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Hands too low at address?

leftyrighty

leftyrighty

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Freddie,

Just looking for some general thoughts on hands at address. Played yesterday with some buddies and was hitting most of my drives extremely low and hooking (my miss - impact very low on the face). My irons were pretty good and a slight draw at most. Finally later in the round a buddy said he noticed my hands were really low at address with the driver compared to everything else. I am guessing the shaft plane was below my belt line. Next tee I moved the plane up to at least go through my belt line and hit a nice little 3 yard cut (my preference).

So is this normal that my hands being too low at address is partially causing the low hooking drive (talking the ball never gets over 10 ft high)?

Is the the norm to say the shaft plane line needs to run through the belt line and not below it?
 
Little bump....willing to hear others ideas
 
leftyrighty said:
Is the the norm to say the shaft plane line needs to run through the belt line and not below it?
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I have understood the norm to be through the belt line. But that doesn't necessarily mean hand position is / is not the cause of what your ball is doing. I look forward to reading Freddie's advice here.
 
tequila4kapp said:
I have understood the norm to be through the belt line. But that doesn't necessarily mean hand position is / is not the cause of what your ball is doing. I look forward to reading Freddie's advice here.
Click to expand...

Yeah it was really something I never thought of until my friend noticed it. I hit another low hook and he said your hands look much lower than on any other shot. Next hole adjusted and didn't hit a hook the next 2 drives (all that was left).

I think it could likely be this along with something else but I'd imagine having them low isn't helping.
 
Hands low will produce a draw. High hands a fade. The trick is to find that neutral position so you can work it either way by releasing or holding the face.

If I need to hit a running draw my hands are low and I stay down for a good bit through the swing. Generally I'm set at the belt line and hit a little fade.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Hands low will produce a draw. High hands a fade. The trick is to find that neutral position so you can work it either way by releasing or holding the face.

If I need to hit a running draw my hands are low and I stay down for a good bit through the swing. Generally I'm set at the belt line and hit a little fade.
Click to expand...

Ok well that makes sense. When I tried to make sure the butt of the club was at least at the belt line, if not higher, I was hitting a little fade. I am guessing I was way out of whack the other way as I was hitting very low hard hooks. Much rather hit the fade!
 
leftyrighty said:
Ok well that makes sense. When I tried to make sure the butt of the club was at least at the belt line, if not higher, I was hitting a little fade. I am guessing I was way out of whack the other way as I was hitting very low hard hooks. Much rather hit the fade!
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The club can get stuck behind you with low hands. Causing the face to lose down early and hips to stop. Hook city!!
 
Tadashi70 said:
The club can get stuck behind you with low hands. Causing the face to lose down early and hips to stop. Hook city!!
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This sounds exactly like me....I think I mostly get stuck from a combo of low hands at address and hips spinning out on the downswing. Need to train myself to not try and blow everything out right away.
 
leftyrighty said:
This sounds exactly like me....I think I mostly get stuck from a combo of low hands at address and hips spinning out on the downswing. Need to train myself to not try and blow everything out right away.
Click to expand...

Square that front foot and drop the back one off the lines few inches with those low hands. Be sure to stay down and through. Frozen ropes!!
 
Tadashi70 said:
Square that front foot and drop the back one off the lines few inches with those low hands. Be sure to stay down and through. Frozen ropes!!
Click to expand...
Ha well I'm trying to avoid anything going right to left right now. My drives sometimes don't go 10 ft high.
 
leftyrighty said:
Freddie,

So is this normal that my hands being too low at address is partially causing the low hooking drive (talking the ball never gets over 10 ft high)?

Is the the norm to say the shaft plane line needs to run through the belt line and not below it?
Click to expand...

Are you aware the angle between your left forearm and the clubshaft is what creates clubhead roll? The lower your hands the more the angle and more the roll, higher your hands less the angle and less the roll. This is why your low hands were producing low hooks, too much clubhead roll. Ever see the Power Release swing trainer? Wonder why it has a bent shaft? It teaches clubhead roll.

It is very easy to learn correct address hand position (I have advocated this technique several times). Set up in front of a mirror as if looking at yourself from back down the line,. Adjust your knee and waist bend until your right forearm and clubshaft are in-line, just like at impact. This not only establishes the correct left shoulder to ball radius but also the left forearm/clubshaft angle.

As for as the shaft going through your belt line at address, there is no geometric basis for this and it's wrong. Someone noticed with the traditional setup (which is incorrect) that the shaft ran through the belt line. Because it sounded like it had some relevance (to what I have no idea) it was soon adopted as the norm. Do me a favor and look at the swings of the top pros, all of them have shafts that go through their right elbow at impact, not their belt lines. This is why the belt line as a reference at address is worse than useless.
 
dlaville said:
Are you aware the angle between your left forearm and the clubshaft is what creates clubhead roll? The lower your hands the more the angle and more the roll, higher your hands less the angle and less the roll. This is why your low hands were producing low hooks, too much clubhead roll. Ever see the Power Release swing trainer? Wonder why it has a bent shaft? It teaches clubhead roll.

It is very easy to learn correct address hand position (I have advocated this technique several times). Set up in front of a mirror as if looking at yourself from back down the line,. Adjust your knee and waist bend until your right forearm and clubshaft are in-line, just like at impact. This not only establishes the correct left shoulder to ball radius but also the left forearm/clubshaft angle.

As for as the shaft going through your belt line at address, there is no geometric basis for this and it's wrong. Someone noticed with the traditional setup (which is incorrect) that the shaft ran through the belt line. Because it sounded like it had some relevance (to what I have no idea) it was soon adopted as the norm. Do me a favor and look at the swings of the top pros, all of them have shafts that go through their right elbow at impact, not their belt lines. This is why the belt line as a reference at address is worse than useless.
Click to expand...
Had not really heard of this...
Interesting stuff. I'll give it a whirl
 
Tadashi70 said:
Hands low will produce a draw. High hands a fade. The trick is to find that neutral position so you can work it either way by releasing or holding the face.

If I need to hit a running draw my hands are low and I stay down for a good bit through the swing. Generally I'm set at the belt line and hit a little fade.
Click to expand...
Very interesting. Never thought along these lines before.
 
Smallville said:
Very interesting. Never thought along these lines before.
Click to expand...
I can say my friend had me move my hands up higher and I was hitting small little cuts. Only hit a few shots but it seems to work.
 
leftyrighty said:
I can say my friend had me move my hands up higher and I was hitting small little cuts. Only hit a few shots but it seems to work.
Click to expand...

I'm going to drop my hands to ground level.
 
Smallville said:
I'm going to drop my hands to ground level.
Click to expand...

haha! adjusting your hands is kinda like adjusting the lie angle. lower hands=upright lie=draw. higher hands=flat lie=fade.
 
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