COMMUNITY

Dave, I'll take the first shot. The first place I would check would be GRIP. As I understand it, you were hitting well on the practice tee and then not so much during the round?? Make sure your "V"s are pointing to your right shoulder.. you may have either a weak or too strong of a grip.

My two cents...without seeing the swing we all will have a hard time helping. Impact is pretty hard to control, and a wise old pro once told me that if you are in the right spot at the top and you put the right sequence together then impact will take care of itself.

When I struggle to square the face I pay more attention to my posture and grip, I make sure my arms and wrists are relaxed and I try to picture the shot shape in my head.

If you are having trouble sometimes a quick band-aid is to grip the club slightly tighter with the right hand giving it more control over the swing.

All that being said...we all get into poor swing issues. Earlier this year I was pushing my drives and shanking 1 out of every 20 wedge shots. Months later with very little golf The problems disappeared.

Well, I didn't hit a bucket before my round this morning because my group was first out and the range wasn't open yet. I hit my bucket after the round.

Now, here's where I get confused...when I get both Vs pointing at my right shoulder, I'm gripping the club very strong. I try to keep my iron grip more neutral...both Vs at my chin, or I get hooks like crazy.

But LL is right and I shouldve known better. Don't ask for advice without a video so potential advisors can actually see what I'm doing wrong. I got the app and equipment to record my swing, so I'll get one on here next time I hit the range.

Take a moment to consider what I'm about to tell you. I had a very good pro approach the grip issue like this: Obviously there is no one correct way to grip the club. So he said to simply stand and allow both arms to hang comfortably at your sides. Some people's hands will be palms facing back, some palms facing forward, and some square. This is how are tendons are aligned. And that is how we can grip the club feeling natural and not forced. This is a good way to be comfortable with the club in your hands. Simply bring your hands together at the same angle they hang, and take your normal grip, be it the overlap or interlock. Now, this is ONLY a starting point. But you can make minor adjustments from there depending on the ball flight you want. Worked for me.

Unless it's a long term trend I wouldn't worry too much. Heck even Rory and Tiger can play bad. When I am playing horrible I just tell myself that my tempo was off. By doing that it keeps me from tinkering too much with my swing.

Also Dave, you say you "figured out how to get it in the air". What did you "figure out"? What did you change or think you changed that resulted in better contact?

Hands leading the clubhead to the ball. Its the only way to get the ball into the air with a Tour Striker. Its even harder to do with the Pro model that he has because of the smaller hitting area.

I always thought I did a decent job of getting my hands leading the club head. I guess I was wrong. Just a flipper which probably explains my lack of consistency. Really like the feeling of compressing the ball. Now if I can get the damn thing to go straight, I'll really have something.

Posture? More closed stance? (Feet closer together), slow the tempo down? Just a few you may want to work on. It may give you a brief problem with finding the bottom of your swing but be patient. Just suggestions. Good luck.

I think it would be to your benefit to post a video of your swing on the website so the swing gurus here (not me) can more effectively assist you. BOL, DBD!

I always thought I did a decent job of getting my hands leading the club head. I guess I was wrong. Just a flipper which probably explains my lack of consistency. Really like the feeling of compressing the ball. Now if I can get the damn thing to go straight, I'll really have something.

Try the 9 to 3 drill with a mid iron. This is my go to drill to get back to square and compress the ball. I start every range session with about 6-8 shots like this and come back to it once or twice every 8-10 balls. I use it as a cure-all drill. No matter what is happening with my swing I go to this drill.

I always thought I did a decent job of getting my hands leading the club head. I guess I was wrong. Just a flipper which probably explains my lack of consistency. Really like the feeling of compressing the ball. Now if I can get the damn thing to go straight, I'll really have something.