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How to "pinch" the ball?

Splendorlex

Splendorlex

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Now I know I'm opening up a huge can of worms here. In my thread about "difficult" shots being easier, I was reminded again of the fact that I don't pinch the ball in my swing. I'm more or less picking it up off the ground. I also know that this probably contributes to the array of tops and chunks in my shot arsenal. I have a very tiny window in the way I swing to hope to hit the ball properly. I recently made some improvements to my backswing that helped out immensely, and now I think I'm ready to work on something new. After my day on the course yesterday, I think this might be a good thing to focus on. If I could eliminate half of my poor mishits (from the fairway especially) I think I could break 90 pretty easily. My short game under 75 yards was great, with one hole out from the bunker and 3 tap-ins from great shots. The problem is, those shots came after I was already up over par on the hole! :)

So anyhow, I know there isn't one piece of advice here, but what are some of things that helped you understand how to strike the ball properly?
 
For me, it's keeping my lower body still and making the front of the ball my focus. I have a habit of sliding forward too soon sometimes so my swing thought is to hit the ball first and then let the turn happen naturally after impact.
 
A tip that I read here this spring, was to focus your eyes on the grass an inch in front of the ball--as opposed to actually on the ball. In theory it will move the bottom of your swing forward and you'll hit down (pinch) the ball. It's not an easy adjustment, but when I remember to try it, it usually works.
 
This was a tough adjustment for me to make as you have to essentially re-learn how to hit a golf ball but I started by placing the ball further back in my stance. It's mostly a mental hurdle because I used to think if the club hit the grass it would be fat no matter what, but if your swing is powered by rotation the club with nip right through and take a nice divot.
 
Don't focus on "pinching" the ball, you want to compress the ball. Hands ahead of the clubhead at impact, hitting down on the ball. Sounds like you're flipping at impact if you're hitting some tops and chunks, the bottom of your swing isn't consistent.

Tons of tips out there to help with that, I like this guy a lot in that respect: http://www.youtube.com/user/cmartingolf
 
I am flipping at impact. I need to figure out how to not do that.
 
Splendorlex said:
I am flipping at impact. I need to figure out how to not do that.
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try taking your backswing and come down towards the ball stopping right before impact. hold that position for a few seconds make sure your weight gets to your left leg and your shaft is leaning forward. reset and complete a full swing trying to create that feeling at impact hitting the ball. that should get you on the right track.
 
One thing that was helping me a little yesterday was starting with a little more weight on my left side, instead of 50/50 left/right. Helped me transfer my weight through better to my left side at impact.
 
I'll be sure to take some video from the front/side when I go to the range this week. All my recent video is from the back because I was working on my backswing predominantly.
 
Tom Watson has made millions being a sweeper. He takes very little if any divot. I keep my eyes on the back of the ball and start with a fairly big forward press with irons. You want the club to bottom out just slightly ahead of the ball (ball first, divot second). If you start your swing with your hands behind the ball, that is where it will bottom out.
 
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