where to hold hands

During my last round of golf I noticed something that has been slowly creeping into my game. While hitting from the rough I noticed that I was really hooking the ball left on several shots. I believe I'm keeping my hands to low so when I'm cutting through the rough the heel of the club is catching and sending my ball left. I've also been doing it from the fairway occasionally. I have a one-plane swing so I work from an inside takeaway, and I was wondering where is the ideal position to keep your hands at address to promote a good solid turn. If someone has any ideas I would really appreciate their comments, also it someone has pictures of a good hand position that would also be greatly appreciated.

What I put in bold is what killed me for the longest time from the rough. I have a flat swing in general, like you. I work from the inside, like you. However, after watching Tiger Woods hit several strong wedges from the rough, I realized that he takes a steeper backswing and down swing. You really need to drive down on the ball, which is hard to do if you come from the inside flat.

I would practice hitting some shots with a steeper swing. I posted earlier the Ferris Wheel approach to hitting wedges. This will help from the rough as well. Think of your swing as a Ferris Wheel, moving up and down.

You also want to drive that right shoulder DOWN, not out. That's what I never did until recently, and the results have been amazing. Work the club on a steeper path and work down into the ball, I think you will see solid results.

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A hook from the rough is a pretty common problem for everyone I believe. Depending on how deep the rough is, I'll grab one higher club than normal for the distance and open the face. As the hosel goes through the grass, it will pull the face closed. Try opening the club face a bit, the previous post about a steeper down swing is very useful as well. a bit of practice and you will start getting more shots out and on the target line.

thanks for the info. But do you think that holding my hands a little higher will help, and by higher I mean dropping the toe of the club a little more towards the ground.

Without reading your post, I'd say that holding hands is acceptable just about anywhere - assuming it's someone of the opposite sex. Please be prepared to accept strange stares if it's someone of the same sex.



Now, after reading your post (and being a member at OnePlaneGolfSwing.com, and having read different stuff), the 'steep swing' is designed to deliver the clubhead through the grass to the ball - minimizing the effect of the grass (the grabbing and turning).

The other thing that I'm pretty sure Chuck has mentioned (or was it a story I was told about Ryan Moore?) Anyway, the trick is to open your blade some, and play for a cut.

The other other thing to remember is that the more toe up you are - especially in the short irons - the more pull side your ball will go.

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For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

I would suggest trying the following when hitting from the rough:

Stand closer to the ball. This will promote a more upright swingplane that will hit less grass.

Open the clubface to get more loft and reduce the effect of the grass pulling the clubface closed.

Keep your weight forward and use steep a punch type shot that gets the ball airborne

Make your grip a little tighter than normal to stop the club rotating due to the pull of the grass.

Allow for a screamer as the ball can fly long and low when the grass gets caught between the ball and clubface.

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Best Regards
Brian

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