Straight as an arrow...but goes to the left

What could possibly be the cause of this terrible mishap.....seems to happen on my drives and iron shots....7 iron and up....stance is square....takeaway feels comfy but as I'm coming down....club meets the ball....about half the time the ball goes straight as an arrow dead left....so if my target would be twelve o'clock my ball seems to head at about 10 or 11 o'clock....one scenario was a gentlemen said that it seemed like I was leaning backwards and not shifting my weight....but remember now this only happens when i tee up the driver or maybe hit my longer less lofted irons....any thoughts

tks
Honer's

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Your face is square to your swing if it is going straight left. Make sure you are getting proper wrist turn through contact and come a little bit from the outside.

Well, if you're a RH Golfer, you're coming from the outside with a closed clubface (which makes the clubface square to swingpath at impact). This can be caused by a number of things - hitting from the top, which usually pushes the right side out over the line (leaving you no choice but to pull in if you want to hit the ball), leaning over too much (as you lean even more forward as you swing down, again, leaving no choice but to pull in), or even having a big, wide takeaway (outside the plane), causing a big, wide downswing.

If you're a LH Golfer, you're swingpath is probably good (inside to square to inside, or maybe even inside out), but you're probably holding the clubface open (not releasing your hands) - again, your clubface is square to swingpath, causing the push. In this case, try letting your hands release (keep them relaxed). If you're still leaking out to the left, then you're swingpath is inside-out, and your ball will always start left. Try moving the ball up in your stance about 1 ball width.

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One simple tip I got from a pro which corrects the reason I usually hit it left (like you, goes straight initially and then left) is to make sure your head follows your left shoulder. He reckoned I was keeping my head down too long. Doing this causes a lot of the other more technical symptoms. If I hit a shot left, I'll consciously think of this on my next shot and it works for me!

Brian, if you shots start straight and then bend left, you are hitting a draw (for a RH golfer). Honers is describing a pull (if he is RH'ed), which like Ben said above, is caused by an outside-in path and the clubface sqaure to the swingpath.

I stand corrected. I misread the original note and thought he meant straight and then left.

Good spot!

In my opinion its generaly quite simple. The way your ball STARTS is determined from the path of ur club head. the way it goes AFTER that is determined by if the club face is open or shut or square. So, if it starts left thats the way ur clubs going. If it stays there your face was square relative to that path. If the ball then traveled back to the right your face would of been open....and etc.

Thats just the way i look at it. So if it goes dead left (and u were aiming straight), then u came over the top. and the ball didnt move from there so your face was square to that path.

Id actually check you are aiming where you think first of all, and i dont mean just your feet check your shoulders aswell.

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Does this mean your divots are aiming straight where the ball goes as well?

If so I have exactly the same problem. I come slightly over the top with my long irons/ driver and pull the ball 20 yards left- on the course I;m having t compensate by opening up and hitting a deliberate fade.
At the range Ive been told to make sure Im getting in the right position- see the drills on the site (gord's I think?- apologies if wrong!)
Ive been told to tuck my right elbow in more at the top of the backswing.
Let me know as I need the help too

You are exactly right. The divot direction is determined by the path of the clubhead. If your divots are pointing left, you are coming outside-in, in relation to the target line.

"Does this mean your divots are aiming straight where the ball goes as well?"

by "goes" do you mean starts? If so then gords allready answerd. But if by 'goes' you mean finishes then no. You could have the very same 'over the top', the ball will start left but then it could slice if your face was open. Or hook even more if it was shut

Though thats stuff im sure everyone knows cuz aparently 90% of us slice..but thougth id tell ya how to slice anyway

I mean my ball starts at 10 o clock and stays there! Anything shorter than a 7 iron is fine but longer clubs its frustrating- Im losing 15 yards on my drive as well.

Any other tips guys?

Definitely an outside-in swing path with your club face square to your swing path.

I am no expert but I have had some success with the following technique.

I noticed that my eyes were decieving me.
By this I mean the following:
1) set up with you driver (most exagerated with this club)
2) from your setup choose a point about 3-4 feet infront of the ball that should be down your intended target path
3) mark that spot with a tee
4) look down you target path and see if your tee and ball line up

I personally found that my tee was a few inches to the left of the target path. This means that the path I believe my club should be on was actually an outside-in path.

I corrected this by making sure that choose a spot on the target path 2-3 feet ahead of the ball during my preshot routine (at the driving range I use a white ball mark remover). When I am making my swing, I am trying to get the clubhead pass through the ball down the line to the choosen spot. Body mechanics make this impossible but the exageration, seems to have straightened out my initial flight path of the ball (first 20-30 yds).

Hope this helps.

You may find that this will promote a hook (straight then left) since your clubface is obviously closed to the "intended" target path. Adjust your grip (clubface a little bit more open at address) until the clubface is square at impact.

This is the part of my swing that I am currently working on, making sure that my clubface is square at impact. I have noticed that square at set-up does not always mean square at impact, caused by my hands ahead of the ball at impact (mid and long irons in particular).

Sure preciate all the responses....and sorry it took me so long to get back to you all...but a couple of things....as for my divot....it seems to be both ways....on my short irons....shot may go straight...but the divot is definately facing to the left...on the long irons...goes left...divot left....so what can one do to correct the outside-in swing....besides practice practice practice....

Work on getting your hands high at the top of the backswing and work on attacking the ball from the inside. Allow me to borrow Mizunoman's analogy: imagine the ball is square. Try hitting the square from the bottom left corner through to the top right corner (in relation to the target line from behind the ball). This will create a good feeling of coming from the inside which will eliminate your pull shots.