Ingraining bad(?) habits

[JimmyW]

Hey Marc:

I've got one for you that I'm hoping you can help me with before I retire from playing once or twice a week now that the cold weather is coming in.

Putting it simply, I tried two little somethings last week that, together, seem to increase my accuracy tremendously. However, every book that I read tells me that I shouldn't be doing these two things. I'm just wondering if these two things (foot placement & right hand placement) are correct or if I'm putting two bad things together and I'm accidentally getting the right outcome. I just don't want to ingrain any bad habits.

Left foot at addess- I'm perpendicular to the flight line & I leave my heel where it is but I open the front of my foot from its 12:00 position & open it up to approx 10:30-11:00

Also, I'm curling my right hand more underneath the club (kind of natural golf-like) so that I only have one knuckle showing.

Together this seems to square my face at impact and start the ball flight AT the hole and not coming over the ball like I used to (I used to have a fade starting at 150 yd w/ a 3 iron and would compensate by aiming left)

Is this allowable to continue or is bad plus bad equalling good?

Thanks in advance
JW

PS If anyone else wants to answer, I'm all ears!!

[hadi hajjar]

you are right in what uve read regarding the right hand position. by placing your right hand in the matter its allowing you to close the club face at impact i mean its rotating over and closing the face allowing you to hit straighter shots. it is a bad habbit but if your into the natural golf thing all the power to ya. without watching your swing i would say your either coming over the top wich is causing you to slice the ball or sliding thru the swing that causes ur head to slide ahead of the ball and your hand not releasing.
my suggestion to correct this problem is to seek a cpga pro. and they will mostly be able to help you correct this problem. they will conduct a proper swing analasys and correct your swing flaw.
im sure marc peterson can help you out. hes one of ottawas best.
thanks and good luck

[terrygray]

I had lessons from a CPGA pro this year who had me move my left foot exactly as you have described. It makes it easier to achieve a proper follow-through that faces the target after impact.

[Marc Peterson]

Hi Jimmy, I really like what you are dong with your front foot, it will allow you to make a good weight transfer in balance.

I don't like the position of your right hand on the club. Unless you are 98 years old and you only have a couple of years left to play this is just a quick fix. If you show me a bad grip I will show you a bad swing to compensate. I really like to see the "v" form by your index and your thumb pointing to your right shoulder. This will feel a little weak at first, but I garantie you will be in a position to release the club better and get more power.

Marc