Hitting in the center of the club?

[Luchnia]

I find that there is no way my body will consistently hit in the center of the golf club whether it be irons or woods or driver. It just doesn't happen. You can throw a zillion drills at me, but that would be a vain attempt to get me to constantly make center contact. I am fascinated at how some people can hit the ball, pick up the club and go, "Yep, hit that in the center, or maybe slightly off center." Sort of makes me cringe to think that I cannot do that.

Before you post stating that I need to do this or that, consider that I have tried a lot of things. One thing that helps me know how off center I hit is the foot powder and sometimes you can see the print on the club without foot powder during a live round. When I state off center, I mean it could be an entire ball off center

I don't mean I am a constant toe or heel strikes. No, I may be toe, heel, up or down - 1/2", 1", etc. Doesn't really matter. I don't strike the ball bad, but in no way do I feel that I am constant enough to know where I am hitting on the club. I feel after the zillions of times I have hit a golf ball in the last 3 years that I would be able to figure that out, but I don't think my brain is wired that way. My hand/eye coordination skills are not that good.

I don't suspect that I am alone in this aspect. I am curious about those of you that share this and if you just accept that as who you are and how you strike the golf ball?

 

[Daluteh]

I would assume that's all of us. I find that it's not even always just all the time but different clubs. For example my driver is probably my worst culprit, followed by surprisingly my 60*. When I get a good wedge shot it's darn near perfect but it's not as frequent but it's so fun.

 

[SunnyWalker]

I'm all over the club face, mostly towards the heel when I miss with my irons. I play the most forgiving clubs I can get and that helps.
I'll never stop trying to improve but I do realize I'm probably never going to be anywhere near the ball striker I used to be.

 

[Lane]

Their is *** ONLY ONE *** part of the human body that has the capability to measure the distance to the ball and its location that will give you the best opportunity to strike it consistently in the face. The same part that direct darts to a dart board . That directs a bowling ball, a baseball, a football , a tennis ball ! Our DOMINANT HAND !
The face of a golf club is pulled back around our torso approx. 8 feet and pulled back down approx. 8 feet to impact - approx. 16 feet total with hundreds of muscles pulling 206 bones to form levers . CONTROL by our dominant hands is critical to the task , especially considering all these variables that can occur during in 2/10 seconds of the DS .
Obviously , maintaining balance of the body to allow our dominant hands to achieve this task and find its target is of much importance.

 

[Luchnia]

Their is *** ONLY ONE *** part of the human body that has the capability to measure the distance to the ball and its location that will give you the best opportunity to strike it consistently in the face. The same part that direct darts to a dart board . That directs a bowling ball, a baseball, a football , a tennis ball ! Our DOMINANT HAND !
The face of a golf club is pulled back around our torso approx. 8 feet and pulled back down approx. 8 feet to impact - approx. 16 feet total with hundreds of muscles pulling 206 bones to form levers . CONTROL by our dominant hands is critical to the task , especially considering all these variables that can occur during in 2/10 seconds of the DS .
Obviously , maintaining balance of the body to allow our dominant hands to achieve this task and find its target is of much importance.

Lane, here is the question (bolded and underlined below) that I asked and the point of the thread. I appreciate you responding, however I did not ask about any parts of the human body or the dominant hands. You can start your own thread about body parts and dominants hands, but this thread is about this question - "I am curious about those of you that share this and if you just accept that as who you are and how you strike the golf ball?"

 

[hadi05]

@Luchnia, I accepted a long time ago that I'm not a perfect ball striker, not even anywhere close to it. What I did do, is focus more on having a consistent set-up to help give me the best chance at success. When I'm striking the ball worse, that usually means I didn't set up well. I'm not a great golfer and likely will never be. So, I've gracefully accepted the fact I'll not be perfect. I only focus on what I am capable of controlling and that is my mindset and my set-up. The rest of it is what it is and it isn't what it isn't.

 

[JonMA1]

I think that the longer we play, the more we improve where on the club face we strike the ball. It might be by a small margin, but I believe there is natural improvement with hand-eye coordination through repetition.

Having said that, I still suck at golf. Lol.

 

[Luchnia]

@Luchnia, I accepted a long time ago that I'm not a perfect ball striker, not even anywhere close to it. What I did do, is focus more on having a consistent set-up to help give me the best chance at success. When I'm striking the ball worse, that usually means I didn't set up well. I'm not a great golfer and likely will never be. So, I've gracefully accepted the fact I'll not be perfect. I only focus on what I am capable of controlling and that is my mindset and my set-up. The rest of it is what it is and it isn't what it isn't.

This is probably the cause of why we hit all over the place. I fully agree and I think in my case this is the number one problem, following by changing my swing in real time which I am not sure why I do that, but I do. Part of it is I get a bit tired and don't pay attention to what I am doing. I also think I rush myself causing issues as well.

 

[Lane]

I think that the longer we play, the more we improve where on the club face we strike the ball. It might be by a small margin, but I believe there is natural improvement with hand-eye coordination through repetition.

Having said that, I still suck at golf. Lol.

You are correct . Repetition is helpful , but having knowledge of the human structure and what parts control will give you a better chance at achieving your goals.

 

[Acesteve]

working on my putting has helped me appreciate many small aspects of setup that I believe do relate to the far more complicated full swing. let me start by saying that I don't even hit a 6ft putt in the center of my putter. My putter makes a distincive sound and roll when center and leading edge of putter makes first contact. aspects I working on in my full swing.

1- arms hanging straight down. all things equal this takes variables out of the equation.

2- setup, I noticed for a long time that I hit the driver out on the toe. What I did not realize is that I do the putter as well; just not as bad. a key cause is I setup with the ball outside the center (toward toe). with the putter I had to change my putter specs to get my eyes totally over the ball to see the opportunity. I had friends take pictures of my driver to ball relationship at setup.

3- core driven connected swing. other approaches for me create lots of arm actions and these movements are not precise; not even on a 6ft putt

 

[hadi05]

This is probably the cause of why we hit all over the place. I fully agree and I think in my case this is the number one problem, following by changing my swing in real time which I am not sure why I do that, but I do. Part of it is I get a bit tired and don't pay attention to what I am doing. I also think I rush myself causing issues as well.

@Luchnia, to me it sounds like you have all the answers to be more consistent. Here's one thing that helped me. I spent more time on focusing on my set-up and being calm and significantly less on a practice swing. I actually don't take any practice swings unless it's for a chip shot. As a result I don't "change my swing" because of my practice swing. I used to get into my own head after a practice swing. Thanks for the thread!

 

[Jman]

Golf is hard, my guy. But dammit it’s addicting.

 

[lukemartin93]

Golf is hard, my guy. But dammit it’s addicting.

I feel like that should be on a shirt

 

[burkey burk]

I find that there is no way my body will consistently hit in the center of the golf club whether it be irons or woods or driver. It just doesn't happen. You can throw a zillion drills at me, but that would be a vain attempt to get me to constantly make center contact. I am fascinated at how some people can hit the ball, pick up the club and go, "Yep, hit that in the center, or maybe slightly off center." Sort of makes me cringe to think that I cannot do that.

Before you post stating that I need to do this or that, consider that I have tried a lot of things. One thing that helps me know how off center I hit is the foot powder and sometimes you can see the print on the club without foot powder during a live round. When I state off center, I mean it could be an entire ball off center

I don't mean I am a constant toe or heel strikes. No, I may be toe, heel, up or down - 1/2", 1", etc. Doesn't really matter. I don't strike the ball bad, but in no way do I feel that I am constant enough to know where I am hitting on the club. I feel after the zillions of times I have hit a golf ball in the last 3 years that I would be able to figure that out, but I don't think my brain is wired that way. My hand/eye coordination skills are not that good.

I don't suspect that I am alone in this aspect. I am curious about those of you that share this and if you just accept that as who you are and how you strike the golf ball?

I went for a lesson last year to address this very topic. My 6-iron has wear from range practice approx. 1/2" toward the toe, enough to make me realize that I was consistently hitting it there. Even wedge shots many times are toward the toe. My impact tape showed some heel, some toe, but mostly toe hits. We put a tee in the mat outside of the ball, at about the point where the grooves in the iron stopped, and my goal was to hit the tee out of the mat. Sounded kinda fishy to me but it started me on the road to much better center-impact hits. Impact tape at the range helped to solidify the progress. Unfortunately I am back to where I was with this and have some more instruction scheduled to try and get a handle on what I need to do to make it more permanent.

 

[tahoebum]

I've been a decent ball striker for 40 years and most days I find center face only on about 6 or 7 full swing shots. I'd guess I have exceptional days about 1 out of 10 rounds where I'm 15+ GIR but on those days the flat stick is usually cold, lol.

 

[JonMA1]

I've been a decent ball striker for 40 years and most days I find center face only on about 6 or 7 full swing shots. I'd guess I have exceptional days about 1 out of 10 rounds where I'm 15+ GIR but on those days the flat stick is usually cold, lol.

I think when most of us describe the center of the face strikes, we're talking about a shot that feels solid. Not purred, just solid. With my SGI irons, that "center" of the face is large. Even on shots that feel off-center, distances and accuracy are not that far off - at least not due to where on the face we make impact. I can hit some shots that feel fantastic and result in a push or pull.

I do own some blade type clubs from the 80's and it's just the opposite. You have to hit those babies center of face - both L&R and higher up on the face - to get good results. The off-center strikes are painfully apparent. If we were all gaming player's irons, we wouldn't be so optimistic about our ball striking abilities.

 

[CTRosarian]

Hand eye coordination is a learned skill. It helped Ricky Fowler to get new glasses! It helps when I wear the glasses I got for golfing that fit exceptionally well.
I've been doing hand eye coordination tasks for decades. I started cutting balsa wood with razors to make little flying model airplanes.
I've done penmanship exercises for over a year. Learned how to throw darts. I still have the dart board hanging in the basement.
Tasks in which it is painfully obvious if you are a little off.

I have this weird putting swing in which I can place the ball really far back, say at the edge of a bunker, and make an accurate swing using both hands to push the club forward.

 

[tahoebum]

I think when most of us describe the center of the face strikes, we're talking about a shot that feels solid. Not purred, just solid. With my SGI irons, that "center" of the face is large. Even on shots that feel off-center, distances and accuracy are not that far off - at least not due to where on the face we make impact. I can hit some shots that feel fantastic and result in a push or pull.

I do own some blade type clubs from the 80's and it's just the opposite. You have to hit those babies center of face - both L&R and higher up on the face - to get good results. The off-center strikes are painfully apparent. If we were all gaming player's irons, we wouldn't be so optimistic about our ball striking abilities.

My last round was 12/31 in Florida with my mostly retired set of Srixon 965 irons after not touching a club since early November. I was able to shoot 1 over on the front with 7 GIR but on the back my swing left me a bit and I only hit 3 GIR and shot 41. They 965s were providing lots of feedback and it wasn't positive, lol.

 

[WLG1952]

Only speaking for myself here.

I'm seeing some movement on ball impact on my iron faces towards the toe. It just started. This is causing pushed ball flights to the right of my target.

For me it's a set up issue. The ball, once I take my stance, is too far back in my stance. Not real far back, but enough. The problem is, the ball looks to be in the right spot, in my stance..

If I move the ball forward a little, i get center club face contact, and ball flights flying at my target. Problem here is that the ball doesn't look right in my stance.

This had me wondering if something is beginning to go wrong with my swing path.

After some trial and error checks, it turned out it was my hand grip.

For some unknown reason, once I addressed the ball, I would roll the club face open a little in my hands. This was a new quirk, that just started showing up for no noticeable reason. So, seeing a slightly more open club face, I would close my stance a little more. Swinging along my shoulder line would send the ball right of my target.

Once I got rid of that last second stance, grip, club face adjustment , my ball flights improved.

Now, I've always been one to find the root cause of problems. Any problems. Just fixing the problem has never been good enough for me.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think this pushed ball flight problem may have manifested itself because I've been working with a new set of clubs I purchased last year. These new blade club heads have a noticeable different look at ball address than my normal, cavity back, game improvement irons.

I'm just not sure. Needs more thought. .

 

[blugold]

This is why the club faces are as big as they are with as much tech built in behind them.

Nobody hits the center that often.

 

[Tywithay]

I'm a toe guy (sounds creepy, but this is golf related). I can hit the same spot on the toe almost every time. Tried adjusting a million different ways, closer, further, stance, position, and I can seemingly still tag it right on the same spot on the toe. Goal this year is to get lessons and see if I can maybe get a few mm closer to center more often.

 

[Luchnia]

I think when most of us describe the center of the face strikes, we're talking about a shot that feels solid. Not purred, just solid. With my SGI irons, that "center" of the face is large. Even on shots that feel off-center, distances and accuracy are not that far off - at least not due to where on the face we make impact. I can hit some shots that feel fantastic and result in a push or pull.

I do own some blade type clubs from the 80's and it's just the opposite. You have to hit those babies center of face - both L&R and higher up on the face - to get good results. The off-center strikes are painfully apparent. If we were all gaming player's irons, we wouldn't be so optimistic about our ball striking abilities.

I wonder if practicing, not playing, with a set of these blade type of irons would get you dialed in better, or simply make it much worse. My current GI irons are very forgiving and I know they help me a lot on my off center shots.

I have an older set of cavity backed irons. They are not so much GI irons and you do have to hit them well or have bad results. I was surprised how well I played them especially 3 and 4 irons, but I wonder if my mind knew the strike area was small and needed a center hit and somehow I provided that? Sheeesh, golf can be a challenge

 

[JonMA1]

I wonder if practicing, not playing, with a set of these blade type of irons would get you dialed in better, or simply make it much worse. My current GI irons are very forgiving and I know they help me a lot on my off center shots.

I have an older set of cavity backed irons. They are not so much GI irons and you do have to hit them well or have bad results. I was surprised how well I played them especially 3 and 4 irons, but I wonder if my mind knew the strike area was small and needed a center hit and somehow I provided that? Sheeesh, golf can be a challenge

There's always quite a bit of debate on this. It can (and probably will) develop into an entirely new discussion.

Just talking out of my ***, but here are my thoughts...

1. Player's clubs might help develop a better swing over time because you have to be able to do a lot of things correctly to hit them well.

But...

2. It might not help you find the center of face with your regular GI set unless the shaft, offset, swing weight, etc., are closely matched.

I used to practice a lot (several years) with a 3i from my set of 1983 Hogan Radials in hopes it would improve my game. I got to the point where I could occasionally make decent contact with it, but I don't think it ever transferred to improvement with my overall iron game. The biggest takeaway? There's a reason they no longer include a 3i with GI sets.

 

[Bernoulli]

I'm a toe guy (sounds creepy, but this is golf related). I can hit the same spot on the toe almost every time. Tried adjusting a million different ways, closer, further, stance, position, and I can seemingly still tag it right on the same spot on the toe. Goal this year is to get lessons and see if I can maybe get a few mm closer to center more often.

I know the feeling. I have a tendency to produce toe hits, especially with short irons and wedges. I assume it’s a swing issue.

 

[Tywithay]

I know the feeling. I have a tendency to produce toe hits, especially with short irons and wedges. I assume it’s a swing issue.

I've been told it's because I pull my hands in at impact. Seems to be instinctual, because I can move further, or closer, at address, and still hit the same part of the face.