Ted Galanides has been a Surgite for nearly two seasons now and he's really into his game. He recently sent me a message asking for help on curing a chronic problem of hitting toe shots.
"I am experiencing a problem with the new club Doc Griffin made me. I had a similar problem before. From the driver down to the six hybrid I am hitting the ball too close to
the toe. When I move closer I am pulling the shots and will even hit a hook on occasion. I have tried to position the ball closer to the heel and generally get solid center hits with
good distance, excellent high flight and straight as an arrow but the slightest mistake results in pulls. I have checked my position, that is hands below my chin, right shoulder
lower than left, flexed knees, weight on balls of my feet, and feet flared. I have even used clubs to perfectly aline myself and I still get toe hits. Any suggestions?"
Well, Ted, I do have a few possible answers to you question. First off, even though you feel like you are perfectly aligned, you didn't mention anything about your shoulders at address. If they are open, even a little bit, this could cause an outside-in swing and that may be why you are hitting so many shots off the toe of the club. You can check your shoulder alignment by simply looking at the relative position of both arms at address. If the back arm is higher than the forward arm, then your shoulders are open. Remember, to be perfectly aligned, your toes, knees, hips, shoulders, and eyes should be lined up over the toe line so that they can all move correctly in the backswing.
Come to think of it, there is the outside possibility that if your shoulders are closed this would take your swing into the SBG and as a consequence you may be casting your hands up and out and then swinging across the aiming line in an outside-in fashion. But if it's an alignment issue, my money would be on the open shoulder diagnosis.
Another potential cause of your problem may be with your right leg. If you are over rotating, or if your forward knee is moving inward during the backswing, then you in all likelihood,are getting into an EBRT position (End of Backswing Reverse Tilt). When this happens, your head is actually getting ahead of the ball before impact, something we never want to do. Watch the video for a good demonstration of what this looks like and why it may be the cause of your toe shots.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
If you can't view the YouTube video above try CLICKING HERE. You must allow popups from this site for the link to work.
Comments
One thing that caught my
One thing that caught my attention from today's daily was not so much the alignment but the stance and hand position. I have a tendency to stand too close to the ball. Always fine for my shorter irons and wedges, and if my tempo is good that day can get by with even the longer clubs, but if I'm off can be all over the place. This could be the issue with Ted as well, as he mentioned getting closer to the ball. I know that Surge has mentioned that those who stand far from the ball feel powerful, but for me its the exact opposite.
Thanks Rodger.ÃÂ This looks
Thanks Rodger.This looks like a perfect quick check to help with my stance, and hand position.
Nobody believes in "whatever
Nobody believes in "whatever works" more than me.
This is the result in my stance using an actual plumb bob with an 8 iron.
The plumb bob hanging from the butt of the club to the ground:
1" inside the toe line.
The plumb bob hanging from my mouth:
Hits just off of the end of the grip furthest down the shaft.
The plumb bob held against my chin:
Hits my right thumb knuckle.
With an 8 iron vertical line from Don's mouth, chin, and butt of club to ground shows he is very similar to what I am from those check points.
With an 8 iron DJ is far outside of either of us where the vertical line hits (Or much closer to his body with the club). Even from the chin a vertical line hits the shaft off of the grip.
look forward to daily tips
look forward to daily tips,have taken lessons over the past 25yrs. from some great ..i always go back to a very, i mean very strong right hand grip. do you have any suggestions as to how i can improve my swing with my grip .at 70 don't feel like changing this late in game,strongly considering lessons from you this spring,as i live in brunswick ga. a couple hours south of blufton.keep up the good work ,best wishes in 2012 mike.p
TM, Before going out in the
TM, Before going out in the rain after lunch to have the car tested, I checked out your site for WTF and Club lengths. Then I checked them using their recommendations. Previously had been on the cusp at 32". Done the way they say it was 31.5" My clubs were done as recommended also. The Dvr was also not as long as when I measured it, using my method. So don't have to choke down so far. Will be interesting to see the differences when the weather clears next year,ie, day after tomorrow it is meant to clear up and stop raining. Folks just south of here are flooded : - (poor souls.
Thanks again, Length is important as the actress said to the Bishop ; - Behave yourself laddie heh heh heh.
Thanks again for the reminder.
Popping up too soon on the
Popping up too soon on the FUS perhaps Steve?
If you do not rotate your
If you do not rotate your underarms in the takeaway you will hit it more often off the toe. The arms naturally close back at impact thus closing the clubhead too much. And you will hit the ball off the toe.
At least this cured my toe-hitting...
I always pop up "too soon" so
I always pop up "too soon" so if it works for me 99% of the time I can't really blameÃÂ the times that it doesn't work on that.
Plenty of players drop down in the forward swing just like I do and many of the ones with power also are popping up before impact just like I do. The difference is that although the level of their hips and waist are popping up the head stays down whereas my head comes back up. (Coincidentally to the exact level it was at address).
My goal (I think unattainable) is to keep my spine angle at head as stable as Don does but so far any attempt to do that is a disaster and huge loss of power. Ain't given up on it yet though.
Setting up with weight over
Setting up with weight over the balls of the feet is an old fashioned thought that not even too many of the rotational gurus are teaching these days. It tends to encourage a falling away from the ball in the FUS which would cause a toe shot. Keeping your balance throughout the swing is easier if the weight is focused over the arches ( midway between the ball of the foot and the heel ). If you are an old timer like me who has to wear arch supports it is very easy to feel that balance point in each foot.
Don't know if it's right,
Don't know if it's right, wrong, or if it's something he always does, but in the "Through the bag" video DJ has his hands much closer to his body as the clubs get shorter. Also much further in when compared to a vertical line drawn from the chin to the ground. Don does the same but not quite as noticeably.
Mine doesn't change a lot through the bag (but does a little). It seems that my natural reaction to setting up to the ball is to get as far from the ball as it takes for my right arm to hang naturally, with every club.
Ted, old habits are hard to
Ted, old habits are hard to break. Imentioned this when you were in columbia and i need to remind you of it. One of you compensatory moves resulting from clubs too long was a change of spine angle up and away from the ball. This will result in toe hits and pulls. STAY STILL! In other words, maintain you angle at all times until the T finish.
It would be very hard to make
It would be very hard to make the upright Surge swing with the arms extended out that far. My distance is about 6 inches maximum from the front leg. (this is about the length of my right fist and thumb extended in the hitch hiker's position.)
The best tip I have seen for this is a Butch Harmon one. Take your grip with both hands, accordion down so the club is on the ground, relax your right arm, and remove your right /back hand from the club. If the back hand stays the same distance from the body your hands are the perfect distance from your body.
If your hands were 9 inches from your body at address the right hand might fall about 3 inches towards your body when doing the above test.
Richard,Best way I found to
Richard,
Best way I found to check the distance that my hands are away from my body is to get into my setup, pull a ball out of my pocket with my left hand (I play right handed), hold the ball to my chin, then drop it. If the ball hits the butt of the club then I know I have my hands where they need to be.
Wish I could learn to stay
Wish I could learn to stay stay still, darn, darn!!
Thanks,
Thanks Surge, what would I do
Thanks Surge, what would I do with out you!!
Hope I can stay in line tomorrow,,
marilyn
I'm headed over to Eagle
I'm headed over to Eagle Point forÃÂ a Father's Day Out. I think being cooped up a week is deserving of a golf day, I'm going to take my camera and try to get some swing videos while on the range before my round. Then around lunch I'll use my rain check to play a round this afternoon. Have a good day everyone.
Stay in the present!
Richard,
Richard,
Here's a couple good video's on the topic. Good luck
http://swingsurgeon.com/DailyV...
http://www.swingsurgeon.com/Da...
PMG
Have fun Boog!!!I played
Have fun Boog!!!
I played yesterday. Hit the driver absolutely great. Not so for my approach shots. Hard to be good at everything this time of year.
If I practice with one thing another falls off. :-(
I look forward to your
I look forward to your "dailies" and have benefitted greatly from watching them over the past 18 months or so. Noticed today there were no comments, as yet, and thought this would be a perfect time to jump in a just say "thank you" for all you do for those of us who love the game of golf and are always striving to get better.
This to Theodore who has the
This to Theodore who has the problem of hitting off the toe of the club. Surge gave some good advice but one other idea crossed my mind---Maybe you are releasing too hard on your through swing, causing the club to meet the ball with the face closed. Try either weakening your grip or opening the club face a little at address. Might help. Good luck.
The big reason for doubting
The big reason for doubting that advice is in what he said: "In order to make a good turn."
I've always felt
I've always felt weight should not be on the balls of your feet, weight should be evenly distributed over your core. Am I right or wrong?
The closest part of my left
The closest part of my left hand is 6 inches from my body. I doubt very seriously if that stays consistent with all clubs and all shots but that's what my wife just measured in a "normal" set up with a driver.
BTW My right hand absolutely doesn't move when I take it off of the club and totally relax the arm. (That part I am quite certain never changes unless I'm messing around and experimenting). ;-)
If I did that I would be WAY
If I did that I would be WAY too far from the ball. The closest to the end of the club the ball would hit is on the pad of my hand just above my right thumb.
That's 5 or 6 inches from the butt of the club.
Surge,Keep using the mat with
Surge,
Keep using the mat with the target line on it, and the face on camera shots.ÃÂ It was easy to see the problem swings using that.
I bet that 6" would be close
I bet that 6" would be close to a fist and a thumb.
Hope you have a fun round
Hope you have a fun round Boog. Father deserves some time with his clubs and balls. Brother and I played 18 yesterday. Our sons couldn't make it. We had fun as always and both played some good and some bad holes. I had one birdy. On the par 5 11th hole at muni made a 30 footer with a slight left to right break. Then followed it with a double bogie in the water hole on the par three 12th. Then another par on the par 4 13th. That's golf. The good news is I have calm self composure now as I am able to let poor shots and holes go bye and stay in the presnt for my next shot.
Glad you're getting out pal. Have a blast :)
PMG
Louis, if you mean by core,
Louis, if you mean by core, your arches, you would be correct.
Thanks Steve I'm about the
Thanks Steve I'm about the same. ÃÂ I've edited my previous comment.
Steve,I guess its kinda like
Steve,
I guess its kinda like one of those "5 Hour Energy" commercials. It works for me. I usually hit a little bit of a fade when I use your normal hand position. I think we're both in the right area using Surge's parameters of the upper thumb knuckle of the forward hand being somewhere between the chin and upper lip. The ball drop works like a portable plum-bob for me.