Hey everyone, I’ve had a really bad push problem lately. I’m striking the ball crisp, but it goes straight right. I know this means my Clubface is too open at impact. What’s the best way I can control my hands better? Any drills or feelings that work for others? I’ve done the drill with the short shots and stick in front and I am getting good results (hitting the stick often even). But, once my swing gets a little longer, I always end up with an open Clubface at impact. I think the folding of the trail arm is where I am not understanding how to keep my hands quiet? Or maybe it’s on the downswing?
Thanks!
@Sagar Patel if you are playing the draw, you want the miss to be a block.
The key is not to eliminate the block, but rather to eliminate the over draw/pull.
if you are playing a draw, you should always line up to the left side of the fairway and you are swinging to the right side, so a block is still in the fairway. same for greens, you can take dead aim At a pin on the left. You can take dead aim for pin in the center. A push puts you in the middle/right side of green. You can NEVER attack a pin on the right. You simply play to center and your miss will put you in the flag, but be happy hitting to middle.
The answer to fix the consistent push is to strengthen the grip, meaning if your standard left (lead) hand grip you can see 2 knuckles, place your lead hand on the club so you see 3-4 knuckles. This will automatically present the club at impact more closed. If the ball is going left (pull or hook), you have overdone It.
I would estimate that the problem isn’t hitting the push, but rather your mindset and alignment haven’t caught up to your new swing. The strategy has to change compared to what you used to do.
Bottom line, a push isn’t a problem, it’s the pull or overdraw that should be “a problem“ for a player who intends to play a draw. A one way miss that is a block is exactly what you want, as you can play it. You can’t play golf when it may overdraw/pull or push. Go all in hitting the draw. :)
@Sagar Patel a push is a good swing, but if it’s consistent, you have two options, turn the knuckles of your lead had down more, earlier in the swing…basically close the face earlier. Or my personal preference, make your grip stronger, by turning the grip of your lead hand further toward the back of the grip.
a block simply means swing path is inside out and the club face is square to that inside out path. Stronger grip with same swing means the club face will be slightly closed to the swing direction and ball will curve back toward target.
real challenge is to correctly diagnose, push vs fade that goes right.
This is one of my tendencies. Specific to me, I tend to "hold" in my downswing to impact. This gets good control on the strike, but doesn't let the club face square up and leaves it open so it pushes to the right often. When I try to manipulate too much, my right hand takes over and I get scoopy at impact causing all sorts of mayhem. I've been able to get better at this by swinging more free and releasing with less tension. Tom's video this past week was very helpful in reducing that tension and getting through to square much better.
@Sagar Patel I was suffering from the same exact problem! I have been making the most spectacular contact ever in my life since starting this program, but I have noticed that my "misses" (which thankfully don't happen that often anymore) are really strong pushes. The videos Tom suggested below help fix this for me, or at the very least, understand it when it happens on the course, and how to avoid it on the next shot. The lesson that helps me the most is the chapter on hooks/pushes. More specifically, the drill called "Swing under the stick". Good luck!
@Sagar Patel - Have you been to the Ball Flight Fixes section? Have a look at the chapter on Hooks/Pushes. Also, assuming that video confirms that your swing is too in-to-out, there are other drills in addition to the stick drill for Downswing Problem #2 in Fixing Common Swing problems.
Of course a V1 Lesson is always an option for you as well if this continues to challenge you.