Squaring the Face (again)
 

Following on from a previous thread...

When swinging my woods i don't conciously think about squaring the face - it all happens and if i'm on plane i get a nice draw.

With the irons, i'm getting blocks or pushes which are progressively more pronounced as the loft increases (i.e. worse with the wedges).

I've checked my ball position and it is ok and i set up at impact fix.

Am i subconiously "steering" or holding off the CF release as i get closer to the target? Is it bad to focus on a swing thought of "must horizontal hinge" for these shots? Again with the driver or woods in hand no problems.

Out of interest, how far do you draw driver.

Could it be that the starting line is the same for both, but due to the backspin the ball just isn't coming back as much with the shorter clubs?

G'day Toolish,

The draw is pretty slight (hard to say but a couple of metres at most on a drive?), mostly straight. Definately not the aim down the right rough and draw it back into the middle type draw.

Cheers

Do you "Push" the ball when Chipping and/or Pitching Shots?

No not normally, although i've had the odd shank in the shortgame

Do you Finish your Total Motion Iron shots or do you stop short of fully finishing?

I swing through to a full finish, not trying to hit a 'punch' type shot if that is what you are asking?

If i feel like i'm forcing a horizontal hinge then i'm ok - without thinking about "you've got to roll" then out comes the pushes

Does this mean i'm manipulating my hands or just trying to overcome subconcious steering?

I'm only trying to isolate the Pivot as a possibility of where the fault may originate. If you easily finish your swing, then the pivot is probably ok. But your Pitch shots are ok. Hmm? Try pitching 20,40,50,60,70, and 80 yards with your Wedge working up from Acquired Motion to Full Motion. Try to isolate when the Pushing or Blocking occurs.

The pushing occurs from acquired motion to the full swing if i don't conciously focus on closing the face... say from 20m and out. Chips and shorter shots are ok probably because the face doesn't open up as much on the backstroke.

I don't know. It's an unusual problem; the shorter the iron the more right it's pushed.

Went down the range tonight and worked on a full release - straightened things out a bit for now but will keep working on it. Thanks for the help

An interesting observation is how much roll back to vertical a player has from release point is dependant on the angle of the inclined plane and where the vertical plane of the hinge action intersects it.

The more flat the plane angle the more accumulator 3 you will need in conjunction to load both itself and #2. The hinge action plane from the point of the left shoulder isn't affected by the left shoulders own movement - global application rather than local. With the swingers horizontal hinge action - accumulator 3 will be loaded the least when the vertical plane intersects the inclined plane parallel to the plane line....the most when it goes through the plane line at 90 degrees.... Accumulator 3 is constantly adjusting in accordance to the plane and how far out of line it is with the vertical plane of the hinge action.

For any given point on the inclined plane - maximum no.3 will always be when no.2 is fully loaded also....

Full Release
 

Bergsey,

I fight a similar problem and I think mine stems from not executing a proper sequenced release. By that I mean that I often end up with angled hinging even though I classify my motion as a swing. It may be that I'm still in the non-automatic release stage of refining my swing, but for some reason I occasionally (and quite unintentionally) use a simultaneous release motion which usually results in what I call a "wipe" or a push, or a push-cut (unless of course I accounted for it at setup with a slightly closed face). I think Homer called it that "wilted" feeling, although I believe he used it in terms of not getting the right arm straight just after impact. (As I think about it, not properly executing a simultaneous release may indeed prevent the swinger from not getting full right arm extension as the clubhead may not exert as much "pull" if #2 isn't allowed to get fully released).

I just seem to get a better roll when I deliberately uncock the left wrist on the downswing. And it seems like the sooner in the downswing I do it, the better the result. For me I think it's the old "feels as if" thing. If I feel like I uncock right from the top it actually happens where it should. I get a much "heavier drag-your-wet-mop" feeling when I really try to deliberately release #2 in the downswing. And with the shorter irons I think there is a tendency to hold off on that #2 release as we try and over-control the face and ball flight direction.

CG