Driver Problem

[dant]

I have had a lot of different problems with hitting my driver. When its good its really good but lately it has been all bad. I know that at times I am swinging to hard which could be the problem. First I can't seem to get the ball in the air. I hit these line drives that just drive me crazy. But what happens a lot of the time is when I hit the ball it will hit the ground about a foot and a half in front of me an then head down the fairway. I don't know if I am leaving my weight to much on my rear foot or to much on my front foot. I have tried everything. And it just screws up my whole game. Nothing seems to feel right at all in my swing. Thank god it is winter and believe me I never thought I would be saying that. I have to be honest I have really thought about just calling it quits all together. And I love this game. But the last two years have been torture. The olny time I seem to do well is on the driving range. But it is brutal on the course. Help
Dant

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: Driver Problem

Sounds as though you are topping the ball. Here are some items to think about. Make sure you are not jerking your head up. If you are doing this, your shoulders will rise also, which will lift the club head. A second item to look at is swaying too much. Swaying with no control will move the bottom of your swing arc. If your swaying is moving the bottom of your swing arc back in your stance, in relation to your ball position, this will cause a topped shot. Another item you might want to look at is raising your swing arc by stooping too much. Perhaps standing up a little more erect, and holding your posture though out the swing might help. Another item could be ball placement in relation to the bottom of your swing arc. (By now you have probably guessed the problem is with an inconsistant bottoming out of your swing arc)
Swinging too fast can cause a loss in balance, which again can cause the bottom of your swing arc to move backwards. The ball could be too far foreward for your respective swing arc bottom. Assuming you are right handed, you might look at being sure your right leg is not straightening up, and locking during your back swing. Sometimes keeping your weight on your left foot in the back swing, while dipping your left side will cause a topped shot because it raises the swing arc at impact. As far as I know there are only three reason for a topped shot. raising your torso during your down swing, uncontrolled swaying, and anything else that raises the bottom of the swing arc in relation to the ball position. These three issues can be singular, or work in conjunction with each other to cause topped shots. Others on the forum will be able to give you drills to consistantly maintain the bottom of your swing arc in the same spot in your down swing. Good luck with your swing, and don't let a swing glitch make you give up the game. GJS

[dant]

Re: Driver Problem

Sounds as though you are topping the ball. Here are some items to think about. Make sure you are not jerking your head up. If you are doing this, your shoulders will rise also, which will lift the club head. A second item to look at is swaying too much. Swaying with no control will move the bottom of your swing arc. If your swaying is moving the bottom of your swing arc back in your stance, in relation to your ball position, this will cause a topped shot. Another item you might want to look at is raising your swing arc by stooping too much. Perhaps standing up a little more erect, and holding your posture though out the swing might help. Another item could be ball placement in relation to the bottom of your swing arc. (By now you have probably guessed the problem is with an inconsistant bottoming out of your swing arc)
Swinging too fast can cause a loss in balance, which again can cause the bottom of your swing arc to move backwards. The ball could be too far foreward for your respective swing arc bottom. Assuming you are right handed, you might look at being sure your right leg is not straightening up, and locking during your back swing. Sometimes keeping your weight on your left foot in the back swing, while dipping your left side will cause a topped shot because it raises the swing arc at impact. As far as I know there are only three reason for a topped shot. raising your torso during your down swing, uncontrolled swaying, and anything else that raises the bottom of the swing arc in relation to the ball position. These three issues can be singular, or work in conjunction with each other to cause topped shots. Others on the forum will be able to give you drills to consistantly maintain the bottom of your swing arc in the same spot in your down swing. Good luck with your swing, and don't let a swing glitch make you give up the game. GJS

Thanks GJS
You are probably right on all counts. Hopfully I will get some input on a drill to maintain the bottom of my swing arc. I willl try to move my ball postion to see what happens then. It feels like sometimes I am pulling my arms out of the bottom of my swing arc. I don't know if this makes any sense. Which means I think that I am coming out of my swing because I am swinging to hard. I will try all of your suggestions.
Thanks and Happy Holidays

[BrianW]

Re: Driver Problem

I agree with all that GJS has said, good golfers always have good posture and stability through their swing, [poor golfers do not. Work on maintaining stability with your head, don't let it lift or drop and don't let it slide back and forth, if it does then everything else will go with it and your swing arc will be unstable. The other point of not swinging too hard or fast is good, try to always swing with a nice easy tempo and club up for distance.

You should also look to your shoulder turn and arms to see that you turn back fully with the shoulders and do not let your arms pull up in the back and down swing. See this video, it may help. In fact all the videos on that site are very good.

http://www.ritson-sole.com/golf-tips...ng-your-power/

[Shamed04]

Re: Driver Problem

Heres another thought that might be helpful. I, like many amatuers have at many times had trouble with an over the top swing. Nothing good comes from this. Anyways try focusing on your takeaway and making sure you are swinging the club to the inside on your downswing of where it was on your takeaway. I have started doing this will all of my clubs and it helps me not focus on all the other millions of things going on in the swing. Also set up feeling like your head is centered over your right knee and try not to sway forward when swinging. This should help you hit up and through on the ball with your driver.

[Timothy Slaught]

Re: Driver Problem

Dant:

There is a maximum level of swing speed and consequent distance that is optimal for each golfer. Unfortunately, many of us think that this is 120 percent of our actual capabilities. Always try to swing within the levels that allow good contact and balance throughout the swing. This is especially difficult to temper with the driver where the "supposed" goal is to hit it as far as we possibly can. I have found that if I just try to hit it at about 85 percent of my maximum swing speed, my distance and most importantly, accuracy is sufficient and also consistent.

Good luck,
Tim S

[mattney]

Re: Driver Problem

do u not think if the balls hitting the ground a foot and a half in front of the tee he has to be chopping down on it if he was topping it it would be further in front where it hits the ground ?

[dant]

Re: Driver Problem

do u not think if the balls hitting the ground a foot and a half in front of the tee he has to be chopping down on it if he was topping it it would be further in front where it hits the ground ?

Mattney
It is most likley all of the above. I have gone out with my boss a couple of times and when things really get bad with my swing he says and I quote "It looks like a dull hatchet murder". I really need to slow down or maybe get some kind of decent tempo and rhythm throughout my swing. It wasn't always like this. The last two years it just seems my swing is just out of sync. What I do know is this I live in the Northeast and of course golf is seasonal. When my swing was some what better I practiced when I could at an indoor golfing dome at least once a week. But it is a good distance away and I can't find the time to get there. In one of the other forums (general golf discussions) I was looking for some info about changing my garage into a mini hitting area.
Thanks
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays
dant

[BrianW]

Re: Driver Problem

do u not think if the balls hitting the ground a foot and a half in front of the tee he has to be chopping down on it if he was topping it it would be further in front where it hits the ground ?

If you hit the top of the ball with the bottom edge of the driver it will create forward spin and duck the ball into the ground a short distance infront of you.

[mattney]

Re: Driver Problem

yeah but a foot and a half in front?

[dant]

Re: Driver Problem

Gentlemen
I do think that I am hitting down on the ball because even though it hits the ground it does travel down the fairway. And when I do make decent contact with both the driver and three wood I am not getting very much height to my shot. Irons no problem. Maybe I need to tape my swing and see what I come up with.
dant

[mattney]

Re: Driver Problem

just thinkin if u were topping it it would hit the ground and then it would bounce quickly after that with the topspin but if u were hitting down on it it would hit the ground but the second bounce would be further away.

[LowPost42]

Re: Driver Problem

Mattney is correct re: the grounders. You're topping the ball. You may not be out-and-out skulling it, but you're certainly hitting the ball above it's equator - causing the hard nosedive and the run out on the ground. If you were to hit slightly lower on the ball, you'd hit the wormburner - the low line drive that seems to 'hover' for 70 yards before touching down.

Check for the usual suspects - decent upper body mechanics but a huge hip slide moving your swing bottom too far forward so that you're topping the ball on the way down; the other is the opposite - hanging back and flipping your hands at the ball and hitting the top of the ball on the upswing (unlikely as there's less speed and contact this way).

Tee the ball up, hover your club so that the sweetspot is lined up with the ball, then hit the inside quarter.

[dant]

Re: Driver Problem

Mattney is correct re: the grounders. You're topping the ball. You may not be out-and-out skulling it, but you're certainly hitting the ball above it's equator - causing the hard nosedive and the run out on the ground. If you were to hit slightly lower on the ball, you'd hit the wormburner - the low line drive that seems to 'hover' for 70 yards before touching down.

Check for the usual suspects - decent upper body mechanics but a huge hip slide moving your swing bottom too far forward so that you're topping the ball on the way down; the other is the opposite - hanging back and flipping your hands at the ball and hitting the top of the ball on the upswing (unlikely as there's less speed and contact this way).

Tee the ball up, hover your club so that the sweetspot is lined up with the ball, then hit the inside quarter.

LowPost
When you say hip slide are you talking about on my down swing.
Dant

[LowPost42]

Re: Driver Problem

Yes - a big slide towards target on your downswing.