confusing-restrict hip turn

I have been havinbg problems pushing and push slicing the ball. I came across an interesting fining that when I opened my stance and tried to shoot the ball to the right it actually hooked. I then tried for a while on resticting the hip turn thinking this was the culprit for the pushes so I tuned in myb left foot. This has helped some but feels a bit resticted. I then ca across someoen suggesting that an easier way to restrict the hip turn is to flare ope the left foot. This has helped some as well. Now I am toltally messed up. I am convinced that my pushes are from a very early hip turn but what is the best way to eliminate this?

I had the same problem, the longer the club the bigger the push. What was happening was my club was getting caught behind my body and was coming to far from the inside. and at impact position the club face was facing the pathline. To fix this problem I now use all my left side to pull the club down, then once down around hip high, I release my right side. This allows me to accelerate the club through impact. and best of all the club is now on plane and I hit reasonbly straight.

Dear Smirch,

I am no Pro, but I have struggled with the ugliest push slice this whole season. I am now at a point where I think I have it behind me. I can only offer some of the things I have tried and things I have found out in the hopes that it may be of some value to you.

It started in the beginning of the season, and was spontaneous. It might last one hole or 15 holes. It destroys your confidence and makes your knees tremble everytime you step up to the tee, wondering "Is it coming this shot or not". Believe me, I know what you are going through. It was always with the irons, woods were fine.

I went to three pro's for a lesson and was never offered a root cause. Some of the causes offered were: swaying in the hips, Blocking the wrists, moving the upper body toward the target, etc.

I finally started turning things around by going to the park near me and hitting balls with only 1/2 swing with 9 iron. At first I was even push slicing them too. I stopped all hip movement and only swung with the arms. Bingo, the ball started going straight. Pretty soon, I was able to hit the ball every time straight with this abbreviated swing. I kept at it but still had problems on the course. Then I tried standing a little farther away from the ball, suddenly I was hitting the ball just fine. In fact, try hitting the ball off the toe of the club. See if it helps. I had also seen lots and lots of improvement by using Greg Willis's "Right Hand drill". It is an amazing drill and really helps.

In the final analysis, and after mulling all this info over, I think I had started to move the ball too close to my body and didn't notice it. Then, unconsciously, I was trying to correct for it and started casting the club which doesn't allow me to get the clubface closed by the time it comes into the impact zone. During a push slice, the club comes in on an in-out swing path with the clubface hitting the ball way open.

Your situation my be totally different, but I offer my experience only as a starting point.

Good Luck, Let me know how you are doing...

Chessbum....

The push also plagued me. I thought topping was as bad as it could get, but the push is worse. It's just demoralizing, because often I'd make very solid contact and the ball would fly pretty far--60* to the right.

In my case it was worse with the shorter irons and wedges.

I have committed myself to a fairly upright swing plane. This means that on the takeaway I have to have the feeling of pulling straight back along the target line. I was doing this okay with woods and long irons, but I was forgetting it with the short irons, and slinging the club low over my back. Correcting the takeaway fixed it, mostly. I found another cause, however. If I was "reaching" too much with my arms at setup, the club wouldn't be soled right. When I'd swing, the toe would hit the turf first, causing it to twist open and push. I verified it by noting the grass marks under the toe area of the sole.

I've become quite the sherlock when it comes to reading turf marks on my clubs after swinging, and I now wipe them carefully after each stroke.

__________________
Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

My pushes and push slices occur mainly with woods and the driver. I may miss slightly right of target with the irons but its not that bad. I strike the ball well and distance is good. Ive tried different clubs, grips and ball positions with only minimal results but nothing consistent. It appears to others that I dont fully release in time by keeping my arms too "frozen" through the swing without enough hip turn. Ive been told to try a headcover under the L armpit drill. Perhaps, that may help you too.

I have the same problem as Mr_Change. I get the worst push when I go after the ball from the top of my swing which leaves the clubhead wayyy behind me. When I take my time from the top, let the club drop from the top, I'm back on track.

I have struggled with the same problem for probably the last year. I have tried changing or altering everything under the sun with no consistent results. About three weeks ago I decided enough was enough and that I was going to fix this. I went back to basics and made a list of things to check. It was to my surprise that my problem was the second thing on my list right below grip. Posture. I think correct posture can cure many of the problems posted on this board. It is hard to make a good swing when you are not in the right position to begin with.

My posture problem was a hunched over back and poor butt position. In Hogan's five fundamentals he explains that you should feel as if you are lowering yourself onto a stool and that you should feel your weight in your butt and the back of your thighs. I was only bending over from the waist and slumping over with my back. Even though this lowering motion moves your mid section back a few inches it is enough to make a difference. When I had bad posture my hands got stuck behind my body, especially with the woods and long irons. All I could do was push it to the right or whip my hands around and hook it. This also explained why I would start out great some rounds and lose it halfway through. As that wonderful Florida summer sun wore me down my posture got sloppier and sloppier. I also found that this posture is what led me to sh**k my chips on occassion. My hands had no room to go forward so they went out towards the ball and hello hosel rocket.

So, for me anyway, I just have to concentrate on that posture and things seem to go well. It is so easy for me to get sloppy being a big guy (6'4"). This fix may seem simplistic to many of you but I have found fundamentals to be so the most important thing in a golf game. Reading gold digest, golf magazine and all these web-boards can sometimes be a curse as you start to get to technical and screw yourself up even more. Just take a look at the different suggestions on this topic alone...pull down with the left side, standing to close, a different takeaway, headcover in the armpit, let the club drop from the top. It could take a half dozen range sessions to work through those suggestions. (Respect to all, I am not bashing you suggestions. I am not saying I am right, I know we all just post what has worked for us. I am just using these as examples) A pro at a course I worked at in college said the golf magazines were his best friend since so many people screwed up their swings trying to follow the "hints and tips".

My advice for everyone struggling is go back to basics and try to learn to be a feel player, not a technical one. If you have more than one swing thought on each swing, you are getting to technical. The only thing I think of on every swing is swing easy since I try to kill it sometimes.

Build a solid grip, but grip the club lightly
Good posture
swing easy
trust your mechanics
Get a few lessons with a good pro before buying that cure-all training aid or dvd. If you are going to buy a book or dvd, buy one that focuses on the fundamentals, especially grip, posture and address.

Well I have to chime in on this one to add my own story of push slice-horror. First, I am relatively new to the game. I just purchased my first real set of clubs. I had mingled on a couple of 3 par courses in high school but I didn't really catch the golf bug until a few months ago. When I was shopping for irons, I stepped up to the indoor swing computer deal and right away I was hitting it over 160yrds with a slight fade with a 6 iron. Over and over again...I didn't top the ball once. I bought the irons and had a great first 2 months. I was hitting straight and long at the range and my first few real rounds of golf were outstanding. People thought I was lying when I said I had never really played before. It was GREAT!! Then it happened. I don't know how or why but my swing turned from a slight left fade to a wicked right push/push slice. Over and over again. The more I tried to correct it the worse it got. I tried to correct it for 3 weeks with little to no progress. My driver went straight 280 yrds but I couldn't get an iron to go straight to save my life. I experimented with my stance, my wrist position and movement, my swing plane (all with the help of these forums....thanks guys!) Finally I started to get some to go straight with a half swing. Over the last few trips to the range I've managed to straighten my swing. It feels much different now than before though. I feel like my upper body(arms/wrists) are uncomfortably stiff. My distance isn't nearly as good as before. Also it seems that most irons go about 150 yards regardless of club (4 iron or 7 iron). Oh well. I guess since my beginner's luck is over I'm no longer a beginner. Ughhhhhhh!

though this might help

http://members.cox.net/gregjwillis/T...ALL%20RULE.htm

Not good to reference this site on this topic.

Here is Greg's help for the guy stuck with a push slice:

Quoting: "Inside-Out path and Open Face: "What the hell was that!" This is not good for anything. You really messed up. Pulled the club way inside and didn't turn through. You probably need to take up tennis".

Frankly, when I read that advice, it crushed my tender ego. There needs to be more positive advice than taking up tennis.

I was greatly dissappointed when I read this SH*T. It needs to be more positive. A push slice is a common problem and Greg's site has such great drills and advice. This needs to be changed.....

Sorry, but the old Chessbum never pulls punches and always tells it like it is folks....

Chessbum.....

I was also not too impressed with that quote from an otherwise great site. On the other side there always has too be a bit of room for sarcasm, it's only not funny when you're the subject