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Out to in club path while grinding on 2.8

So I've just begun my swing transformation following the lesson plan from the beginning. I've been grinding on the 2.8 drill for a week and while I'm having good success at making crisp contact with the abbreviated swing I am noticing that I still have a very out to in club path that I just can't seem to stop. Obviously it gets worse with a bigger back swing.

My question is, is there something I can do now to help correct this or should I just continue on with the lessons and expect it to correct itself as I progress through the lessons? I still have to play golf while I work my new swing (I may or may not have gotten a little too confident when I first started to try S&T and signed up for a league right as I began to work it). I'm striking the ball much better but still have that nagging problem which I'm sure a lot of us struggle with!

10 comments

10 Comments

jasojohns

Apr 28, 2021

So have been grinding it out and things are starting to turn around! Hit some balls in my simulator last night, starting with some 2.8 drills and while I'm not hitting them all correctly I start out strong with crispy shots and getting them to start a bit to the right now. And that is leading to some better strikes especially under 100 yard shots with my sand wedge.

Weird thing though, I am definitely striking my 5 and 3 woods more consistent than any other club, and even my driver seems easier to hit well than any full shot irons. Anyone else experience that?

Tom Saguto

Apr 28, 2021

Replying to

@jasojohns - That's fabulous - I'm glad things are moving the right direction for you! Excellent job!!

If you're getting solid results with clubs at either end of the spectrum, then I suggest first testing some minor setup tweaks with the underperforming clubs rather than thinking about any swing changing measures. Try adjusting ball position for these clubs in small increments before anything else, monitoring the results in terms of quality of impact and ball flight. This may be all that is needed...

jasojohns

Apr 13, 2021

uh, so frustrating! So I've yet to make a good contact while trying to hit the ball during the 90% Drill. And I'm STILL getting out to in club path! It's not that I can't draw the ball, its that it only draws if it starts out left. I can't get it to start right and draw (maybe 3 times since I've started 2.8 have I seen that happen). If it starts out right, it curves further right. If it starts out left, it usually keeps going left, sometimes it cuts. And I've hit so many balls my arms and wrists hate me.

League starts tomorrow and I feel even more inconsistent than ever. I played nine yesterday and I was getting crispy hits with almost all iron shots, and they were going longer than I expected, but most were WAY left. And I still can hit awful awful shots. Sorry, just ranting at this point...

Tom Saguto

Apr 14, 2021

Replying to

@jasojohns - "90%" is not just a "feel" or an approximation - I literally need you to have 90% of your weight - that's almost all of it - on your front leg from the start of this drill all the way through impact. The only time this changes is at the finish, when it should be closer to 95%!

jasojohns

Apr 14, 2021

Replying to

@Tom Saguto Understood. I just spent 20 minutes focusing on 2.8 and the 90% and I'm wondering if something else is wrong as I still can't get that starting direction to the right almost at all with 2.8. And as I'm doing 90% I just end up with very thin mis-hits going way right and no draw

Tom Saguto

Apr 14, 2021

Replying to

@jasojohns At this juncture, and in the interest of avoiding further confusion and/or frustration, your best option to nip this in the bud and get you on the proper path may very well be a V1 Swing Video Analysis. Scroll halfway down this page - below the personalized lessons section - for more information.

Otherwise, it's a matter of reviewing the foundational elements in Chapter 1 to ensure that nothing is amiss there, and then working gradually and sequentially through Chapter 2 from the beginning to build back up to 2.8.

jasojohns

Apr 12, 2021

Thanks Tom! I'll get going on that 90% drill right away. What I have noticed is that my club path improves greatly when I get enough tilt (and I definitely have trouble tilting enough). It doesn't completely get my path in to out but gets it closer for sure. I'm just starting out so I don't expect to be swinging perfectly anytime soon, but I can now actually hit my irons way more consistently already even with just the little bit I've been able to incorporate so far!

Tom Saguto

Apr 12, 2021

Replying to

@jasojohns - You're in a very good place, especially for someone who is just starting out with the program! The 90% Drill is going to make the proper swing motions happen on autopilot, and I think you may be surprised at just how far this somewhat abbreviated move can propel the ball. It's beautifully simple, repeatable, effortless power!

Please keep us posted on your progress.

Tom Saguto

Apr 12, 2021

@jasojohns - This 90% Weight Forward/Arms Straight Drill from the Slice chapter of the Ball Flight Fixes course has been helping a lot of my students overcome a variety of issues, including the type that you are experiencing. Please give this a try first before I suggest anything else, and let me know how it works for you. (By the way, this drill also provides a swing that you can play the course with as you're in the learning process.)

As for the second part of your question, please do not advance further into the curriculum until your path is corrected. While 2.8 may feel "abbreviated" in comparison to perhaps a previous "shift and lift" swing method, it is actually quite close to a full swing, and will provide plenty of distance to play the course when properly executed. So master that 90% drill first, and once that's consistently crispy with a nice in-to-out path, move back to 2.8 while maintaining the feels that 90% provided.

@ihmpadre - Thanks for offering your thoughts, and yes - keeping your back to the target while allowing the downswing to start properly with the lower body can certainly be effective. As for the Grid, it is imperative that we develop the proper in-to-out downswing path in order for us to deploy it to our true benefit. As you'll see when you get into that course, approaching the ball from the "death zone" is most definitely not our preferred means of hitting a fade!!

ihmpadre

Apr 10, 2021

What works for me to avoid the death zone (over the top) is to keep my back to the target a bit longer, but I have not seen the recently added content on the grid (hitting a fade which is out to in, a draw, etc.) which may help too.