Pushing your irons can be quite frustrating.
Sometimes the push even feels like a good shot until you see it flying well to the right of your intended target.
Unfortunately, there are several reasons you could be pushing your irons to the right.
Although we wish we could tell you to turn your left toe in and your push will be gone, that is just not the case.
The first thing you are going to need to do is a little bit of investigative work.
Let’s figure out the issues behind this push, and then you can work on fixing it and improving your overall golf scores.
Why Do I Keep Pushing Irons to the Right?
There are lots of reasons that a push can happen, but we have broken these down into the top seven most likely reasons.
If you are pushing your irons to the right, chances are one of these seven reasons is behind it.
1. Alignment Issues
All of the work we put into our golf games is worthless if we don’t aim our golf shots properly.
Unfortunately, this is a difficult concept for most golfers to take in.
People get anxious about hitting golf shots and remembering all of their swing thoughts.
Golfers become so focused on how to take the club back, how to finish, how to complete their swing, and they forget to aim.
Aiming in golf is difficult.
In a sport like basketball, you can look at the target while you throw the ball.
In golf, you will not have this same luxury.
In addition to not being able to see the target while you are swinging, it is not even in line with you.
Instead, it is parallel to where you are standing on a different plane.
This is what makes aiming so difficult.
Most of the time, when a golfer keeps pushing their irons, it is because they are not aimed properly.
Aiming too far to the right is a common mistake, and it can cause other swing flaws in addition to a push.
When you aim too far to the right, your club face may actually be a bit open.
Swinging through the golf ball with this slightly open face will cause some obscure golf shots.
The best thing you can do is start to establish a good routine for aiming.
Come up with something you can repeat consistently, and make sure you do it every time before you swing the club.
2. Inside Out Golf Swing
Taking the golf club a little inside out is a good thing.
This is a method which can lead to some really great shots and even a little bit of a draw on your ball flight.
However, if you start to overdo this inside out mentality, you may end up pushing the golf ball.
These pushed shots are going to start out to the right of the target and stay on that line.
The problem with the inside out push is that your golf swing is probably very close to being great.
Since this is the case, the push will probably go quite a long way.
Sometimes, when you hit a ball off the center line, it’s better if it doesn’t go quite as far, but you won’t have that luxury with this type of a push shot.
This should not discourage you from working on this inside out golf swing.
When you do get the path and the swing plane down, the results that you get are going to be well worth the work you put in.
In the meantime, make sure you are not making things harder on yourself by taking the club a bit too far inside out.
3. Grip Is Too Weak
A week grip is one in which your hands have a hard time turning over as they come into the impact position.
When your grip is weak, your left hand is going to be wrapped a little too far around the top of the club.
This weak grip then makes your other hand (the right hand) have to wrap too far around the bottom of the club.
When this happens, you have much less control to turn the golf club over as you get through the impact position.
A weak grip is a great idea for a golfer who struggles with a hook, but for the golfer pushing the ball, it sometimes allows the open clubface at impact.
An open clubface in conjunction with a weak grip that can’t be used to turn the club over is a bad combination.
One of the best things you can do as a golfer is to check your grip position any time you start to struggle with a golf swing issue.
If your grip position is off, it can throw off so many other parts of your golf game.
4. Ball Position
Just as we talked about the importance of alignment, many golfers also forget about the importance of ball position.
If your golf ball is not in the right position, you are going to push the golf ball.
For most players, the golf ball should always remain in the center of the stance.
Slightly forward of center for shots with the longer golf clubs is a good idea.
However, for those who are experiencing issues with a slice, the ball position is most likely too far back in the stance.
The ball position being too far back essentially causes the golf club to hit the ball too soon.
When this happens, the club face is usually slightly open, resulting in a push to the right.
This is one of the best reasons you could have for pushing your irons because it is a simple and quick fix.
All you will have to do is move the ball slightly up in your stance, and you will be hitting the ball straight again.
If you struggle to find the right position to place the ball, try hitting some shots with your feet all the way together, and see how it impacts the ball flight of your shots.
5. Grip Pressure
Grip pressure is a bad thing in the game of golf.
Players who tend to grip the club too tightly are continually going to have swing issues show up.
We must remember that the golf grip is your only connection to your club.
If your golf grip is too tight, you will not be able to let your hands and forearms rotate as they swing through the golf ball.
Of course, this can cause a push and several other misses as well.
We highly recommend keeping your grip as neutral and as light as possible.
You will want to have a good amount of pressure to hold the club in place but not so much that your hands and arms can’t do what they need to.
Practice your grip pressure in your short game, and then work on transferring it to your full swing shots.
6. Grip Size
Golf grips come in a few different sizes.
The size of the golf grip you play should be suited to the size of your hands.
If your hands are large, you will want to use an oversized or midsized golf grip.
If your hands are small, then the standard or undersized grip is a good choice.
The grip size can have an impact on the way the ball is hit.
If the grip size is too big for your hands, you will potentially push the golf ball.
This is because your hands are not capable of turning over and releasing the way that they should.
The release happens as the hands and arms rotate through the impact position.
With a larger grip, your hands may not have the ability to rotate enough, and they will likely cause you to leave the clubface open.
With an open clubface heading into the impact position, you are setting yourself up for a push.
If this is causing your push, it may not be an issue for your clubs.
Do you have a smaller grip on your woods or driver, and you hit it straight?
Try to be aware of the differences between your golf clubs and then learn from that to see what works best for your golf game.
Although you will have to invest in some new grips, fixing a push by changing your grip size is not a challenging project to accomplish.
7. Lie
Last but certainly not least, you can push a golf shot simply because of the lie.
Do you play on a golf course with a lot of hills?
Hills can cause the ball to end up below your feet at the address position.
When the ball is below your feet, you may have a hard time getting the clubface square at impact.
It is very common to hit a shot that is below your feet to the right of the target.
Since this is a common miss in the game, one of the best ways to fix it is to aim a bit left and expect that the ball will come off the clubface slightly to the right.
There won’t be much you can do with this type of a shot.
One important tip is to make sure you stay with the ball the entire time you are swinging.
If you pick up a bit and end up coming over the top of the golf ball, chances are you are going to have a much worse result than a push.
Which Is Worse: A Push or a Slice?
Now that you have some ideas as to why you may be pushing the golf ball, you may wonder if the push or the slice is a worse miss.
Most of the time, the reasons causing the push are easier to correct than the reasons which cause a slice.
If you have been consistently pushing the ball, that is also not a bad sign.
If it is something consistent, then there must be one mistake that you are continually repeating.
If you can narrow down what that mistake is, you will have a much better chance of fixing it and moving on to becoming a better player.
Fixing a push is something which should be done on the driving range.
When you try and make swing corrections on the golf course, some of your shots will end up in a much worse location.
If you go through our seven reasons you could be pushing irons to the right, chances are you will find a solution.
Also, try to pay attention to whether you are pushing all of your clubs or just your irons.
This could lead to some clues about the issues in your swing.
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