Driver help?

Toe hits often come from pulling away from the golf ball. This can come from the arms or the body. But one thing to always check is set up. You're setting up quite a bit on the toe, and then it appears you are returning to the same spot around contact. So as the simplest fix, I would probably experiment with setting up on the center of the club instead of the toe.

If you're still struggling with toe contact, then I'd probably look at the arm bend and club coming up quickly on the way through. But start with set up.

Happy Golfing,
Tyler

I have same issues, toe strikes.

Thanks Tyler

Hey Tyler, I just signed up as a new member. Looking forward to continued improvement.

Lining the ball up in the center of the face helped a lot with toe contact, hitting more in the center of the face. Ball sometimes has a too far right start path & I noticed on video the arms are still a little bent on the way through.

Is there any specific drills you suggest? I've been working on hit 3 tee's drill bit I'm sure you'll direct me to the correct drills.

Just following up on the other thread. In that thread, you mentioned struggling with heel contact, but in this thread, you are indicating getting less toe contact. Is contact all over the place, or just very different contact patterns for your irons and your driver?

The three tee drill is great for building a flat spot and it does help make contact less on the toe, but if that by itself isn't working, then we have to look at other influences.

Tyler

Yes, I get different contact for irons. I found a calibration drill & yoga block drill they should help

Good find Bud. Typically, if there is a different contact pattern with the irons and with the driver, then we have to look at more specific differences. It's less likely just a purely mechanical issue. So starting with some skill calibration is a good place to start. I'd also try the low point bowling alley and try to learn how to deliberately influence contact. Play some games where you have to hit it on the toe, then on the heel, then on the center. After a couple of practices, we can see if the pattern changes and you get the same miss with driver and iron. If not, we might have to look at the weight of the clubs as well.

Hi Tyler

Driver
Contact is now center with the correction you gave me. Hit a few blocks but simply wipe arms more across body with a good brace corrected it instantly.

Irons:
Clubs were fit by a reputable PGA club fitter. Titleist t300, 90g kbs tour, 1.5 degree flat .5 inch short of standard.

I've been doing the upper body sway drills you prescribed & am able to stay more centered. I've included a face on video so you can see my progress.

Understand the heel strike only happens with mid & long Irons, everything else is center. Using foot spray, contact varys but more heel bias. I've worked on the low point bowling alley & heel toe awareness drills. When trying to hit the inside line or tee, it feels like I just bend my arms more through impact & started to get a little left elbow pain. So I don't like or feel that the low point calibration drills work as well for me.

Looking at video the path seems to get outside at shaft parallel. Watched high level of slice & seems like I'm at stage 2, path left, face closed. Ball flight confirms because I hit low pull hooks & outside in thin heel shanks. I'm thinking to work on strictly path drills in the slice section. Is this an accurate assumption & solution to my problem?

Sorry to seem so lost but i'm actually enjoying the process of becoming my own coach an eventually can start diagnosing my faults without much help. But it's nice having you in my back pocket for confirmation.

Good to hear the driver is better contact, now you can focus on the iron heel shot as the worst miss confidently.

The low point bowling alley is drill to help you calibrate the club movement. For some golfers, calibration drills work to fix problems without getting too technical, but some people need more direct ways to influence the movement. If you are bending your arm to hit the inside line, then you caught yourself cheating and need to focus on the inside line with weight shift or posture.

Looking at your swing for heel contact, it looks like you set up toward your heels too much, so your armpit is more over the back half of your foot instead of over the balls of your feet. This oftentimes causes the body to move forward as it seeks the balance of the foot. Moving forward toward the toes is a big culprit for heel contact.

Try this drill and then use this idea of weight shift (instead of arm bend) to do the bowling alley drill.
https://www.golfsmartacademy.com/golf-instruction/heel-toe-awareness-alignment-stick/

The reason I'm not sold on the over the top causing the heel hits is because the two shaft parallel checkpoints (good for approximating path) don't show a big over the top move. Usually an over the top heel shot would have the club outside the target line before contact, and your club doesn't get there.

Glad you're enjoying the process. Being your own coach doesn't mean you're alone in this. Just that you have the final say and have to own the solutions!

Hey Tyler

Performed the drills together as you suggested with 90% center face contact. Goal accomplished!

A few problems I experienced as I did the drill. Following your advice, I'm working on these two drills as the theme & then add on other things as I work on it. For instance, I hit a few diggy strikes & pull start lines/pull hooks. But noticed the more aggressive I am with the lower body & weight transfer, the straighter the ball flight was. For the diggy strike I monitored the upper body sway but the divots were short in length not a dollar bill size, so I may still be bending the arm with the club overly up in exit, instead of hitting the inside line with weight transfer.

The feeling I got with the alignment stick drill is that I'm sitting more into my left hip at the finish. In other words, less hip thrust. Does that help eliminate lower right side back pain? Also, I didn't experience any left elbow pain at all after each range session so I'm thinking moving the low point closer through weight transfer instead of arm bend has taken care of that pain pattern as well?

Thanks for your help, knowledge & support.

Hi Bud,

Good questions. You're thinking through things nicely. Yes to both. Early extension can cause a host of pains in the golf swing. By finishing more in your left heel/left hip, you're creating space for your arms (so they don't have to bend and will likely hurt less). By finishing more in the left heel/hip, you're less likely to thrust with the right lower back. As far as the contact and divots, I think the arm bend is one of the trickier items to work through. So be patient with yourself. But yes, that's likely the cause of the contact and divot shape issues you're seeing. I'm a fan of one thing at a time, so if you're comfortable with the pattern, stick on the left heel/weight shift idea for a week or two before trying to circle back to the arm bend.

Good luck and good work!

Tyler

Heel contact cleaned up & gained 15 yards more distance per club.

Thanks