Some swing coaches like to say that all golfers come over the top at one point or another. In a good repeatable golf swing this should not be the case. The cause of a shot struck from the 'toe' end of the golf club is usually to do with the arms at the moment of impact with the golf ball. If you are currently frustrated by your inability to hit the ball off the sweet spot of the club, dont worry. Just after impact, the knuckles should be facing directly at the target. If this sounds familiar and youre specifically plagued by toe hits, we have the perfect drill to help you start hitting flush shots more often. Instead of using your regular pitching motion to hit these shots, you want to take your hands and wrists completely out of the equation and just use your shoulders and torso to move the club back and through. This is perhaps the surest sign of all that you are hitting the ball on the toe. You are still going to use the same abbreviated swing, only with one of your longer irons. I always recommend splitting range sessions into sets of five. If it is higher at impact than it was at address, there is a good chance that this is what is leading to the shots off the toe. How to stop hitting the toe of the golf club | Golf Channel The drill shots have no consequence, but with the two course shots, I ask the student to create a green or fairway and go through a full routine. Many amateur golfers struggle with getting their legs to initiate the downswing like they should. Something you often hear said about Rory McIlroy is that he rotates his hips for more power through impact. And when youconsider the fact that the heel and toe are less than than 1inch from the center of the club face, it gives you an idea of how hard our game can be. Face tape works as well, but it can skew the spin on the golf ball as well as your launch monitor numbers if youre practicing with one. One of the key moves is the release in the golf swing. This glancing blow through impact will more often than not result in a toe strike, which is why this affliction is a symptom of the dreaded slice. Striking the golf ball on the toe of your iron can cause the club to twist upon impact, resulting in mis-hits . What do you think? shot pattern. Making this modified swing, try your best to hit the ball in the center of the club face as many times in a row as you can. Yes, you heard it here: INFALLIBLE! It is important to note that what you are doing at impact might not be the root cause of the problem it may be an effect of something that is happening earlier in the motion. Please note that all of the instruction you will find below is based on a right handed golfer. You are trying to hit a small ball toward a small target located hundreds of yards in the distance that's basically it. A common cause of off-center hits on the toe is found in the downswing when the club handle remains too close to the body, instead of extending out toward the ball as it reaches impact. agree for the most part based on what I see in elite level players. The ball begins right of the goal and turns left. This will show you if youre maintaining the spine angle on the backswing. The reason? This can lead to coming out of the shot as you rotate through impact. There are two general places you can miss with your impact off the toe, and in off the heel. Again, that raises the handle and stands the club up. A common amateur golfer problem is to stand too straight up and down at address, without any flex in the knees. No feeling in the game is better than a flushed shot, however. The golf club face has three distinct areas that the ball can be contacted with the middle, the 'heel' and the 'toe'. If you follow this routine step by step, there is a good chance you will come away making significantly better contact than ever before. Use the instruction contained above to guide your practice on this important point, and you should see steady progress toward a better future on the course. 17 Simple Golf Tips Guaranteed to Improve Your Golf Game Missing Shots Off the Toe - Rotaryswing.com Use the tips below to make the changes necessary to work through this swing fault. You know that pure, euphoric feeling right after youve struck a ball dead-center on the clubface? Loss of balance. No knee flex at address. In this case, we have already handled that step the previous section highlighted ways for you to determine if you were in fact hitting the ball off the toe of the club. If the face is closed (square), then the ball will be hit with the outside edge of the face and will have a strong hook or slice on it. The best way to improve your strikes is to practice hitting punch shots with a middle iron (right). Set up at the nearest tee, but swing at the one further away. -- Presidents Plaque Award for Promotion and Growth of the Game of Golf Claw Golf Gloves by CaddyDaddy Worth It? The center of your club face is going to be the best possible place to strike the ball because it provides the greatest transfer of energy from the club into the ball meaning maximum distance on your shots. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); A team of experienced golf instructors, players and writers that work on the GOLFTEC digital team providing industry leading insight on all things golf! Your Stance is Too Open 2. The following points are all strong clues that you are hitting the ball off the toe at impact. Start with the club head off the ground, maybe as high as the ball. This drill is meant to remind you of that feeling. Rather than change your swing, instructor Jeff Ritter offers a simple solution: stand a little closer to the ball. You should feel as if your navel is turning towards the target and to the left of the target after impact. Its been happening mostly with my wedges though as Ive been getting more aggressive with them lately (and overall, better wedge play last couple of years.). Low shots are caused by an incorrect impact position (the position of the clubface as it contacts the ball) that causes the clubface to de-loft. Of course, if you are going to reach your goals in golf, you aren't going to consistently miss off of the heel or the toe you are going to flush the ball right off the middle of the face on a regular basis. Are you lifting up from the level you started your swing at? -- Teacher of the Year, Golfers Journal So, hit three shots doing this drill then remove the outside tee for the final two. A quick fix for those that start with their hands is to set up to the ball and start the backswing with the left side of the body. That information is important because if you happen to deal with the problem again later on, you need to know how you solved it so you can make the correction faster next time around. The good news is, if you are doing this, your over the top is much later than some of your buddies or playing competitors. However, you need to start by looking at impact and then work your way back from there until the cause is uncovered. From impact into the follow-through, you should feel that your arm is fully extending toward the target as noted in the example above. Purgatory Golf Club 197K views 10 years ago Stop Hitting Off the Toe - [ Learn the Cause, Cure and a Drill for this Common. Premature release. Airy, NC This means that as soon as you take the club away with your hands you are already setting up to come over the top by ripping with your shoulders. If the face is open (not square), then the ball will be hit with the center of the face and will have no curve on it. Even the best golfersin the worldonly contact the true center of the club face occasionally. Don't over swing, and do your best to contact the ball on the sweet spot with each swing. A common cause of off-center hits on the toe is found in the downswing when the club handle remains too close to the body, instead of extending out toward the ball as it reaches impact. Golf Swing Training on Instagram: "If you find yourself hitting the Driver: Titleist Tony Finau whats in the bag accurate as of the Mexico Open. Failing to hit the middle of the club consistently is one of the main reasons amateurs struggle compared to their professional counterparts. This is a problem that should not be ignored, as it isn't going to go away on its own take the time to fix your swing as soon as possible and you will be able to enjoy the game more in the near future. -- Golf Professional of the Year, Tri State Section PGA Here's what you will learn: 1) Tips to improve your back swing 2) How to hit a draw 3) How to hit a fade 4) What is the cause for hitting the ball off the toe of the club and what is a good drill to correct this 5) How to better align yourself toward the target 6) How do you stop lifting your head when driving the ball 7) How to Chip With a . Shoot Lower Scores (opens in new tab) is an online course from Golf Monthly designed to help you find power in your swing and hole more putts as well as how to avoid falling foul of the more challenging rules of golf. The good news about this? If you are hitting the golf ball off the toe of your club with regularity, it is almost certain that you are making at least one of the three mistakes listed above. It is common for amateur golfers to make this mistake, as it is a mistake that can arise for a number of reasons. Try it and strike the ball more consistently. Causes and Cures: Shots Off the Golf Club's Toe Weaken your grip. Why you're hitting shots off the toe and heel of the club This kind of swing often leads to a slice, but it can create some shots hit off the toe as well. My golf school is in Naples at the Rookery Golf Course. GOLF DIGEST MAY EARN A PORTION OF SALES FROM PRODUCTS THAT ARE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR SITE AS PART OF OUR AFFILIATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH RETAILERS. Improper Ball Position 7. A steep swing is likely to lead to toe strikes (Image credit: Kenny Smith) You have reached the maximum number of submissions for today. With the problem diagnosed, it shouldnt take long at all to work through your swing mechanics and find the root cause of the issue. When the sequence is perfect, it feels like the right elbow is leading the club into impact and there is a huge recoil right after impact which causes the club to end up above your head. Some golfers, however, have a tendency to release the club early which can lead to hitting the ball off the toe. Hey Dennis. Since the golf swing happens so fast, last moment adjustments to make good contact are pretty much impossible. You may hit the ball off the toe because you have a steep downswing path that causes the clubhead to cut across the ball. Extension is the key. Turn the left shoulder inward until the arms are even. This is why an inside-out swing path is one of the more common causes of shanking the ball. The best golfers in the world have very soft arms and especially soft elbows at the top of the backswing. It is not as easy as simply setting up with the ball closer to the heel. You have amore upright, or vertical swing. A second cause of toe hits is the body raising up before impact; in other words, failing to maintain your spine angle. Before you go making radical swing changes to try fixing the problem of hitting the ball off the toe of the club, work on your basic fundamentals. Defying a slice A draw to the left is the best-feeling shot. -- PGA Merchandiser of the Year, Tri State Section PGA To help you progress toward a better ball striking future, consider using the following routine on the driving range. The key to success is expansion. While this isnt a swing that you are going to actually use on the course, this drill does have significant value. You just need to work on getting through the ball with your right side. What Causes Toe Hits In Golf? - WWFAQs - World Wide FAQs Professional golfers do a great job of finding the sweet spot time after time, and you should aspire to do the same. Do not think you need to explode the left hip to get your right side through the ball. Clearing your hips as part of a proper downswing sequence is vital. Simply set a goal to make better contact and hit a higher percentage of your shots on the sweet spot. Ive had issues with shanks on and off for the last 5yrs. In particular, if your swing is too steep, it's likely causing you to cut across the ball. Sure, it isn't easy, but the basic idea is not at all complicated. Id hit a lot of balls to get a feeling of a more rounded swing into the ball. This is when the right side needs to keep traveling and the right lat needs to drive under and around. You should be able to see this on video by watching the position of the club face in the final few frames as it approaches the ball. 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