Hit a Big Slice to Fix Your Hooks

Friday, December 20, 2013

If you are hooking the ball, you might want to try hitting a big slice to fix it. Most golfers try hitting it straight. But instead of trying to hit it straight, you should learn to fade the ball. Once you understand how you can change your ball flight, you will better understand how to fix your hooks.

 

So let's start hitting a big slice.

1. Pick two targets

If  you hit it 140 yards with your 7 iron, your targets should be 130 yards away. Pick one target on the right side. Pick another target on the left side. Two targets should be about 50 yards apart.

 

2. Set up to the left target. Align your body parallel to the line from the ball to the left target. But aim your face to the right target. Position your ball one to two ball length right of center.

 

3. When you aim your clubface, you need to rotate your face open before gripping the club.

 

4. Swing along your feet line. Try to start your ball to the left target and then curve it to the right target.

 

You should swing with 60% of your power.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/fault-fix/how-to-fix-hook2.htm

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The Easy Way to Fix Your Hook

A hook shot is usually a good player's fault. Most golfers are slicers. The good thing is that hooks are easier to fix than slices. The reason why you hit a hook is because you closed your clubface at impact. This puts hook spin on the ball. At address, I suppose you set your clubface to the target.

 

But for some reason, you are closing your clubface during the golf swing.

 

1. Most of the Problems Come from the Grip

The main cause of your hooks is your grip. Most hookers have grip that is too strong. There was a golfer who was hitting a big hook. I checked his grip and found that his right hand was too strong. The V formed by his right thumb and index finger was pointing right of his right shoulder at address. For most players, this is too strong. But his left hand grip was not so strong. When he looked down he saw 2 1/2 knuckles of his left hand. So we didn't change his left hand grip. But I asked him to change his right hand grip. We made sure the V formed by his right thumb and index finger was pointing toward his right shoulder at first.

 

This is still a strong grip, but I asked him to hit shots with this grip. He did so and hit a strong draw with this grip. If he wants to hit straighter shots, he can work on his right hand grip. If the V formed by his right thumb and index finger points somewhere between his right shoulder and his chin, he would be able to hit straighter shots. But he was hitting a good draw, so I left it like that. I think it's a good idea to have either a draw or fade as your weapon because you can predict where the ball will go if you miss.

 

If your shot is a draw, you can aim the right side of the fairway and work your ball back to the center of the fairway. If you hook it too much, your ball is still on the left side of your fairway. You can use the whole width of the fairway with his strategy. But if you hit straight shots, you only have half of the fairway to work with.

 

Anyway, in his case, he only had to change his right hand grip. But most hookers have strong left hand grip. If that's your case, you might want to make sure you see 2 1/2 knuckles of your left hand when you look down. If you see 3 or more knuckles of your left hand, that may be too strong. In that case, rotate your left hand to the left until you see 2 1/2 knuckles.

 

The Habit of Closing the Clubface during the Swing

Some hookers have the haboit of closing the clubface during the golf swing. This causes a hook. So you might want to feel like you are even opening the clubface during the golf swing. The good point to check is when the clubface reaches parallel with the ground at the beginning of your backswing. Stop when the club reaches parallel with the ground. The club should be at your waist height.

 

Now, check the clubface angle. If the clubface is looking toward the ground, which mean you closed your clubface. If clibface is looking toward the sky, that's open. You will hit a slice. So  you want your clubface to point somewhere between those two. Some instructors say that the clubface angle should match the angle of your spine. But I think it's too hard to be aware of that during your backswing.

 

So try feel like the toe of your iron is looking toward the sky at this position. If you still hit hooks, try to rotate your clubface just a little bit at the start of your backswing. This is advanced technique for most players, but if you have the tendency to close your clubface during the swing, the technique might help you.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/fault-fix/how-to-fix-hook3.htm

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How to Hit a 3-Wood

When I was in college, lots of golfers carried long irons. But nowadays, most golfers have 5-wood, 7-wood, and utility/hybrid clubs instead. Some golfers are good at hitting them. But when you give them 3-wood, they can't hit them so well. If you do well with 5-wood but not with 3-wood, you must be doing something different with your 3-wood.

 

6 Tips to Hit it

 

1. Ball Position

3-wood has less loft, so you might think you need to do something to get the ball up in the air. Many of the golfers start to position the ball too much to the left to help the ball in the air. Some golfers pu the ball off the left heel like a driver. But this is too far forward for a 3-wood. You will pull it left or hit it thin if you try to avoid a pull.

 

Unless you tee it up, you should position your ball a ball-length or two right of your heel. You should experiment with it and find the correct position for you. If you pull it, hit it thin or slice the ball, check to see if your ball position is too far left.

 

2. Fast Tempo

Golfers have a tempo that's too fast when they grab a 3-wood. They swing too hard trying to hit it far. But I bet you will hit it further with 60% of your power. So before swinging it with more power, try to hit it on the sweet spot first. If you think you can hit on the sweet spot every time, start increasing your swing speed.

 

3. Distance Control

When you grab your 3-wood, you might start thinking about hitting it as far as you can. But this approach usually won't give you the good results. So think about your distance for 3-wood. If you hit it 200 yards, don't try to hit it 200 yards. Pick a point that's 190 yards away. You will have much better chance of hitting it well this way.

 

4. Check your 3-wood

Check your loft of your 3-wood. You should have 15 degree of loft or more. Also, 3-wood with a shallow face will be easier to hit the ball high than a deep face 3-wood. But if you use your 3-wood only on the tee shot, the deep face 3-wood might be easier to hit. In that case, don't worry about switching it to shallow face 3-wood.

 

5. It's OK to Take a Little Divot

In general, you should sweep the ball with your fairway woods. But lots of good players take a small divot with their 3 woods like Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan. So it's ok to take a small divot. But try not to help the ball in the air by trying to lift the ball with your 3-wood. This will cause you to hit it thin or fat. You just need to trust your loft to get the ball airborne.

 

6. Fixing Your Slice

With longer clubs, you will slice more because longer clubs has less loft. Less loft will take ball spin off the ball. But when your clubface angle is off at impact, clubs with less loft will create more side spin. So it's easier to slice it with your 3-wood. To fix your slice with 3-wood, try to the following.

 

1. Lower your right shoulder at address

2. Grip a club after lowering your right shoulder

3. Rotate your hand to the right until you see 3 knuckles of your left hand at address

 

If you slice, you might place your hands right on top of your grip (weak grip). For your right hand, instead of placing it on top of the grip, try to grip it from the right side of your grip (club). This will give you stronger grip that helps you turn the clubface over through impact for a draw.

 

7. Try to sweep the ball

When hitting fairway woods, players tend to swing up on the ball and end up topping the ball or hitting it fat. The tendency to scope the ball will also cause slice. So instead of trying to scope the ball, feel like you are going to sweep the ball off the turf. Because the fairway woods have a larger sole than irons, you should try to slide your fairway woods through the grass. Check the position of your hands at address. If your hands are positioned in front of your zipper, that's  too far right. This will cause lots of slice. So make sure that your hands are positioned toward the inside of your left thigh.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/fault-fix/how-to-hit-3wood.htm

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How to Hit a 5 Wood

Tiger Wood once talked about how he hit his 5 wood. He mentioned 4 key points.

1. Position the ball few inches inside left heel

2. Make sure your right shoulder is lower than left at address

3. Keep your chin up at address during the golf swing

4. It's ok to take thin divot with a slightly descending blow

 

You might wonder wether you should sweep the ball or hit it with a descending blow with your 5 wood. But Tiger Woods said it's ok to hit it with a descending blow. If you have a good liem then you can go ahead and sweep the ball. But if the ball is sitting down in the grass or in the rough, you should hit it with a descending blow.

 

Ball Position

Tiger mentioned that you should play the ball few inches inside your left heel. You need to find the right position for your golf swing. If you draw the ball, you might want to move it little more to the right. If you fade the ball, you might want to move it little more to the left.

 

When we grab the club with longer shaft loft like 5 wood, we tend to plat the ball more toward the left foot because it makes us feel like we have more time to accelerate the clubhead before impact, or it make us feel like we can hit the ball higher. But playing the ball too much left will make your shoulders align left. This means you are open to the target. You will easily hit slice from this position.

 

If you try to hit the draw from this position, you will hit a duck hook or push it to the right with a slice spin on the ball.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/fault-fix/how-to-hit-5wood.htm

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How to Hit Straight Shot with your Irons

Tiger Woods once said that there are several keys to hitting good irons shot, but the most important key of all is to understand how the back if your left hand works at impact. If the back of left hand faces target at impact, you are likely to hit it straight. If the back of your left hand facces toward the sky, you tend to hit slice. If it faces toward the ground, you tend to hit hook shots. So make sure that the back of your left hand faces target at impact if you plan on hitting a straight shot with your irons.

 

If You Have Strong Grip or Week Grip

Tiger Woods uses square grip or neutral grip, with 2 1/2 knuckles of his left hand showing at address. But if you use strong grip with 3 or more knuckles of the left hand showing at address, the back of your left hand should face a bit toward the sky. If you use week grip with 2 or less knuckles, the back of  your left hand should face a bit toward the ground.

 

Hitting Solid Irons Shots

It's important to hit shots with descending blow with your irons to catch the ball solid. To do that, the shaft should lean slightly forward at impact. If the shaft is leaning toward the target at impact, that means you are catching the ball before the lowest point of the arc. If you are lucking distance with your irons, you might want to make sure that your shaft is leaning toward the target at impact.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/fault-fix/how-to-hit-it-straight.htm

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Correct Tee Height for Fairway Woods, Hybrids, Irons

Fairway Woods

Do you ever wonder how high you should tee the ball with your 3 wood, 5 wood or any other fairway woods?

 

One of the best female golfers in the history of golf, Annika Sorenstam said you should tee the ball so that the half of the ball is above the top of your fairway woods. Hank Haney who used to be Tiger Wood's coach, said to set the ball so that quarter of the ball is above the face. These methods are correct, and there is no correct answer for every player. It also depends on the type of fairway woods you have.

 

If you have a deep face fairway woods, you should tee the ball little higher. If you have a shallow face, you might want to tee it little lower. I have the deep face 3 wood and set the ball about a half inch above the ground. Your ball flight pattern is also important when determining your correct tee height. If you prefer to fade the ball, you might want to see the ball lower because the fade goes higher in the air. If you prefer to hit a draw, you might want to tee it higher because the draw goes lower. I use the same tee height for my 3 wood and 5 wood. But you may want to try lower tee height for your 5 wood than your 3 wood to see if it fits your game.

 

Hybrid Club

Generally, you should tee the ball little lower for your hybrids club than your fairway woods. Hank Haney said you should tee the ball about a half inch above the ground for your hybrid clubs. Because hybrid club has more weight on its sole, you want the weight to get under the ball for more solid contact.

 

There are hybrid woods and hybrid irons. Hybrid irons are usually easier for direction control. But the shot with hybrid irons goes little lower so you might want to tee it up little higher than hybrid woods.

 

I see some players teeing the ball just above the ground. But hybrid clubs are very forgiving on the shots being hit below or above the sweet spot. So you should take an advatage of it and tee it up little higher above the ground.

 

Irons

For your irons, you should tee the ball jsut above the ground. Make sure you have no chance of catching the grass between the ball and the clubface. Tee the ball so that the ball is above the tip of the grass. Irons are not so forgiving on miss-hits above or below the sweet spot so you don't want to tee it up too high. However, with your long irons, you want to tee the ball like your hybrid clubs or a bit lower than that.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/fault-fix/tee-height-for-fairway-wood-hybrid-iron.htm

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Why Pros Hit Their Irons so Far?

When watching PGA tour on TV, sometimes we are surprised by the distance that the pros hit with their iron. Pros can easily hit their 7 iron over 170 yards or more. That's really surprising for amateurs. Of course, pros do lots of training and have faster clubhead speed than most amateurs. But that's not the only reason for that. The biggest reason besides the difference in clubhead speed is the loft at impact.

 

For PGA Tour players, the lowest point in their swing occurs after impact with their irons. But the most amateurs" lowest point in their swing occurs just before the impact with their irons. This means pros deloft their irons, and amateurs add loft to their irons. Tour pros can change the loft of their 7 irons into a 5 iron if theu need to. They don't deloft their irons this much every time. But they deloft their irons at impact to some degree on every iron shots.

 

How to hit it like Pros

To hit your iron like pros, you need to hit it with the descending blow.

To accomplish this, you need to do few things.

1. Make sure your left wrist is bowed through impact

2. On the downswing and through impact, face knuckles on your left hand toward the ground

3. At impact, lean your shaft toward the target

 

You can also prevent slice if the knuckles of your left hand are facing toward the ground through impact. If you are big slicer, you might want to make sure your left hand knuckles are facing toward ground well after impact to prevent the clubface from opening.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/fault-fix/how-pros-hit-irons.htm

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How to Hit Irons Against the Wind

When hitting into the wind, you will lose some distance. So you need to take more clubs. The tendency is to swing harder because you think the ball won't go as far as you normally hit. But if you hit it harder, you will add more backspin on the ball. This will cause the ball to go higher in the air, You will even lose more distance this way. To hit the strong shot into the wind, you need to put less spin on the ball. To do this, take more club and swing easy. The ball will go lower with less spin and penetrate through the wind. When you have crosswind from right to left or left to right, what do you do?

 

You have two options when playing crosswind. You can play against the wind or play with the wind. If the wind is blowing from right to left, you have the option to hit it right of the target or hit the fade.

 

Reference:  http://www.golfsamurai.net/fault-fix/hitting-against-wind.htm

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How to Hit a Solid and Strong Iron Shot

It feels so good to catch the ball solid with your irons. Years ago, I saw one of the PGA Tour pros practicing at the driving range. He was practicing with his feet close together. It surprised me to see that the quality of the shot is not so different from regular shots he was hitting with a normal stance width.  The shot he hit was penetrating through the wind. I still remember the sound of impact he was making. He was really hitting it solid. It's a good drill to hit shots with your feet close together. When you try this drill, check the following key points.

 

1. Alignment

You need to pick a target. Then, align your shoulders and feet parallel with the target line.

 

2. Grip

If you have a weak grip, you can't hit well with your feet together. The correct grip for you may not be correct for other player. So try to find the correct grip for you. I recommend you to use strong grip at first. Turn both hands to the right until you see 3 knuckles on your left hand. Check the knuckles on your left hand, just before you start your swing. Some players twist their hands or clubhead so they feel comfortable with your new grip, you are not changing it correctly. The new grip should feel awkward to begin with.

 

3. Posture

When I ask players to hit shots with their feet close together, they tend to stand too tall at address. Make sure you bend from your hips at address.

 

4. Golf Swing

Don't think too much about mechanics of the swing. Just focus on hitting the ball in the center of your clubface. Use 7 iron or 8 iron. Swing with 60% of your power. If you can't hit it well, don't start swinging harder or faster because swing speed has nothing to do with solid contact with the ball. Go back to check the key points above if you are not hitting it well.

 

Swing from the inside

To hit it solid, you must hit it from the inside the target line.

 

Here is the drill that let you swing from the inside. Use 7 iron for this drill.

1. Stand square to the target

2. Take the club back but don't take it too much on the inside because this will cause you to come over the top on the downswing

3. Try to start the ball 10 yards right of the target

 

At first, swing with 50 % of your swing speed. Coming into impact, try to face the back of your left hand toward the ground. This will help you rotate your clubface through impact. Your goal with this drill is to hit the draw that starts right of the target and come back to the target.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/fault-fix/how-to-hit-solid-shot.htm

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Tips and Drills to Hit it with a Descending Blow

Lots of teachers will tell you to hit our irons with a descending blow. But what is a descending blow? To hit it with a descending blow, you need to hit the ball before the clubhead reaches its lowest point of the swing arc. You hit the ball first and then take a shallow divot. You don't want to hit down on the ball with a steep angle of approach into the ball. You want to take a shallow divot with a slight descending blow with all irons except for long irons. With long irons and hybrid club, you want to sweep the ball off the turf unless the ball is sitting down on the grass.

 

Why do you want to hit it with a descending blow?

There are feew reasons why you want to hit it on a descending blow.

 

1. Hitting the ball with a descending blow will create backspin on the ball

When you strike a ball with a descending blow, you will push the ball against the turf just before the clubhead takes the divot. This creates backspin on the ball. Shots with more backspin will go straighter and stops quickly on the ground.

 

2. It allows solid contact with the ball

Even if yur ball is on the fairway, it's not the same as the teed up ball. The ball may be sitting down a bit on the grass. When you try to sweep the ball which is sitting down a bit, you will catch the grass between the clubface and the ball. This will make it harder to hit it solid. To catch the ball clean, you  need to avoid the grass behind the ball. That's why you want to hit it with a descending blow to make sure you catch the ball first.

 

Ball Position

to hit your middle irons and short irons, you want to pay attention to your ball position. Most amateurs put the ball too far forward in the stance.With short iorns, place the ball in the middle of the stance.With middle irons, put it little left of center. This will make it easier to hit it on the downswing blow.

 

Hands Position

At impact, your hands should beat the clubhead. In other words, you want your shaft to be leaning a bit toward the target.

 

Here is the drill to help you do just that.

1. Put the pen 4 inches behind the ball

2. Start hitting the ball. Make sure you avoid the pencil.

 

If you hit the open, you may be sweeping the ball or hitting well behind the ball. So make sure your hands are ahead of the ball at impact. Another good drill is to hit balls with a golf ball under your back foot. With this drill, don't swing hard at all. Swing with 50% of your swing speed. Make sure you hit the ball first and then the turf.

 

Check the Divot

After hitting the iron shot, check the divot because the divot will tell you lots of things about your swing. If it's pointing right of the target, you are swinging inside out. If it's pointing left of the target, you are coming over the top or cutting across the ball. Also, if the divot is deep, you are hitting down too much on the ball. When you hit down with a steep angle of approach, you lose consistency and also hit lots of slice and pull shots. To take a shallow divot, you need to swing from inside the target line. If you see deep divot after the shot, that's the sign that you are cutting across the ball. If you do this, you will hit it far with short irons but lose distance with middle irons or long irons.

 

Limit Your Follow Through

Here is the good drill taht will teach you how to hit it with a descending blow.

 

1. Using a 7-iron, swing back to the top and start down.

2. Hit the ball but try to limit your follow through

 

Try not to swing beyond your waist after impact. This is especially a good drill for players who are scooping the ball off the turf. If you try to scoop the ball, you probably won't be able to stop at your waist height. Another good drill is to stop at impact. You don't have to hit balls with this drill. Just swing back to the top, start down and stop at impact.

 

It's very hard to stop your clubhead at impact. You nedd a lot of power to do this. But it will help you hit your irons with a descending blow and gain more distance.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/fault-fix/hit-it-with-descending-blow.htm

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The Secrets to Increasing Distance of Your 7-Iron

Most amateurs lack distance with their 7-iron. Especially if you are slicer, you have lots of potential to increase your distance with your 7-iron and other iron as well. There are few keys to check.

 

Why You are Losing Distance

Why do most players lack distance with their 7-iron?

The most important factor is the loft of their 7-iron at impact. Most players try to scoop the ball in an effort to hit the ball high in the air like pros. But in fact, that's just the opposite of what pros do to hit their irons. Pros hit the ball with a slight descending blow and add backspin to get the ball airborne. None of them try to scope the ball except for special type of shots.

 

The Loft and Shaft Angle at Impact

The lowest poimt of the swing arc comes after the impact for pros. That's why they take divots. When you check the shaft angle at impact, the pros' shaft is tilted slightly toward the target. On the other hand, amateurs' shaft is more vertical at impact. So pros are decreasing the loft of their 7-iron at impact, but amateurs are adding loft at impact. Of course, the clubhead is different for pros and amateurs. But if you add loft at impact, you will hit the ball higher, but you will lose distance. So you want to make sure that your shaft is tilted slightly toward the target at impact when you hit your 7-iron.

 

The Position of Your Hands and the Ball

To hit crisp iron shots, you must check your address position before changing your golf swing. The ball should be little left of center. You don't want to play the ball too far forward because you will add loft if you do so. Also, you want your shaft to lean forward at address. To do this, you want to set your hands ahead of your ball. Set your hands toward the inside of your left thigh at address. This will set your shaft leaning forward. By setting up like this, it makes it much easier to catch the ball with the slight descending blow for crisp contact with the ball. Some players especially slicers want to check their hands position at address from time to time because their hands might want to creep away from the target. In golf, it's much harder to get rid of the old habit than to learn something new.

 

Reference: http://www.golfsamurai.net/fault-fix/7-iron-distance.htm

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