golfrewind.com

I can't remember the last time that I was so happy to shoot an 80, like I did today. I'm a 12 handicap, but of late, I've been playing like an 18. I'm one of those strange fellows that threw myself into golf when I turned 35...never played until then. I really worked at it and late this summer, was regularly shooting 75-79, only going into the low 80s when the putter really took the day off. Problem is, I always have taken instruction to the extremes...which in golf is just a new killer fault to have to be overcome.

Anyway, extra job responsibilities cut me back from playing/practicing 5x weekly to maybe 3x (2 practice, 1 play) about 3 months ago. Coupled w/ worsening weather, my game went to he** in a handbasket. Lately, it had become all I could do to keep it down to 85-89. No distance, no idea where it was going....heck, I didn't even have a "miss" I could count on. I was seriously ready to quit playing the game, at least for a month or so....and I'd entertained that if I didn't miss it after a month, to heck with it...sell the clubs and quit expending energy on this wretched game.

So, I put a call into a guy who worked w/ me last year and really helped me. Told him that I was blocking/hooking, and that the general quality of contact was very poor, with a big loss in distance. Now, this guy knows my golf swing, so w/ no hesitation, he just tells me "you're under plane again....you're getting stuck, and either flipping the club or dragging it through impact". He goes on to advise me to really concentrate on not making such a pronounced weight shift, but rather to make a gentle shift and let the arms come down in front of my chest. I'd gotten out of synch.

So, out I go today, with my son. First couple of holes, I was still off. Then my guy's admonitions popped into the old noodle. BAM! 7 iron into the 2 club wind from 141 yds....12 ft. above the hole, right on line. On and on it went....as long as I'd just get those arms in front of my chest on the transition move, I was $$. Obviously, 80 still reeks, but it felt so good to "find" my swing again. If I could putt, it would have been a 77, easily.

Why is it such a drug to keep trying to come more and more from the inside, which almost inevitably leads me to this problem of "getting stuck"??? They say that it's a "better player's problem", but I'm certainly not a "better player". I say this as a non-slicer whose battled the rope hook and its various cousins since the day I took up the game, but I'll swear, I think "getting stuck" HAS to be the absolute most killer fault in the golf swing.

Others and their experience w/ this problem???? As you can see, I'm excited about the game again.

jc4birdie, Another way of saying what your pro told you is that your body was turning thru impact before the release. Our goal in golf is to have the body and the clubhead square at impact at the same time. The farther your timing is off the worse you hit it. Merry Christmas!

I have 2 suggestions.
1. Make sure you are not crowding the club at address and that your hands are a good distance away from your body. This will allow freer movement of your arms/hands and that will allow them to move faster so in case you do get a little stuck the effects will be minimized.

2. If you swing back with too much arms and get disconected on the backswing then you will have to worry about getting reconected on the downswing. try to keep the hands more in front of your chest on the backswing.

off the top of my head that is my two suggestions
btw, if you have an overly long backswing you may want to shorten that so the body cannot race so far out in front

I can relate to your delema:

Both my Dad and Grandfather were PGA pros, and they both taught me to hook or draw the ball. This way of teaching was the rule form the 20s through the 70s, even today many instructors teach this way.

1. The first thing I found was that during competive rounds my draw would land on the green and roll off.

2. The second thing that happened is that I began to top fairway woods (one a round - very embarrassing), getting "stuck" because of the inside to out move and to much weight shift, as you mentioned.

3. The last thing that happened was that I lost distance, because of releasing the club too early which puts the acceleration point just behind the ball.

Finally: I needed to learn a fade and in doing so I learned :

1. The lack of overspin when using the fade allowed the ball to stop sooner when it hit the green.

2. I hit the ball farther because I released the club later which put the acceleration through the shot not to the ball.

3. I was able to be less inside on the backswing which keep me more "insink" with my center (connected) again gaining more distance and consistent ball flight.

Note: after all this I learned a straighter shot and a power fade and could fade and slice around obstacles as well as I could hook around them.

Most power hitters favor a fade.