From the top

Although my ball striking has improved a lot recently, I still hit too many shots with an out to in swingpath. Even when pitching and chipping, I tend to pull the ball somewhat.

I'm a leftie and, with the short irons the divot is pointing well to the right. With longer irons this is not nearly so pronounced for some reason.

I do start the downswing by moving my hips and getting the weight on to the front foot. I don't rush the transition from the top.

I have a suspicion that my shoulders could be returning on too flat a plane. I've noticed that all good ball strikers appear to move the rear shoulder down and and through, rather than around, which is what I think I do. I use the big muscles when pitching and on longer chips, which is why I suspect that my shoulders are the source of the problem.

Does anybody have a practise drill or tip that helps with this correct shoulder movement or technique that produces an in to out swingpath?

Thank you

AlanN

Hi Alan

When my friends ask me why they come over the top, and I'm not a teaching pro, I say they have too much upper body movement i.e. The first movement in their downswing is from the upper body.

The downswing should be a chain reaction - the legs pull on the hips, the hips pull on the torso, the torso pull on the arms and the arms pull on the hands. The hands holding the club should be the last link of the chain.

I always advise people to try and leave their hands at the top of the backswing whilst they try and turn their legs towards the target, remember, the hands should be the last link on the chain.

When you practice, swing a club to the top and stop. Ask a friend to hold the clubhead in the place where it rests at the top and tell them not to let it move. When they have gripped the club head with both hands( a firm grip too ) Try turning your legs towards the target or prefably left of it. For a left handed person, you should feel your left should drop way down inside when you turn. Don't consciously try to drop your shoulder, it should feel natural - it's a weird feeling if you're not used to it.

When playing or practicing swing slow and easy to start with and ignore your distance, you need to get the feeling right. Swinging like that also makes it easier for you to maintain the wristcock right up to impact too because the upper body is left stiff and it reduces the temptation to hit with the hands.

Shorther shots like pitching and chipping are more armsy. The feet are placed closer together restricting lower body movement thus making you use the upper body slightly more.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Thanks for posting a reply and sharing your thoughts.

I have spent time, today, working on my short game and have managed to correct this problem. I think that I was cutting across the ball slightly.

However, when it came to the longer clubs, particularly the driver, this was bad news. I started to sky my drives with a severe pull to the right. In desperation, I sought guidance from one of the pros there. In other words a lesson.

In a nutshell, I was, rarely, making a full shoulder turn. When I did, I was raising my upper body in the backswing so, the path on the downswing had no room to get back on the inside. I need to spend considerable time to practise this as, I used to do it before and thought that I had eliminated it. Back to the drawing board!!

best regards

AlanN

Good to know you found out what was wrong. Knowing about shots and what causes particular flight paths is half way to winning the battle. The tricky bit is identifying why you're doing it then trying to stamp it out quickly. You really need somebody in the know to see your swing so having a lesson is a definate advantage.

Paul