I am pushing my driver and my long irons way to the right. Are there some drills to help with this other than aiming way left. Most of the time, its a straight push. Only sometimes its has a slice with it.It seems as though my swing path is coming too far from the inside. Thanks for any help.
Steve Parto
Steve: Here are a couple of drills for you. Firstly, address your short iron with the ball centered and your feet shoulder width. Take your right foot and turn it clockwise so that it is now parallel to the target line. Hit some balls without your feet moving and feel the club swing past your body. The opposite ball flight, a pull hook, should occur. Secondly, from your golf professional obtain a golf club box and lay it down an inch or two on the far side of the golf ball parallel to your target line. If you make that same in to out swing you will hit the box. It sounds like you need to straighten out your takeaway and round off your through swing. These exercises should help.
Bill
At address, where should the hands be in relation to the ball (ahead, even, behind, ect)
Thanks
Ronnie Parson
Ronnie: Commonly, the grip end of the club should point slightly left or forward of your zipper. With the short irons the handle will lead the clubhead more than with the driver. The driver has the hands more in line with the clubhead because of its length and ball position.
Bill
Fitness: Dave Phillips -- PGA Professional, Titleist Performance Institute
i am in fairley good shape and very flexible. i recently pulled a right groin muscle while playing golf, and i have no clue as to how this happened. could you please offer some advise.thank you steve
stephen
Stephen,
First of all, you need to make sure that this is actually a pulled groin. Most of the time, pain in the groin area is associated with the hip joint and not the muscle at all. Here is how you can tell the difference. Lay down flat on your back and cross your right foot over your left knee. Slowly allow your right knee to drop to the floor. If this creates pain in the hip joint or groin, I would suspect the hip joint. If there is no pain with that movement and there is point tenderness in the muscle or visible bruising then you are probably right, it's the muscle.
The right hip is very active in the golf swing and can easily be injured with good mechanics. The hip internally rotates on the backswing and then rapidly externally rotates on the downswing. The right groin or adductor is also very active during the down swing, especially if you push off your back foot aggressively during your swing.
To treat the muscle apply the rules of "RICE". Rest your leg, Ice the painful spot, Compress with an ace bandage if there is swelling, and Elevate the leg at night to reduce swelling as well. If it is the hip, you need to get a medical evaluation to see what is going on in the joint.
Good Luck
Equipment: Tom Henderson -- PGA Professional & Master Club Fitter
Hi. I changed the shaft of my driver (Burner)to a Aldila VS proto recently. My playing partners noticed it and said that my shaft was unusually long. I didn't mind them at first until we started comparing the drivers. True enough when I had mine measured, it was 46 1/4. Is this illegal under the rules of golf? Thanks!!!
Ronald Cruz
Ronald:
Thanks for question on PGA.com. According to the Rules of Golf, the length of any club must be at least 18 inches and (with the exception of the putter) must not exceed 48 inches. Looks like your driver is well within the length limits as determined by the Rules of Golf.
Tom Henderson, PGA Professional & Master Club Fitter
Rules: John Crumbley -- Certified PGA Professional, Rules Expert
My drive lands in left rough out 260 yds. The bad thing is my ball lies 2'' behind a 3' in diameter telephone pole.
My question is Do I play the ball as it lies or do I get a free drop ?
Gary
Gary,
The telephone pole is an immovable obstruction and you are entitled to free relief if it interferes with the lie of your ball, your stance, or the area of your intended swing. Your relief is to drop the ball within one club length of the nearest point that avoids interference from the obstruction no closer to the hole. See 24-2 below for complete relief instructions.
24-2 Immovable Obstruction
a. Interference
Interference by an immovable obstruction occurs when a ball lies in or on the obstruction, or when the obstruction interferes with the player's stance or the area of his intended swing. If the player's ball lies on the putting green, interference also occurs if an immovable obstruction on the putting green intervenes on his line of putt. Otherwise, intervention on the line of play is not, of itself, interference under this Rule.
b. Relief
Except when the ball is in a water hazard or a lateral water hazard, a player may take relief from interference by an immovable obstruction as follows:
(i) Through the Green: If the ball lies through the green, the player must lift the ball and drop it without penalty within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief. The nearest point of relief must not be in a hazard or on a putting green. When the ball is dropped within one club-length of the nearest point of relief, the ball must first strike a part of the course at a spot that avoids interference by the immovable obstruction and is not in a hazard and not on a putting green. (ii) In a Bunker: If the ball is in a bunker, the player must lift the ball and drop it either: (a) Without penalty, in accordance with Clause (i) above, except that the nearest point of relief must be in the bunker and the ball must be dropped in the bunker; or (b) Under penalty of one stroke, outside the bunker keeping the point where the ball lay directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the bunker the ball may be dropped. (iii) On the Putting Green: If the ball lies on the putting green, the player must lift the ball and place it without penalty at the nearest point of relief that is not in a hazard. The nearest point of relief may be off the putting green. (iv) On the Teeing Ground: If the ball lies on the teeing ground, the player must lift the ball and drop it without penalty in accordance with Clause (i) above. The ball may be cleaned when lifted under this Rule.
(Ball rolling to a position where there is interference by the condition from which relief was taken - see Rule 20-2c(v).)
Exception: A player may not take relief under this Rule if (a) it is clearly unreasonable for him to make a stroke because of interference by anything other than an immovable obstruction or (b) interference by an immovable obstruction would occur only through use of an unnecessarily abnormal stance, swing or direction of play.
Note 1: If a ball is in a water hazard (including a lateral water hazard), the player may not take relief from interference by an immovable obstruction. The player must play the ball as it lies or proceed under Rule 26-1.
Note 2: If a ball to be dropped or placed under this Rule is not immediately recoverable, another ball may be substituted.
Note 3: The Committee may make a Local Rule stating that the player must determine the nearest point of relief without crossing over, through or under the obstruction.
recently in a tournament 2 of my competitors hit into the same trap. from there they each proceeded to hit each other's ball.the wrong ball.my question: what is the correct way to correct this?do they return to the trap and replay the shot from the nearest point possible?or do they continue to play from the place where the wrong ball landed till holed out?
thank you, john bishop
John,
There is no penalty for playing a wrong ball from hazard, a bunker in this case. The strokes played with a wrong ball do not count. The original lies for both balls should be recreated in the bunkers and the balls should be placed if the exact spot the ball was can be identified or dropped as close as possible if the exact can not be determined.
15-3 Wrong Ball
b. Stroke Play
If a competitor makes a stroke or Strokes at a wrong ball that is not in a hazard, he incurs a penalty of two strokes.
There is no penalty if a competitor makes a stroke at a wrong ball in a hazard. Any Strokes made at a wrong ball in a hazard do not count in the competitor's score.
The competitor must correct his mistake by playing the correct ball or by proceeding under the Rules. If he fails to correct his mistake before making a stroke on the next teeing ground, or in the case of the last hole of the round, fails to declare his intention to correct his mistake before leaving the putting green, he is disqualified.
Strokes made by a competitor with a wrong ball do not count in his score.
If the wrong ball belongs to another competitor,its owner must place a ball on the spot from which the wrong ball was first played.
(Lie of ball to be placed or replaced altered - see Rule 20-3b.)
(Spot not determinable - see Rule 20-3c.)
I hit my ball from a green-side bunker up on a sloping green. The ball rolled back and came to rest in longer grass in the slope towards the bunker. I went to get the rake and smoothened the sand. When that was finished, maybe 30 seconds after it was struck, the ball started to roll again and came to stop exactly where it was in the first place, now on the sand that I just had smoothened. Should I have a penalty?
Thomas Abrahamsson
Thomas,
There is no penalty because the ball was not in the hazard when the sand was smoothed. Decision 13-4/37 is a close situation to what happened to you.
13-4/37 Ball Played from Bunker Is Out of Bounds or Lost; Player Tests Condition of Bunker or Smoothes Footprints Before Dropping Another Ball in Bunker
Q. A player plays from a bunker and his ball comes to rest out of bounds or is lost. He smoothes his footprints in the bunker at the place where he must drop a ball under Rule 27-1 or, before dropping a ball under Rule 27-1, he takes a few practice swings touching the sand in the bunker. Is the player in breach of Rule 13-4?
A. No. The prohibitions in Rule 13-4 apply only when the player's ball is in the hazard or when it has been lifted from a hazard and may be dropped or placed in the hazard. In this case, the player's ball has been played from the hazard rather than lifted.
Furthermore, Exception 2 under Rule 13-4 allows a player, after playing his ball out of a hazard, to smooth sand or soil in the hazard, without restriction. This right overrides any conflicting provisions in other Rules, including Rule 13-2.
