need some help

hey guys

first time poster here, im a really new golfer and would like some help on my swing. I have allready checked out the golf lessons section on this site which was really helpfull regarding posture, as i was told recently my this needs some adjustment. Firstly im shanking my drives alot, ive tried adjusting my posture, grip, ball adressing but still seem to be throwing them out right field 8 out of 10 drives,any suggestions would be great. Secondly, Im driving anywhere between 185 - 210 and want to increase this? any help would be great.

Once again, great site and look forward to speaking with you all.

lee

hello lee, first of all have a routine ie pick a target where you want the ball to head towards, take a few practice swings tee the ball opposite your left heel (if r/handed) head very still slow lift then swing the club to impact transfering weight from right to left leg with a full follow through. go to golf range and practice practice and practice,you also mention shank, you are standing to close to the ball, when you address the ball take your right hand off the club, you should be able to swing your arm between your body and club with ease.focus on the ball, try and keep it simple, good luck mate.

From I read in your post, it's only your driver you're shanking? So, check that your address positions with your driver are the same as the rest of clubs. If they are, then it's what I suspected: with the driver, you have a different swing path to the rest of your clubs, like another gazillion golfers who suffer from the same problem.

You need to correct your swing path to stop the club from changing its address position of centre-to-the-ball to heel-to-the-ball at impact. Without going into a whole long delivery here, let's start off with a really simple visual excersise that often does the trick.

We need to give your brain a visual que to guide the muscles that in turn control the club. Unfortunately in golf you're hitting a tiny white object, standing 2 or 3 feet to the side of it and just to top it off, you're trying to hit it with a club you can't actually see. Golf is a predictive hit ... in other words your brain has to predict within a about 1/80th of a second how and when to the ball. For an untrained golf brain, like a beginner or lesser skilled golfer, that is a tough ask.

So, we'll help the brain by giving it something bigger than the little golf ball to work with. By giving it more to work with and building from a stationary position to half swings and then to full swings, you're giving your brain time and resources to build some NLP codes to control the muscle controls it needs.

Get some white cardboard and cut two sections, each about 4 inches wide and 6 inches long. Take these to the driving range the next time you practice and put one a few inches directly infront of the ball and the other about 6 inches behind the ball.

Now swing slowly in a rehersed 1/2 swing (where the club goes back to just passed hip height, back to the ball and forward through impact to just above hip height again) focussing on swinging the club into impact over both pieces of cardboard. As your brain absorbs the sense and develops muscle control you'll find this easier and easier to execute.

Once you're more comfortable and a get an understanding and feeling of where the club needs to come from and go to through impact, over 10 or 15 practice swings swing further and further back.

Now, go back to the 1/2 swing motion and with a mid-iron hit some balls and see the results ... then over a series of practice sessions increase the swing to a full swing and go to the longer clubs doing the same thing:

> half swings without a ball
> swing further and further to a full swing without a ball
> then swing and hit balls

It takes a long time, you may bet results quickly and I hope you do, but perservere. Some players do take a long time, everyone learns as a different pace but every golfer has a level of talent and skill to develop.

You should find that by developing your golf brain, it's not only your driver that will improve from the added control and muscle memory but every swing will improve by reducing the variability of the swing path.

__________________
Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

Hi guys

Firstly thanks for the replies, Granham you have given me some great advise and a structure by which to work by, I will you keep you posted on the results.

thanks again

lee

Hi Lee,

A shank is hitting the ball at the hosel of the club (the joint part between the shaft & the clubhead), which means your club is too far out at the point of contact. This happen when you are too eager or fast on the downswing, causing you to "throw" the club at the ball. Your swing plane on the downswing must be similar (if not the same) to that of the upswing. Throwing the club on the downswing causes you to go out of the swing plane & than trying to get it back in to hit the ball.

However a shank will cause the ball to fly left at almost 45 deg. not right, hence you may have a push shot and hitting the ball at the edge of the clubhead. That means your downswing is coming down too close to your body & than forcing it out last minute trying to hit the ball.

Hope that's of some help.

Geoff Pun, golf-instructionz.com