Can't Stop Pulling The Ball

Hey
I have a 6 handicap and just latley i have been pulling the ball and cannot fix it. My divots are going about 15-20 yards to the right of my target, but the ball goes straight left of the off the club face. I try to straighten out my divots, but they keep going way right. I was hoping somebody could give me some ideas to try to fix my problem. Thanks.

Welcome! I see it's your first post. I'm one of the teaching staff at GTO.

Your problem is swing path. You are pulling the ball, which means an out-to-in swing path with a club face that is square to the new swing path.
To fix it is quite easy, actually. There are a number of drills to use, but I'd like you to start with this one because the pull is quite 'small' and you need to do is redirect the club inside a little:

1. Setup to the ball and check your fundementals. Next, without moving your torso, pull your right foot back until your toes are level with your left heel. You should have a quite substantial closed stance.
2. Now hit golf balls practicing like this, focusing on bringing the club back on "the line" (swing path) that is parallel to your toes.
3. Don't throw the club at the top, don't let your shoulders turn left pulling the club outside-to-in - let it drop natually as you drop your right elbow into the right hip.

Try it ... if it doesn't work there are a few other drills to try. I like this one becuase it is very quickly and easily gives your the feeling of the correct 'in-square-in' swing path you're looking for.

Focus really hard on not letting the shoulders dominate the swing.

__________________
Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

But the divots are out to the right. So you have a closed face at impact. Your hands are probably trying to release too soon / too hard and are beating your hips, shoulders and arms to the ball. Your hands need to be the last thing that is done.

Start with small 1/2 swings with the feet close together. Let the hands lag behind everything. Get your body facing the target at impact. After a bunch of good straight shots, start to increase the swing back until you are at full again.

I agree Greg,

If the divots are out to the right then he must have a in to out path.


Possibly comming to much from the inside and flipping the wrists in an atemp to square the club face, probably the hips outracing the arms.

I think getting stuck behind is the termonolgy.


Ian.

Very embarassing ...

Quite right guys ... divots are pointing right, not left for a pull.

Ooops. But hey, what's a small difference between friends?!

Thanks for the help guys. I got the ball back on my target line, but my divots are still going right. Any drills or anything that i could do to get them going straight.

Why do you want the divots straight? They should be going slightly right - which indicates a slight "from the inside" swing. The ideal swing path is inside-square-inside. Impact should be towards the end of the first "inside" and the beginning part of the square.

I watched the PGA tour players while I was in America and on the long irons and medium irons, they all have divots pointing slightly right and many of them. Geez, those guys do serious excavations! They are awesome to watch. A few of them let me tape their swings too!

But if you want a squre swing path, the best drill I know of is the "tee drill" and works like this:

Place a tee or other visual aid (sometimes we use plastic discs) in line with the ball but a foot or so behind it. Put another one a foot or so ahead of it. Now swing away and focus on the 2 visual aids. Make certain your club travels over the "behind" visual aid on the way back and the way down and then over the "forward" visual on the through swing.

I like to explain drills with 'feelings' so you know whether it is working correctly or not and it also gives you a sense of the motion required in the swing execution. It will feel like the club goes back and comes into impact much straighter and then thru straight at the target. A little like a stiff-wristed chip shot.

If you don't get the feeling, stop. Now take short, stiff-wristed chip swings using the visual aids. Once you've done that a few times and hit a few golf balls, extend the swing to your right hip and swing thru to the left hip. When you've got that, swing a bit longer and then a bit longer ... until you've got a full swing going.

Ok? Glad to hear your ball flight is corrected. ( sigh of relief!).

__________________
Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

Something very similar happened to me at the range today. I was experimenting with a very strong grip--3 knuckles--to see how it would affect distance (hitting a 9-iron). Divot was going right, ball going left. Obviously, my swing path was I/O, but my face was so closed due to my grip that ball actually went left. Way left with the additional hook spin. It took me a few swings to put it together in my head, since I was certain that direction was controlled by path. It still seems confusing.

Got so out of synch the rest of the practice session was hopeless.