Lowering my ball flight?

[ebin]

Hi,

I've gone through 3 drivers in the past 9 months as I learn the game and have come across a steady problem of very high ball flight off my driver. I'm not getting much roll off my drives so I'm losing out on some useful yardage. The tip I was given was that a flight that's about the height of a 5 story building is about right, right now I'm flying around the 7th floor or so and the ball just dies as it runs out of steam.

I've used:

Big Bertha 454, 10deg, reg stiffness - Very high ball flight.
FT-3 draw, 9deg, reg - terrible club, just didn't work out at all.
Sasquatch 10.5deg, reg - Great club, ball flight is lower but still a bit too high.

I'm using Nike Mojo and Nike Juice right now and am going to take the HX Hot out for a spin to see if that helps bring my ball flight down but I figure it's swing issue or maybe a shaft issue. I do keep the ball forward in my stance - just ahead of my inside left heel which I find gives me very consistent contact. I've tried moving it inside a bit more and find my contact starts wandering a bit.

Yardage wise I hit it about 235-245 right now.

Any ideas on what I should be looking to do to bring that ball flight in line?

thanks,

[Burg]

Ball flight is keyed very closely to the type of shaft you are using. For example, I swing a 905R and when I had my shaft fitted, the Aldila shaft gave me a much higher (too high) ball flight than the Proforce V2. I would suggest that you get fitted for the correct shaft. I can say that the Proforce has a lower kickpoint (I think this is the term) than the Aldila and that means a lower launch angle.

My advice, get fitted with a launch monitor.

[seppo]

It is also possible that you release your wrists to early and therefore increase the loft of the club.

If it isn't your release it could be the way you tee up the ball.

Tee up low: low ball flight, more spin.

Tee up high: higher ball flight, less spin

I wouldn't move the ball away from your left feet, this works for an iron punch shot but it gets difficult with the driver and can result in a slice.

I am not sure if it is a shaft problem. The diffrent clubs you used probably had all different shafts on them, (although they were all regular) so you should have seen some difference in the ball flight.

[Ghost Runner]

I'd look to check my stance, tee height etc before I bought any more clubs. You'd be surprised what a 1" change in ball position can do.

[fanofsaosin]

for me if i need a lower ball flight, i play the ball back and swing easy, so that i can have a low controlled finish.

[beung]

Go to a launch monitor, they will tell you why the ball is so high, if in fact it is too high. The ball height might be correct for your swing speed, you have to be careful not to lower your ball flight too low. The resistance from even fairway grass is much more then the air, even against the wind.

[teebuck911]

i would go and get fitted because a lot of club golfers think they have the right shaft, head loft set up and for a matter of fact they are miles away and they are at a missive disadvantage to the rest of the golfers,

[ebin]

Thanks for the tips - I'm definitely consistent enough with my driver now that hooking up to launch monitor would help me. I'm definitely happy with my Sasquatch so I'd hope not to switch, I hope the issue is a shaft situation so I can swap that out.

[brianh]

2 things that you can look at
First like someone said try a different type shaft , you need one with a little bit stiffer tip or try a higher kick point as that means the bottom of the shaft will not flick in at the bootom at impact and also you can try a heavier weight shaft maybe 75 or 85 grams this will keep the ball fight down.
On the swing side at impact you are leaning back and getting underneath the shot try as you swind down to feel like as you transfer your weight onto your left side you swing your right shoulder over the top of your left foot, this will move your main body weight more over the ball and keep the ball much lower in flight.
Let me kmow how you get on
thanks
Brian
simple easy golf

[supercow]

Once upon a time I thought my ball flight was too high until I jumped on a launch monitor and I find that my launch angle was too low and my ball spin was too high. After some tweaking that situation changed.

However, believe me when I say that changing technique will have a far greater impact on your ballflight than any new club especially when it comes to swing plane. I used to have days when I used to hit it high, then low, then everything in between. I didn't understand until I saw myself on video and noticed that I was standing higher, lower, etc.... and that this was subsequently resulting in a swing plane change which ultimately meant a change in my ball flight.

So.... my humble opinion is that if you want to lower your ballflight check ball position, tee height, ballspin, launch angle, swing plane as well as posture and grip (weaker grips tend to lead to higher ball flight)....

One more thing, check your 'smash factor'. Essentially the ratio, between ball speed and club head speed. This will tell you whether you are making solid contact or not. A lot of the time a glancing blow rather than a solid hit will produce higher than average spin numbers and reduced run....