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Casting = fat shots = sad face

Germerican

Germerican

AngryYankee
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Apr 18, 2013
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Brentwood, NY
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23.8 USGA
In my past two lessons my pro has pointed out that I am casting. Badly. I would already be at impact position well before the ball causing the ugly fat shots and foot long divots with the ball traveling as far as the separated turf. My pro told me that it is a tempo issue and I will work that out on the range this weekend.
Is there anything else that could cause a bad cast? I used to hit my irons decently at the beginning of the year, now I can't.
What are some good tips that I can work on to create lag and strike the ball cleanly?

I want to go form cast = fat = sad to lag = power = happy.
 
Orange whip ASAP!!!
 
This is my major problem, too, and what's gonna drive me to take lessons. This, coupled with my inability to focus on a proper hip turn, kills my clubhead speed, and I have the same divot-a-foot-behind-the-ball-with-my-irons problem that you do.
 
Another vote for Orange Whip. Also use a towel or alignment rod behind your ball when practicing as a way to avoid hitting behind the ball. Sounds like you might be starting with your upper body as well, work on starting with the lower body. A swing thought I use when I start getting out of whack is to thing like I am hitting a wedge
 
I have the SKLZ gold flex that I use a lot as part of my warm up and stretching routine. Perhaps I need to find another use for it to help my swing.

"Also use a towel or alignment rod behind your ball"
Will give this a go. Been looking at the SKLZ divot trainer thingy. Not going to use alignment rods, made that mistake once working with my driver. Hit it fat right on the rod, snapped the shaft.
 
I have a slight "cast" in my downswing and its intentional. I think there is a ton of bad information in these responses and we should let Freddie do what Freddie does.
 
AngryYankee said:
In my past two lessons my pro has pointed out that I am casting. Badly. I would already be at impact position well before the ball causing the ugly fat shots and foot long divots with the ball traveling as far as the separated turf. My pro told me that it is a tempo issue and I will work that out on the range this weekend.
Is there anything else that could cause a bad cast? I used to hit my irons decently at the beginning of the year, now I can't.
What are some good tips that I can work on to create lag and strike the ball cleanly?

I want to go form cast = fat = sad to lag = power = happy.
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Sure lag is lag . But if you want to look at consistency : look at Steve Stricker or watch the trackman played guru Grant Waite . Or look at older players like Fuzzy Zoeller or Ian Woosnam. They would be considered a semi caster if compared to people's impressions what lag is ( online golf that is ) . Wide is actually very repeatable for our golf needs .. Repeatable and easy .

Watch your head as well .. Where ever your head is located at impact is also a tell tale sign where the club will bottom out at . I would say stick to your pro. , stick to his methods and give it time . Buying these training aids without consulting with him first isn't good either
 
I'm not going to give specific advice to your situation, but since I suffer from the same problem, I will relate what my pro says to me. He explains my problem is that my upper body starts down long before my lower body. This causes the arms/hands to outrace the lower body and you have no choice but to cast to try to save the swing. If you look at good golfers, they start the downswing with their lower body.

Now, lots of people give advice on how to get the lower body started first. They discuss "bumping the left hip" or "pushing the left knee towards the target," keeping your back to the target longer, or any other number of swing thoughts. Personally, I can't do that. If my focus is on my lower body during my swing, I'm dead. I'll be an unfolding lawn chair of mechanical gyrations. I have to concentrate on letting my swing flow freely to my target and feeling the weight of the club coming through the ball. Focusing on those things produces the correct behavior of my lower (and upper body). Naturally how well I do it varies.
 
Mystery Meat said:
Sure lag is lag . But if you want to look at consistency : look at Steve Stricker or watch the trackman played guru Grant Waite . Or look at older players like Fuzzy Zoeller or Ian Woosnam. They would be considered a semi caster if compared to people's impressions what lag is ( online golf that is ) . Wide is actually very repeatable for our golf needs .. Repeatable and easy .

Watch your head as well .. Where ever your head is located at impact is also a tell tale sign where the club will bottom out at . I would say stick to your pro. , stick to his methods and give it time . Buying these training aids without consulting with him first isn't good either
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Wide hands are not a bad thing. A wide club head coming down and into impact is. No two ways about it.
 
blugold said:
Wide hands are not a bad thing. A wide club head coming down and into impact is. No two ways about it.
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So so true .. I had one guy put an impact plate right behind the ball . I had. No choice but to hit ball 1 st and not hit or cast early . Or even an old piece of osb board . Or a towel .. That tour striker is good too . So is keeping a good attitude and realizing you aren't hopeless and you will get better .

fixing the bottom ( sometimes. ) fixes the rest
 
I recently purchased a Tour Striker. They are frustrating, but work.
 
That's why I use a towel. I have the skilz thingy but only use it when hitting of grass since it's hard to keep in place on a mat. Usually forget to bring with me anyways thus the towel use.
 
Slow backswing slow all the way to the top and this will help with weight transfer Fat shots are usually the result of a fast backswing which moves your weight backwards and makes it very challenging to get your weight back on your front side during the swing. Aka. Tempo
 
JPR1959 said:
I recently purchased a Tour Striker. They are frustrating, but work.
Click to expand...

My only complaint is you can cheat the striker . And you can cheat it knowing you are trying to do it right . I witnessed a buddy hit it a foot behind the ball and still master it . It was on the x model 7 iron as well . Almost like he skipped into it . So to really use it , I used a lie and loft board like Gary MCCord used in the commercial. Hard to get away with anything with lie board . Didn't give me the " Sergio lag " but if I recall my impact looked very very good . And some odd reason I hit that 7 striker as far as my 4 hybrid . It works , if doubt get a lie loft board. Took me an entire summer back when that thing first came out to do well with it . Good training aid
 
Guys, lets quit with the banter and let Freddie respond. Let's remember this is Swing Tips with Freddie Kong, not swing tips from a guy who saw a video on YouTube or read something in Golf Digest.
 
Swing the handle of the club. As the handle goes so goes the head. If you are pulling the club through the zone via the grip you'll maintain the angle needed.

Another drill is to place a tee in the ground in front of your ball. The goal is to hit the forward tee. This makes you swing through the ball, stay down and hold the angle you are losing with your cast.
 
Freddie, I wanted to say thanks for the help. I went to the range last week and hit about 60 balls or so with my 6i, PW, and GW and for the most part, I am making better contact and using what my pro told me, the hooks are slowly disappearing. Afterwards I played on the par 3 course and hit only two fat shots while the rest were good contact. Short game was ugly, but seeing my full swings go where I wanted them to go was a big improvement.
I owe you a beer, and it's a shame you can't make it out to Glen Mills in September, would have loved to pick your brain.
 
I am very glad I was able to assist.
 
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