High flight with no distance

[Bren]

Hi,
With my driver I normally hit long straight, good trajectory shots but with my irons the ball flight is very high with little distance in comparison to that of my driver. It gets worse as I move up through my irons with my wedge and sand wedge being pathetic.
I just seem to baloon the short irons no penetration, really weak high shots.
Does anyone know the cause of this, or possibly a way to correct it?
thanks
Bren

[semesteve]

Yep have the problem at present .

Need to obtain same answer as you

Thanks to some one with ideas

[ragman]

answer

Stop throwing the clubhead into the ball!!

Don't 'swing the clubhead'. That thought is nonsense.

Swing the handle into impact. Drive the lever assembly into the ball with the right trigger finger.

Start with chip shots and check to see that you end up with a flat left wrist at impact.

In the new Golf Digest, go to the tips from the #1 teachers in every state and read Rob Noel's (from Louisiana) tip.

[gord962]

High Flight With no Distance

Hey guys - I had this problem at the beginning of the year. First thing I ask is if either of you taking a divot? That was my problem. After taking Greg's advise about taking a divot, I have gained MASSIVE yardage on my short irons. For example, I used to hit my 9 iron about 110 - 115 yards, now I hit it around 145 - 150 yards. Just bring the ball back a little further in your stance, hit the ball first, the ground second. You will not notice too much of a difference in the height (a bit lower, but my 9 went as high as most people's LW!), but a huge difference in distance. Hope this helps!

[Golfbald]

Ragman,

Thanks for the golf digest tip thing. I have been to Rob a few times in the last 5 years. Great teacher. He helped me after I had surgery on my elbow. He also has a very good short game school. Learned a consistent pitch shot from Rob. I'll have to get that one. Money Hill is one of the best courses in my area but a little of the beaten track.

GolfBald

[Golfbald]

Bren,

I agree with Gord on the ball position. A check point is take a few practice swings and take a divot next to a ball (don't hit the ball). See where your divot is compared to where the ball is. You have to take more than 1 swing in the same place. Place the ball or shift your setup so the divot is at the target side (front) of the ball.

Please follow this mental picture. The golf swing comments will be in brackets.

Another point is swinging through the shot. With your irons, players have a tendancy to slow down through the shot. Picture a rollercoaster, going up the hill is the backswing even tempo. At the top the change from uphill to downhill occurs the pressure is relieved a bit as you come over the top [this is the transition or weight shift that occurs). The upper body is completing the backswing and the lower body is shifting to the left.] As the front cars go over the top the back cars are still coming over so it is a slow even transition. As the last cars come over the the speed increases rapidly from the force of gravity and the steepness of the hill. [This in a golf swing is the activation of the upper body in the down swing. The right arm straightening the left arm remaining straight.] There is a point at the bottom of the hill where you start uphill and slow down again. But there is also a point prior to this were the cars are going their fastest. [This is impact the point where the clubhead meets the ball. The wrists are both straight at this point, the arms have fully extended, a crack of the whip so to speak.] The coaster comes up the next hill and slows as it come to the next hill. [This would be the follow through. The left arm folds, the right arm is extended. You are facing the target, and the ball is on line.]

During the downswing, swing through to a finish. If you release the club you will hit the ball hard. The ball will have alot of backspin and it will go high but long as Gord described. They will also land soft. To achieve this you must be relaxed, tension slows you down. You can make some setup adjustments to hit the ball lower if you are playing in the wind but this mental picture would still hold true.

Sometimes painting a mental picture of the swing will help you understand the mechanical details.

Please post with your progress!!!

GolfBald

[Bren]

Hey Guys,
thanks very much for replying.
Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to try any of your tips over the weekend. But hopefully I will get a chance to play this week, and will let you know how i get on.

Just one thing in relation to your tips, I have noticed that my divot does tend to start behind the ball, but I havent adjusted the ball further back in my stance because i thought the ball would be far too close to my back foot(in my case my right foot). Normally where would you tend to hit wedges from the middle of your stance or closer to the back foot?

thanks again
Bren

[Golfbald]

Bren,

I hit my 7-8 iron about the middle of my stance. My wedges are more toward the back foot. On my wedges, I also narrow my stance to promote a steeper angle into the ball. This creates more height and backspin.

A tip on wedges: At address make sure the leading edge of the club is under the ball. If you play it back it could bounce into the ball causing a low flight pattern.

Try putting the front of the ball where the divot starts. You will see a change in ball flight. Remember you have to hit the little ball before the big ball.



GolfBald

[jscerbo]

The reason for the high weak shots is that your impact position is incorrect and very weak

Your left wrist should be flat and your right wrist should be bent at impct

What is happening in your golf swing is that your left wrist is collapsing at impactand your right wrist is straightening out.

the result of this scooping action is an open clubface so the ball is ballooned into the air and there is a massive loss in distance

This is happening on your chip shots also

whatever happens with your short game stroke is amplified in the full swing


hit some chips making sure that your left wrist is not breaking down

If you do this off of a downhill slope it will speed the learning process if you dont keep your left wrist flat wrist then you will blade the ball

Pay the ball a little behind your back foot to ensure a descending blow into the ball

an excellent acronym for chipping

BLT


B-Ball back
L-weight on your left foot
T tilt the handle of the club forward slightly

You might wonder why I was touching on the chipping stroke. Whatever happens on your chipping stroke is amplified in your full swing so you need to correct it here first before moving on to the full swing

Good Luck with this

Write back with your success

Jordan Scerbo
Teaching Professional

[bythatmuch]

Hi Bren,

I have to agree with Jordon. I have a couple of suggestions to add. Do not try to fix this hitting off a matt. Start with your short irons and work into your long irons. Take half swings in slow motion for a while until you get the feel for not releasing too early. If you start by taking full swings, you are likely to hit painfully fat. If your fundamentles are good and your swing plane is on line you will see good results. A weekend round of golf however, is not the place to make adjustments in your swing. Take the time to practice your swing before you take it to the course. A round of golf should be fun, not frustrating.

[multigrain]

..hit more with the leading edge of the club..you might be soleing the club too much and thus lifting the ball more...even with divots. This should also place the hands infront of the ball at impact..not knowing how you swing the club.

I play my 7-8-9I to the right of centre...5-4I just a hair right of centre and 3-2I left of centre - I'm right handed. Standard fair I imagine.

My PW I prefer to play centre. My other wedges..right of centre.


MG.

[bythatmuch]

One more note on the subject:

Always remember that you lead with your left arm. Sometimes you can get into a habbit of dominating with your right arm. This can lead to all sorts of problems (high short shots included). Picture yourself as backhanding the ball with your left hand, not slapping the ball with your right.

[JD1]

high shots

A pro nonchalantly said, when broached with this question, "Oh, you flatten your swing", and went on to demonstrate perfectly the difference!

My hooks took on a distinct severity under this technique!

[Heels]

I worked on this one a year ago, and made big improvments. (I went from driving the ball 220 - 270, if that is motivation).

The scouping issue that was mentioned above was my issue. I didn't believe it until I saw it on video. Me, scoup? NO WAY!

Here are two things that got me hitting through the ball.

1) Turn a screwdriver loose with your left hand, then both your hands as if on a club. This is the proper release motion. This is the only way your hands should move through impact if you are flipping.

2) Take swings with just your right hand as if trying to hit a tennis forehand. Now put your left hand on and make sure that the right hand passes over the top of the left hand and not underneath.