Hitting Golf Shots off the Toe – Golf Swing Tips
Practice Takeaway to Improve Swing Path to Find the Club Sweet Spot
Jul 8, 2009
Hitting shots off the toe means the club is on the wrong swing path. Improve the backswing to correct the swing path into the ball and stop hitting golf shots off the toe
- The golf swing is a chain reaction, start off with the correct address position and the takeaway becomes relatively simple. If a golfer manages to swing away from the ball with the correct one-piece takeaway it is likely the club will automatically swing onto the right plane.
- If mistakes are made early on in the swing, making a good swing becomes increasingly difficult. If a golfer habitually hits the ball out of the toe of the club the swing shape needs a major overhaul.
Hitting Out of the Toe
- Imagine a planet travelling through space, an astrologist could follow the planets journey for a few thousand miles then calculate where the planet will be in twenty years time.
- Likewise, once a golfer has taken the club back only a few inches, a pro could pretty accurately predict the resulting swing shape.
- How a golfer swings in the early stages dictates the future path into the ball. Therefore, if a golfer can simplify the initial stages of the swing so the club is on the correct path, in all likelihood the path into the ball will also improve.
- The following exercise might seem too simple to have an help cure hitting the ball out of the toe, but trust it, the exercise will cure the very root of the problem.
Drill to Find the Sweet Spot
- The essence of the drill is to perfect the initial orbit of the club.
- Take a bucket of balls onto the range and find a bay with a tee.
- Tee the ball up and take your normal stance over the ball.
- Eliminate hand action completely and using just your arms and body take the club back six inches, then hit the ball forward so the club goes the same distance through.
- The ball should only go about six feet - the shot is really like a putt.
- This swing is so small the ball should come out of the sweet spot and should roll dead straight.
- The next swing should be six inches further back and through.
- The exercise is very specific in its intent which is to purify the path away from the ball, which in turn will improve the path into impact.
- To gain maximum benefit do not swing any longer than three feet on the backswing with absolutely no hand action, just a body turn back and forward.
Hitting the Ball out of the Middle
- Practice this exercise until you can hit shot after shot out of the middle of the club, then try a few longer swings but importantly retain the same takeaway.
- Try lengthening the swing slowly, at some point it will break down and you will find yourself hitting off the toe again. Return to the previous length, practice some more and then try lengthening it again.
- Build up slowly from a perfect start and you will find the sweet spot more often.
See Also: Hit Against a Firm Left Side to Drive Longer or Right Foot Action in the Golf Swing for Better Drive
The copyright of the article Hitting Golf Shots off the Toe – Golf Swing Tips in How to Play Golf is owned by John Hoskison. Permission to republish Hitting Golf Shots off the Toe – Golf Swing Tips in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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