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I've been spending the last month working on transfering my weight to the left side thru the downswing. Before this I went thru a long period of time mis-hitting by thinning or sculling the ball (80% of my misses). At the finish of each swing I could tell my weight was "hanging back". This, I assumed, was the reason for the thinning of shots- rightfully so.

I'm now getting in the habit of the full weight transfer, but now 2 noticable faults have breeded :

First, woods- and driver especially, I CAN'T get the ball airborne. I'm hitting "worm-burners" that have creeped in since this "good" habit has been installed. How do I still swing up on a driver while still moving over to the left side?

Senond, pure and simple- mis-hits- off the toe and a few shanks. I'm mis-hitting the ball alot more now than before. When I pure it now-it feels great, and the ball goes farther and I'm really balanced. It's just not happening enough.

So, I'm realizing that this new mechanic I'm instituting is coming with frustration, time, and other problems. But I'm sticking with it, and I do see better results when I nail one. Please help.

This is what is called a reverse C, meaning your lower body has transfered to the left but your upper body, especially your head is behind the ball at impact.

The reason you are hitting low shots is probably caused by transferring your upper body and head in front of the ball at impact.

you could be oversliding some. make sure your knees are stable, especially my favorite, the right knee, arms connected to chest, and head somewhat stationary. now get a good full rotaton of the shoulders and drive the right shoulder through the ball.

I know this may not seem like the fix, and it may well not be, however, I struggled with exactly the same problem. Tops, shanks, thin, fat. My problem ended up being overswinging. My backswing was to long. It threw the timing of my weight shift off and made me very inconsistent. Try shortening your backswing. Made all the difference in the world for me. I lost no distance at all. And my ball striking improved immeasurably.

I agree with what has been said. I'm right there with you with trying to learn proper weight transfer and hitting down on the ball. I mean, I just started to really practice this focus yesterday and I can see the benefits.

What I'm working on is exactly what has been said here (so it gives me more confidence that it is correct)
1) my backswing is too long (more opportunity to get offline)
2) drive the right shoulder through the ball. (turning the shoulder is what helps get the face square, not just wrist action)
3) rotate on backswing and don't slide back, this makes it easier to hit it fat because you've got to over-compensate to slide forward to have the bottom of the swing at the ball again on the downswing.
4) "This is what is called a reverse C, meaning your lower body has transfered to the left but your upper body, especially your head is behind the ball at impact.The reason you are hitting low shots is probably caused by transferring your upper body and head in front of the ball at impact. " (thank you for this, I didn't know how I was going to get my drives above 3 ft off the ground again after yesterday)
5) hands ahead of ball at impact, HIT DOWN ******!!

Lordemery: you just make a big swing change, and now you are having some problems with consistancy, is that correct? The good ones feel great, but you also hit some stinkers. Correct? WELL, does the name Tiger Woods ring a bell? I seem to remember Tiger making a few small changes to his swing after the 20o2 season, and he could hit a fairway to save his life for almost 3 years. And he's pretty good at this fool game.

What do you expect? Give it some time and stick with your new swing, it will work out. It may take some time, ****, it only took 3 years for the best player alive, the get it working again. Have some patience.

an excellent point, that I must take note of..... THANK YOU

Yeah, without changing anything else in your swing, you will probably hit lower shots with a driver or fairway wood especially when shifting your weight more.

The point I was going to make has been mentioned...making sure that your head is behind the ball slightly at impact. I always strike the ball better and higher when I keep that in mind and have my head in position at impact. This applies to irons even more for me. If I just lunge without keeping my head in position I tend to hit shots low and thin.

Thanks for all the tips. I have a feeling that I'm over-emphasizing my weight shift because I'm trying so hard to do it. In the process, I could be lunging at (or through) the ball- maybe more of a slide. Strange- I've still noticed, even after the swing, my left toe is pointed toward the target. I'm no Einstein, but that can't be good. I don't know ( ), this game can drive you crazy. The more I try, the worse my result is.

I'll try much of the advice on here and give it a go. I won't give up. Maybe it's just a huge overswing and I'm over-powering the ball- throwing everything off. I'll get back here. Thanks again.

This sounds peculiar. If you transfer your weight to the left side, it's difficult to have your left toe pointing at the target. This normally happens with reverse pivot (finishing with your weight on the right leg)

Yes, several times after my weight transfer, I look down and see that my left foot is pointed toward the fairway. This may be a poor transfer or a problem with not being able to stay planted. Maybe my weight is on the wrong part of my feet at address or thru the swing. I'm just not stable. I need help with this. Maybe the transfer will happen more easily and I'll get a more consistant ball strike if I can learn a way to stablize myself- thus the possible "sliding" and over-movement = poor contact.

My idea of transfer may just be wrong in the first place. What is really suposed to be "transfering?" "Weight" may be too general a word.

upgrade your shafts maybe, if you feel confortable with your new weight transfer

No that's not good, I had the same problem last year, and it's from not having your weight on your left foot. Try this, shift your weight to your left foot, now try to twist your left foot open. I think you'll find it's hard to do with weight on it. Now shift you weight to the right foot, as you do in your backswing, and try to twist your left foot. Easy isn't it. This should tell you that you are not transfering you weight back to the left when you start your forward swing, you're hanging back on your right side. NOT GOOD. Work on starting your forward swing witha weight transfer to the left and a hip turn to the left. It will take some time to correct this, but it will happen if you practice it enough, especially if you make "slow" swings so you can feel the weight shift and hip turn.

You are probably moving to laterally with your left hip. It does need to move forward with your weight but not past your left foot. At that time the hip should rotate instead of move forward.

As for the driver, make sure your head is behind the ball when you make contact.

Mishits off the toe and shanks are, for me anyways, usually do to swinging to lazily or swinging to hard. Maybe lighten your grip and swing with more tempo. Hum a song when you swing. Helped me!