Forward Press W/ Irons

What do you guys think of using a slight forward press when hitting 5 iron to wedge, to give you a more hitting down motion instead of sweeping? Also, what about placing the ball about a inch or two behind the ball to help with the hitting down motion as well?

Foward press is a matter of personal preference. I think it is less advocated for today then in the past. I know Pennick encourages a slight foward pressure in his book.

I encourage the forward press since that is the position your hands will be at impact (flat left wrist).

To me, you have to have the forward press in order to keep the left wrist flat and achieve the magical right wrist angle (which I still can't get a feel for) I know when I am swinging my best, I have a feeeling that I have too much of a forward press. Wierd I know, but it really seems to take a lot of the hand action out of the swing.

Hi guys,
I used to forward press, but found that it did encourage hitting behind the ball slightly on some shots. Obviously, correcting setup etc did bring this more in line, but forward pressing your hands is a great way to feel the nice crisp contact with the ball that you should feel (especially if you havent' been feeling it before) if you can hold it through the swing. Now what I am doing is shifting my weight slightly on to my right side (right handed), kind of presetting my backswing, it also flattens out my left wrist as my hands don't move until this is done and it gets me into my swing plane quickly. Is this something similar to forward press, even though it is the complete opposite, a backward press???

All:

I have been experimenting with holding a more forward press at set up with all my my irons and it really has helped me to hit down on the ball more effectively as well as crisper shots.

The question I have is: How much forward press is too much? On some of my mid-irons 7 and 8 the blade of the club is almost perpendicular to the ground.

I am interested to know if any of you comrades have tried this and how effective it has been in your ball striking with your irons.


Robf

I know that many use the forward press and if it works for you then great.

I don't use it as I get problems with grounding the club to early in the downswing and creating divots that are too deep that destroy the crisp contact I want into the back of the ball.

The golf swing bottoms out in line with the left armpit, I need to make turf contact just in front of the ball so I have the leading edge hovering just above the grass at address (Sorry for repeating a previous thread of mine).

Brian:

Thanks for the input. But don't you cup your right wrist at impact? So instead of setting up as a forward press, the hands lead the club head at impact which is the result of a right wrist cupped which is the forward press at impact.

Did I make sense?

Robf

There seems to be some confusion about the term "forward press". It is not a position, it is an action. Simply stated, it’s a subtle movement toward the target at the start of the swing, generally used as a swing trigger and to promote a smooth take away due to "rebound action" from the forward movement. Most typically it is a movement (or "pressing") of the hands toward the target, although it can also involve some body movement. It can be done from a hover but is probably more typically done with a grounded club. As the golf swing is a dynamic movement, a forward press does not dictate any particular position at impact. It all depends on how you setup, how you "press", and how you move back through the ball.

Setting up with your hands well forward of the ball is not a forward press, per se. It is just setting up with your hands well forward of the ball.

Ok, then how do you feel about setting up with your hands well forward of the ball at setup? Have you had any experience or tried this method? It seems to work for me I was wondering how it worked for others.


Thanks for your input.

Robf.

I have thrown out the forward press as a conscious part of my swing. I just don't want anything going forward at the beginning of my swing. My first move is to make sure I rotate straight back around my spine without dipping the left shoulder. The forward press, at least the way I think about it, gets in the way of that. I think why introduce another independent movement in the swing.

Anything extreme seems.......extreme. Seriously, a moderate forward lean of the shaft is my preferred setup. Hands are always just to the left of the zipper and the ball is near the center of the stance for short irons, moving forward for each longer iron. The hands are basically constant and the ball position determines the shaft lean.
This is generic info...specialty shots call for specialty setups.

Excellent, I'll try that ( moderate shaft lean) at the range and during a round ( if the weather stays warm). But I really do see an improvement in my ball striking. Now mind you I've only been doing for this for about a week. Who know after a week some gremlins might enter my swing that may force me to do things a little different. But I hope I find some consistency in my ball striking with this forward lean of the shaft at setup..

Stay tuned.

Robf

Thats correct, no confusion.

Hi Rob,

No, I don't cup my right at impact, in fact I push my right wrist under and past my left to give additional release. I can not understand the concept of right wrist cup at impact.