hitting drives on the downswing

[zelda1133]

Dear Pro

I have the problem of hitting drives on the upswing. When I address the ball, I put the ball in line with my left foot which I am right-handed. I take a good backswing and when I swing forward with my driver, my clubface first hits the ground 6 inches past where the ball is. It results in a low trajectory drive. It only goes 130 yards. I normally drive 230. I sometimes do my a divot way in front of the ball with my irons. It results in a skull that hooks. What can be done?

[golfereb]

Re: hitting drives on the downswing

Difficult to comment without seeing your actual swing!

Have you tried holding your left wrist stiff? The only problem doing it too well will be that you will start hitting in front of the ball this time!!

[GregJWillis]

Re: hitting drives on the downswing

The problem is most likely your body moving forward in the downswing. As a rule of thumb, where you ground the club in your through swing, is where the center of your weight is located. So, if you see the divot 6 inches in front of the ball, then you are probably moving your body that far forward. This is usually caused by a hip slide where your hips are not rotating as much as they are trying to be trusted toward the target for what you think will feel like more power. The solution to this one is practicing the Impact position Drill. You will not be able to slide. If you do, you will have some really sore hips.

Another possible reason for the forward movement could be excessive head movement. You get rotating in your downswing and you start to let your head rotate with your shoulders. There is a possibility that in doing so, you push your whole body forward. The results here are mostly slices and thinner shots. The solution is to have a partner stand facing you at your setup and hold a club's grip end on your nose. As you go through your swing you will be conscience of the fact that you have something on your nose and will do everything you can to keep it there, which will result in a completely different swing. Then have him hold it 1 inch from your nose. You will still see it, but swing a little more naturally which will result in you seeing the actual amount of movement you are doing. You should be able to keep the nose on or about the club's position within about 1 inch if you are doing it correctly. After the point of impact, you may let your head rotate forward naturally, but by then you will have already hit the ball, and will have stayed behind the ball and kept the divot where it should be...right on top of the ball and a little after it.

Hope this helps.

[TeachingPro]

Re: hitting drives on the downswing

I have a good idea of what is happening. You may start off in a given position but on the downswing at impact you're moving towards the target or lifting or both. My guess is you're pushing / sliding the hips towards the target, its the most common problem. If you were lifting to cause a 6" forward movement, you'd probably miss impact by miles.

To move the 6-inches forward only takes an inch or 2 movement in the body. To prove the point: from your shoulder to the clubhead is probably in the region of 70 inches. Think of your shoulder as the middle of a clock with your arms and club as one of the hands on the clock. To tick 6 seconds, the outside of the hand moves some distance but the inside doesn't move at all.

Do it - hold the club parallel to your shoulder. Move the clubhead a few inches right and see how much you shoulder has moved. Its hardly moved, correct?

In otherwords the distance travelled by the club towards the target is many times that of the body moving towards the target.

To sort out the problem is easier than understanding why it happens. Here is a drill that you can use:

Get an umbrella, a golf shaft or something you can push into the ground and the end is just above hip height, let's say its a shaft. Address the ball with the shaft an inch outside the left foot. Swing back normally and hold the position.

Your next move isn't to the taget ... it's actually left of target. During the backswing your left hip has moved right of the target, now it has to go back towards the left. So, turn your hip to the left without touching the shaft. Let the rest of your body follow bring the club inside the line towards impact.

Keep your spine angle (the lean of the torso) the same until after impact, when your right side has caught up and your torso rises, turns and faces the target. From the address position until after impact your torso lean has remain the same.

Ok? Try it and if you need any more help, post again.