Joe,
The older I get, the more inconsistent my ball striking becomes. What can I do about this?
Alan
Hello Alan,
This is a common thing for most folks, including myself. In our younger years, our hand-eye coordination was better and our bones and muscles were more limber so they performed more consistently and they did not get tired as quickly. People who exercise regularly will have a better chance to keep those bones and muscles near peak performance, but the enthusiasm to keep exercising sometimes goes away. Golf gives you no guarantees, but it stands to reason that if you are enthusiastic enough to seek better ball striking, maybe you could convince yourself that the extra exercising is worthwhile. There is an excellent “Executive Fitness” video on the thinkandreachpar web site which addresses the proper muscles without exerting yourself.
However, let’s say you are already exercising, and better ball striking is your main goal. The first thing to do is to clear your mind about needing to get maximum distance. Then consider the idea that the further your backswing goes, the more trouble you might get into. Watch the Champions Tour, guys like Dana Quigley, Allen Doyle, Jim Thorpe. They do not take a full swing, but they win a lot. An older guy named Moe Norman has been called one of the best ball strikers who ever lived, and he also has a very short backswing. So the next time you go to the range, start with a half backswing and see what happens. Forget about losing distance, just focus on contacting the ball cleanly every time. You might even be surprised to see that the ball still goes far enough, and in some cases just as far because you are no longer “hitting from the top” or “casting”. Once you get a feel for consistent ball contact with the half backswing, then you can lengthen it ever so slightly, and if you continue to get good results, lengthen it a little bit more until your ball striking starts to suffer, and then you will have a better feel for how far back is too far back.
Joe
Monday, December 29, 2003
Joe,
I hit a driver Straight 95% of the time and 5% off the time I push my drive, I can always hit a fade when the hole calls for it but I cannot Draw the ball. I have a son who is a Professional Golfer he says point your feet and your hips where you want it to start, and you driver face at where you want it to finish. I must manipulate my hands subconsciencely I always hit it straight. Would an offset driver where the face is 4% closed help me to draw the ball. Kindest Regards
Norm
Hello Norm,
Wow, 95% straight with a driver? You must be really good! Not very many golfers can hit any club straight 95% of the time, much less the driver. Are you sure you want to tinker with this? Mark Calcavecchia has taken away all the dangers on the left side of the course by refusing to hit a hook, and you might be better off doing the same.
The reason is that once you change your hand action to hit a hook, now you have to worry about the varying amounts of hook, and there also is a possibility that you will lose the ability to hit the ball straight anymore.
Nevertheless, if you really want to hook, go ahead and get the driver with the closed face, and listen to your son's advice along with one more thing which has to do with your hand action.
Your current hand action at impact is very good, right down the target line to hit the ball so consistently straight. That is possibly why you cannot hook even when you try to because this hand action comes so naturally to you. In order to hook, your hands have to be rolling over at impact which may be unnatural to you. Some people prefer to think of rolling the forearms instead, but now you have to worry about how much to roll the hands or the forearms. This may take a lot of practice to avoid wild shots or mis-hits.
Again I am concerned that you might lose the motor muscle memory that gives you good natural hand action and control that you already have. Try this on the range, but also keep trying to hit straight shots on demand so you don't lose your 95% accuracy when you need it.
Joe
I hit a driver Straight 95% of the time and 5% off the time I push my drive, I can always hit a fade when the hole calls for it but I cannot Draw the ball. I have a son who is a Professional Golfer he says point your feet and your hips where you want it to start, and you driver face at where you want it to finish. I must manipulate my hands subconsciencely I always hit it straight. Would an offset driver where the face is 4% closed help me to draw the ball. Kindest Regards
Norm
Hello Norm,
Wow, 95% straight with a driver? You must be really good! Not very many golfers can hit any club straight 95% of the time, much less the driver. Are you sure you want to tinker with this? Mark Calcavecchia has taken away all the dangers on the left side of the course by refusing to hit a hook, and you might be better off doing the same.
The reason is that once you change your hand action to hit a hook, now you have to worry about the varying amounts of hook, and there also is a possibility that you will lose the ability to hit the ball straight anymore.
Nevertheless, if you really want to hook, go ahead and get the driver with the closed face, and listen to your son's advice along with one more thing which has to do with your hand action.
Your current hand action at impact is very good, right down the target line to hit the ball so consistently straight. That is possibly why you cannot hook even when you try to because this hand action comes so naturally to you. In order to hook, your hands have to be rolling over at impact which may be unnatural to you. Some people prefer to think of rolling the forearms instead, but now you have to worry about how much to roll the hands or the forearms. This may take a lot of practice to avoid wild shots or mis-hits.
Again I am concerned that you might lose the motor muscle memory that gives you good natural hand action and control that you already have. Try this on the range, but also keep trying to hit straight shots on demand so you don't lose your 95% accuracy when you need it.
Joe
