Pulls, pull draws, I hate'um

[NCLefty]

Mike,

Hope you are doing well...

After returning home after our couple days of lessons, I was hitting the ball really well. Putting was the only thing holding me back.

But now, I have started hitting pulls and pull draws. Can't figure it out. I've monitored my alignment. The really good feeling swings are almost always pulls. Happening with all clubs. Driver pulls usually have draw ballflight in them. Zero pull cuts. Irons are more straight pulls, but I can draw any club now and then.

Seems more like face issues rather than path, although maybe I'm a little outside in??? Left hand is more on the side of the club like we discussed.

Could really use a trip back to Long Island so you could tune me up, but I will probably need to wait till the end of Summer. How about a Tour Stop in North Carolina

Any thoughts?

Tracy Barber

ps : I just purchased the Sam Snead book you suggested to me.

[NCLefty]

Sitting here at work thinking about it, I bet the clubface is hooded starting back. I have a history of this move. Wonder if that stronger left hand has encouraged this?

[Michael Jacobs]

Tracy,

From the sounds of the ball flight the club face is the first place I would look. I would go back to some small rehearsals training the face for impact with the ball. I would use the edge of a mat or a straight edge - to verify the club face.

We would love to see some current video as well!

Keep us posted

[Jay Schwarz]

I have the same issue, and got a lesson yesterday. The pro said the face was way closed. Looks square to me. When he set it really square, the ball went straight!

[NCLefty]

Man, this pull draw with the longer clubs is really holding me back. Starting to get anxious just walking on the tee box. 3 wood and hybrid are moving right also.

On the range after my round today, I moved the ball back just a little with the driver - seemed to help some. On the course this morning, I was setting up with hips and shoulders open but swinging down the target line. That resulted in what feels like a straight push, but was down the target line so it worked ok. Feels like a band aid though. Mike, I need that lesson Today! Sept can't get here soon enough...

NCLefty

[NCLefty]

Update after today's round :

Lost without a clue

[Michael Jacobs]

Update after today's round :

Lost without a clue

Yikes! Have you made club face and path checks? I would start with the club face and the feeling that the club face is pointed straight over top the flag at the impact.

Envision a golf tee sticking out of the face of the club at a right angle to the actual face of the club. When moving the club through the swing prepare the impact to have that golf tee pointed over the top of the target.

[NCLefty]

Thanks Mike...

It's not that I can't hit it straight, it's just that the pull draw pops up when I least expect it, and I can't quite figure out why. Today at the range, I was hitting 8 irons. Out of the 25 or so 8 irons I hit, 3 or 4 of them were off the planet right, even though the swing felt okay. Otherwise, slight pulls were the misses. Most were very good though.

With the driver on the range, I can get in a groove and hit it okay, but the misses are always to the right, with the occasional way right shot. On the course, the driver is the biggest problem.

Thursday, I'm going to go see my local instructor to see if he can get me through till my lessons with you. I'm interested to see what it looks like on video. I'm wondering if I've gotten across the line at the top, or possibly swinging outside-in with the driver. I've been layed off and inside-out all my life so it's hard to think about being the opposite.

I'll check back in after my lesson Thursday...

[NCLefty]

Had a lesson from Robert Linville here in Greensboro, NC today. He knows my swing well, so I trust his eye (and his cameras). I thought I might have a little out to in path through impact but he was happy with the path. He thinks most of the misses right were face issues. Also, I have a tendency to aim slightly right, so that adds to the problem.

Things that he saw :

1) Driver closed at address. Looked square to me, but with one of those face angle devices like Mike showed previously, we could see that the face was quite a bit closed. This doesn't explain everything though, since I'm also hitting the 3 wood and hybrids to the right.

2) Front shoulder moving very horizonal starting back. In other words, flat shoulder turn with some pop-out of the hands / club. This has always been a problem for me, and we have worked on this many times. I thought I had rid myself of it, but I guess not.

3) Week downswing pivot. He wants to see more pivot participation to keep the club from flipping over before impact. Definitely some flip in there. Another one of my historic patterns.

As Mike suggested in his earlier post, Robert said to see and feel where the face should be at impact and incorporate that into the swing. Use the pivot to aid in lining up the club for impact.

Hopefully I can clean some of this up before I go to Long Island so Mike doesn't have to waste time with the easy stuff

[Michael Jacobs]

Had a lesson from Robert Linville here in Greensboro, NC today. He knows my swing well, so I trust his eye (and his cameras). I thought I might have a little out to in path through impact but he was happy with the path. He thinks most of the misses right were face issues. Also, I have a tendency to aim slightly right, so that adds to the problem.

Things that he saw :

1) Driver closed at address. Looked square to me, but with one of those face angle devices like Mike showed previously, we could see that the face was quite a bit closed. This doesn't explain everything though, since I'm also hitting the 3 wood and hybrids to the right.

2) Front shoulder moving very horizonal starting back. In other words, flat shoulder turn with some pop-out of the hands / club. This has always been a problem for me, and we have worked on this many times. I thought I had rid myself of it, but I guess not.

3) Week downswing pivot. He wants to see more pivot participation to keep the club from flipping over before impact. Definitely some flip in there. Another one of my historic patterns.

As Mike suggested in his earlier post, Robert said to see and feel where the face should be at impact and incorporate that into the swing. Use the pivot to aid in lining up the club for impact.

Hopefully I can clean some of this up before I go to Long Island so Mike doesn't have to waste time with the easy stuff

Tracy,

Since our lessons were rained out, give us an update of your progress after the lesson you took from the local pro and how you have been progressing?