I have another question from RR2, who is an Inner Circle member, and he says, “Have been golfing for over 30 years and was extremely frustrated with my game. I just couldn't seem to improve no matter what I did. I even decided that if things didn't improve quickly I would give up the game.
“I noticed an advertisement for 10 free lessons and figured I would give it a try. Things began to get better and I decided to purchase the videos. Since then I have seen steady improvement. My scores are getting better and I enjoy playing again. I am even getting a birdie or two per round. Thanks, Surge!
“I am still having a couple of issues:
I either pull the ball or seem to cut the ball (right to left divot) on my irons. The cut ball still goes relatively straight but I lose distance. I have checked my setup and it appears to be okay.
On my drives I sometimes get a pull or pull hook with a sky ball. I have to tee the ball up very low on drives to avoid the sky ball.
Does anyone have any advice?”
Well, I think the problem here could be you have a ball position issue. Your pulls could be coming because your ball is a little too far forward. The same thing could be with your irons, which is giving you the appearance of the divot going right to left, slight pulls. Or you could be shutting the club down a little bit too quickly coming through impact.
Conversely, you're hitting cuts, which implies the ball is going relatively straight, as you say, but a slight loss of distance. Sometimes the cuts could come as the alternative to not pulling it. You hold a little bit too long and because you're holding on, you're slowing your hands down a little bit which is costing you clubhead speed. Because you're being more square at impact, that gives you a straighter shot, but because you're tightening up to stop the release, it costs you clubhead speed, which is why you lose distance.
I think it would be good to recheck, since your setup is O.K., your ball position. Make sure it's in the right place.
Another reason for cutting could be that if you slightly move forward on the shot too soon and get slightly ahead of it, you will hit the ball a little bit late. The face could be a little open. That could be a cut. Again, if you didn't move ahead of it and caused yourself to clip the club at the ball a little bit quicker, there could be pulls.
So it could be starting your downswing, or as I like to call it, your forward upswing with your upper body, that could be getting ahead. Again, how you release going through impact, over release pull, under release could be the blocks.
So look at your ball position and look at the transition that you're starting with the lower body leading with the bump, then turning through the shot and that you're at or behind the ball at impact. See how those two go.
Check your alignment, check your ball position, and check that your transitioning is starting correctly where you're staying still and behind the ball to send the club into the ball solid and straight.
The Surge!