instructor. He is very good.

Also with shorter clubs (ball closer to the feet) the tendancy is for the swing plane to be a little more upright leading to a slightly outside in swing path.

[luv2golow]

Also with shorter clubs (ball closer to the feet) the tendancy is for the swing plane to be a little more upright leading to a slightly outside in swing path.

Look at you. Mr. Technical. And I just thought you were one of those ball go far guys. Well kudos to you sir. Kudos.:cookoo:

[corchard]

Look at you. Mr. Technical. And I just thought you were one of those ball go far guys. Well kudos to you sir. Kudos.:cookoo:

I look at myself in the mirror all the time. Occasionally while practicing golf shots. I've also had 7 different instructors in 5 years. They've all quit golf and taken up embroidery or lawn bowling or just simple checked themsleves into Bellview. My last instructor was seen walking alone somewhere in Utah mutting to himself...

[dohboy]

Hey HN, could you elaborate a little more on the wrists breaking too early piece. Thanks!

[hogannut]

Hey HN, could you elaborate a little more on the wrists breaking too early piece. Thanks!

It's very difficult to describe in words you really have to see it for yourself, but I will try.

Take your stance, and without moving any other part of your except your hands/wrists extend the clubs back so it is waist high, with the shaft parallel to the ground. You see some PGA guys do this in their pre-shot, CHris Dimarco and Mike Weir's old swing are 2 examples that come to mind. This is also a good check to make sure your backswing is not going to far inside to start. IF done properly the toe should point straight up, and the shaft should be parallel to the target line or the line formed by your feet if you put a shaft along the ground at your toes. OR you can think of it as the butt of the shaft should point at your target.

Essentially at this point you have "loaded" the club. You should notice your right hand is "cocked" and your wrist will more or less be at a 90 degree angle to your forearm. THis wrist cock is what creates the power from your hands anyway. This "loaded" wrist DOES NOT RELEASE UNTIL WELL AFTER IMPACT. Any wrist release earlier is known as "flipping" your wrists. Tiger does this when he is hitting his driver poorly, which is why Tiger can miss left or right when he is not hitting it well.

What my instructor got me to do was to hit little 30-50 yard lob wedge shots and maintain that wrist cock from half way back to half way through. If you hit the ball correctly it will go up in the air and go completely straight and have an "end over end" spin....not a side spin. Any side spin and your wrists are breaking down. Your hands ALWAYS remain in front of the club and after impact your club face should point to the sky.

THis was extremely difficult for me to grasp, and took about 4 months to do consistently, and I am a decent player currently at a 4 handicap.

Anyway give it a try. It is a boring frustrating drill but nothing has ever helped me as much for consistency as this drill. Good luck...you're gonna need it!!:eek: :hyper:

[boober]

Thanks for the tip HN. Can you pm me your instructor info?

[Hombre Lefty]

agree with HN. it's one of those oxymorons - on short irons you WANT a more vertical attack angle to get the ball up with good spin, but the same thing that is a positive sometimes promotes you going straight up on the backswing and then letting it unravel on the way down, letting the clubhead drift in.

a good drill to fix this is picking a fixed target like the flag, and practicing making sure that on your followthrough you end up pointing the club at the target. So you swing, and if you stopped your followthrough about 2 thirds of the way through you would look as if you pointed the shaft of your club right at the target. if you swing to the inside you wont be able to do this, so it's a very good way to check.

[dohboy]

Thanks HN and Hombre Lefty for the info!!

[ShortgamePro]

Hogannut...

What do you mean you dont release the hands through impact? Just because you release your wrist hinge it doesn't mean you are flipping. Flipping and rotating the hands through impact are different, not the same. You hinge the wrists in the back swing for a reason...to release them as you come through the shot.

[Golftime]

Hogannut...

What do you mean you dont release the hands through impact? Just because you release your wrist hinge it doesn't mean you are flipping. Flipping and rotating the hands through impact are different, not the same. You hinge the wrists in the back swing for a reason...to release them as you come through the shot.
I was wondering the same thing. Is the drill intended to teach you to hold on longer by holding on longer than you should? Many drills are designed to force you into a new habit by over emphasizingit. If you don't release the wrists until after you have hot the ball then you will have given up a lot of club head speed.

[Golf_Goof]

Flipping is the condition of the clubhead leading the hands during impact and usually accompanied by a bent left wrist.

OK for flop shot but not much else.

[owenmxz600]

aim 2 the right:shhh:

[luv2golow]

aim 2 the right:shhh:

This tip was based on the KISS rule...

Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Thanks Owen.....:rofl:

[caddishack]

Thanks for that explanation Hoag. I always watched the few pros doing that but could not really get a grasp as to what they were really looking for. I tried what you said just a few minutes ago down here in the basement and I can see at waist high the club does point to the target and the face is 90 degrees to the ground thanks I try it tomorrow for real at Ashburn