Hellllpppppp!!!!!!

little richey
your best bet would be to go and see a pro!
failing that there is a ton of info on the net on how to perform the fundmentals i.e grip, stance and posture etc
failing that check out the lessons on the toolbar at the top of the page

There are many different causes for top shots and slices, but both of them could be a result of you rising out of your posture during the swing. Some times when people rise up their hips pull toward the ball and their arms roate open (and the club face follows roatating open).

Start by focusing on your balance and posture at setup. Try to feel like you are standing relatively tall at address (not bending too much from the hips, not flexing the knees too much, and not getting your chin too low at address). Find a picture of a tour pro you like (or you could use the Nick Faldo picture from my signature) and compare your posture to the pro in a mirror. If you look too slouched with your upper body take a deep breath and fill your chest with air (which will help put your shoulders, chest, and arms in a good position). From a tall position your body will not need to rise and your contact should improve.

As far as your ball position I recommend you maintain a constant ball position (as it relates to both your chest, and your front foot) and vary the width of your stance with your back foot depending on the length of the club (like many tour players do). (If you tee up your ball high with the driver you can play it more in line with your front shoulder). There is an optical illusion that occurs that a lot of people fall for when they look at ball position related to stance width. The wider the stance the more it appears the ball is forward, and the closer your right foot to the left the more it may appear to be back in the stance. When you look at the ball position relative to the upper body you will see that it stays consistant from club to club.

Below is a link to pictures of tour pros setup from face-on, and I have drawn green lines directly up from the balls. You'll notice that none of the pros in the pictures has the ball positioned any farther back than the front ear.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/254...ballposdg0.jpg

You would benefit from purchasing the book 3 skills, it will introduce you to a system that should dramatically improve your standard of ball striking (As long as you keep practising the drills and let go of your swing thoughts). The book is advertised on some of the headers of this site.

About the ball position thing...... I dont think I quite understand what youre saying? Could someone expalin it to me? im sorry! Are there any drills that i can do to grow to be more consistent?

Yes, 3 Skills.

I sympathize and even though I am probably a much older golfer means that after all the years in the game, I've experienced about all one can trying to tame THE 'golf swing'. I don't know if this is against the rules, but I have some advice that will help for sure. cbrehme@tampabay.rr.com
CJ

Brian,
Did you happen to look at the photos that avid golfer posted on his link ? in a number of these photos of these pros. it looks like ( to me anyway ) that they are set up at address with their hands behind the ball ?? Buteman.

Yes I did look. With a driver your hands should be almost level with the ball, this is due to it's design having no forward lean, the driver is the only club that does not require you to have your hands ahead of the ball at impact. Each club is designed with a degree of forward lean that should be respected in the setup and impact.

I prefer the method of placing the ball in line with the lead armpit for all clubs (maybe an inch ahead for the driver) and moving the trail foot only to open or close the stance for each club.

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Best Regards
Brian

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Funny o'l game!

Sympathies from me too I won't try and give you any advice on the driver but I've stumbled on the following which I've just started to use to setup with the irons.

1. Set the face of your iron [square to the target line] such that the bottom of the grip is just ahead of the ball.

2. Move your leading leg so that the butt of the club points at your inner thigh.

3. Widen your stance by moving your trailing foot back as the club gets longer.

On reflection I think this is just another way of achieving Brian's "respect the forward lean / ball under leading armpit)" set up but try it and see how it works for you - I find setting up this way and then moving the trailing leg simpler than adjusting ball positions. You could also look at Greg's lessons (link on top banner) which discusses ball position along with other fundamentals.

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I firmly believe that we should try to experience all that life affords, except, perhaps, bestiality and of course Morris Dancing.

This might be of a help.

http://www.golflink.com/tipsvideos/video.asp?v=37034

Which part did you have trouble understanding? (There was quite a lot of information there ). Do you have questions about constant ball positions? How ball position relates to the chest, and/or stance? The optical illusion thing?

A good way to work on a constant ball position is to step up to the ball with your feet together (during your pre-shot routine), get the ball lined up with the part of your body you desire (logo, armpit, shoulder, etc), and then get your stance width. (Charles Howell, Nick Price, Greg Norman, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, Adam Scott, and Retief Goosen are all pros who do this in their pre-shot routines).

http://www.shark.com/sharkwatch/instruction/lesson9.php
http://www.shark.com/sharkwatch/instruction/lesson4.php

I completely understood those links you sent me but i am also wanting to know the answers to those questions about constant ball positions? How ball position relates to the chest, and/or stance? The optical illusion thing?

Okay thank you for this cuz it was very helpful, but i was wondering if you could tell me anything about how far back should my trailing foot be moving each time?

Ah, I'm afraid that's a bit more difficult and depends on your initial setup and posture with each club, tbh I think you need to play around until you find something that works for you; what I don't do is have a position for each club (you might) as I find that all too difficult for a bear of little brain.

I tend to start with my feet together more or less a-stride the club face and then move the leading leg as per my first post . I then move the trailing leg back about a footswidth which pretty much sets me up for a full wedge but then I've always favoured a fairly narrow stance. From there maybe another footswidth for an 8I; in between or for longer clubs I'm afraid I just shuffle until it "feels right" - though anything longer than a 6 I tend to favour a rescue type club in any case.

Referring back to Brian's suggestion of the 3Skills book (and I agree that you should at least have look at it) I find that this pretty much sets me up so that the same swing brings the club in at the right approach angle.

I hope this helps a bit but remember that this is only what I'm working on, others would swear that you have the ball in the centre of the stance for the wedge and move it forward per club.

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I firmly believe that we should try to experience all that life affords, except, perhaps, bestiality and of course Morris Dancing.