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How to hit drives with lower trajectory?


stoverny
Note: This thread is 4321 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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So I have a tendency to fade/slice my drives (separate problem) - but I also tend to hit them very high... much higher than almost any playing partner I am paired up with.  So the height combined with a stiff breeze and the slice leads to depressingly short drives.

I use a 10-degree Diablo driver.  I've tried lots of different balls and have not seen much difference so the problem has to be my setup and/or swing.  I've tried teeing the ball lower but still tend to hit the ballooning high shots with the driver.

Any tips/advice on how to get that nice penetrating ball flight?  I feel like I am losing a ton of distance by launching my drives so high.

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This could be tons of things, and I'm not an experienced teacher, so without a video I won't pretend I know what the most likely thing or two is.  But I'll just point out that a fade/slice problem can definitely be related to a high ball flight problem.

Do you hit a lower ball flight with no ballooning when you hit it straight?  Also, do you hit a slice that starts straight and then turns hard right, or does the ball start right and then fade/slice further right?  Either way, the two could be related, but if it's the second then you're not getting the club face closed which definitely will cause a higher ball flight since the face being open increases the loft of the club at impact.

Matt

Mid-Weight Heavy Putter
Cleveland Tour Action 60˚
Cleveland CG15 54˚
Nike Vapor Pro Combo, 4i-GW
Titleist 585h 19˚
Tour Edge Exotics XCG 15˚ 3 Wood
Taylormade R7 Quad 9.5˚

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Yes I think you are right, it is more of a start right/fade even more right...

What I've started doing is aiming far left (to compensate for the slice).  But interestingly enough there have been a handful of swings where, for whatever reason, I hit it dead straight (no slice at all) - and since I am aiming far left they go straight into the trees...

But now that I think about it, those shots that go dead left with no slice are almost always lower and more penetrating... in fact I often think that they are my best shots of the day in terms of distance/pure contact.  However, when I try to replicate it on the next tee by aiming straight down the middle, the big high slice comes back!

But at any rate I do agree with you I think my slice might be a major cause of the problem now that you mention it.

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First post.

I used to have the same issue the first few months I began playing.  I'm still not sure why my drives go high when I go back to my old drivers, but I began using an 8° and it has helped a ton with trajectory and slice.  I was told by a pro that my swing speed was sufficient to use a lower degree and it has helped a ton, not only with my fade, but distance, too,  because I get a ton more roll.  Also, sometimes if the ball is too far back in my stance at address, I will slice the ball because the club face doesn't have time to close.

Anyways, just thought I'd jump in and offer my opinion.

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Originally Posted by stoverny

Yes I think you are right, it is more of a start right/fade even more right...

What I've started doing is aiming far left (to compensate for the slice).  But interestingly enough there have been a handful of swings where, for whatever reason, I hit it dead straight (no slice at all) - and since I am aiming far left they go straight into the trees...

But now that I think about it, those shots that go dead left with no slice are almost always lower and more penetrating... in fact I often think that they are my best shots of the day in terms of distance/pure contact.  However, when I try to replicate it on the next tee by aiming straight down the middle, the big high slice comes back!

Do the straight, more penetrating shots go start down your foot line (left of target) and go straight, or do they start even further left of your setup line and go straight there?  I ask because, if you know the ball flight laws, the first means your swing path is square to your setup line (in-to-in), but you're usually not getting the face back to square.  The second means that you're both coming over the top (out-to-in) and failing to get the club face back to square to your setup, which will cause a hard slice that starts right of the target and bends hard further right.

My problem has been the first forever.  One thing I've been working on that's actually really helped was motivated by one of those (usually throw away) tips from Bubba Watson in Golf Digest about how to shape the ball.  His point was that to draw the ball he thinks about rolling the wrists to get the club face close (with in-to-out swing plane).  I know the better players and teachers here will say you shouldn't thinking about actively closing the club face, that it should be a natural consequence of a good swing.  But for me the natural way to swing in-to-out left the wrist bowed at impact and the club face open, so I need to think about it for a while in practice at least to get the feel of closing the club face.

Aside from actively rolling the wrists through impact to get the feeling of a club face that gets closed, the other thing that's really helped is shortening the back swing.  I started wildly over swinging, and have been shortening my back swing slowly over the years.  Now I've gone to what feels like an incredibly short back swing (though video proves otherwise, I'm just finally not going past parallel to the ground at the top).  I feel like I'm keeping my front shoulder down and my back shoulder blocks my front arm from going further back, and it feels like my hands barely get above the back shoulder.  This prevents me from rolling my front shoulder to let me arm get higher and further back, which forces various manipulations in the down swing that led me to the big push-fade.

Matt

Mid-Weight Heavy Putter
Cleveland Tour Action 60˚
Cleveland CG15 54˚
Nike Vapor Pro Combo, 4i-GW
Titleist 585h 19˚
Tour Edge Exotics XCG 15˚ 3 Wood
Taylormade R7 Quad 9.5˚

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Note: This thread is 4321 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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