Hitting the Ground First With the Driver

[Jon Cov]

Hi.  I'm struggling a bit with just brushing the ground slightly before the ball with the driver.  I don't hit the ball far, probably only averaging 190-200 off the tee which most friends can't understand as they say my swing looks great.

I've taken regular lessons over the last few years and at 1 point last year I upped to distance to an average of 230 which I'd be over the moon with now.  This cam from the instructor getting me to really fold my left knee in then try and kick it out at the top of the backswing.  I've gone back to this and the distance is still 190-200 but generally straight, htting maybe 70+% of fairways.  I was out with my dad yesterday and mid way through the round he said the 2 best drives I had hit, I rolled my left foot keeping the heel on the ground; I was never really conscious of lifting my left heel (I did deliberately try this a few times previously)  It made sense and felt more comfortable and did hit a couple of better and longer drives the last couple of holes and the irons were definitely better straight away.

A bit side tracked maybe but every practice swing with the driver I still brush the ground slightly and more often than not, maybe 90% of the time will catch the ground forst when teeing up properly so just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how I can stop this and maybe get that extra 20 or 30 yards.....

 

Thanks.

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, Jon Cov said:

Hi.  I'm struggling a bit with just brushing the ground slightly before the ball with the driver.  I don't hit the ball far, probably only averaging 190-200 off the tee which most friends can't understand as they say my swing looks great.

I've taken regular lessons over the last few years and at 1 point last year I upped to distance to an average of 230 which I'd be over the moon with now.  This cam from the instructor getting me to really fold my left knee in then try and kick it out at the top of the backswing.  I've gone back to this and the distance is still 190-200 but generally straight, htting maybe 70+% of fairways.  I was out with my dad yesterday and mid way through the round he said the 2 best drives I had hit, I rolled my left foot keeping the heel on the ground; I was never really conscious of lifting my left heel (I did deliberately try this a few times previously)  It made sense and felt more comfortable and did hit a couple of better and longer drives the last couple of holes and the irons were definitely better straight away.

A bit side tracked maybe but every practice swing with the driver I still brush the ground slightly and more often than not, maybe 90% of the time will catch the ground forst when teeing up properly so just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how I can stop this and maybe get that extra 20 or 30 yards.....

 

Thanks.

There are a few things that could cause this. Without seeing your swing, we would only be guessing. I recommend starting a My Swing thread in the Members Swings section. We can help you there.

[Jon Cov]

27 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

There are a few things that could cause this. Without seeing your swing, we would only be guessing. I recommend starting a My Swing thread in the Members Swings section. We can help you there.

Thanks, will go there now and check to see if I have my swing on my phone but don't think so.

[ColonelCamp]

Maybe swaying hips?  I used to do this years ago (I guess we all did).  Then I learned to rotate instead of sway my hips backwards.  There is a bit of a bump forward of the hips on the downswing, but if you're swaying, that's going to be a big movement forward to get back to the ball.  That's if you get back to the ball at all, which it sounds like you might not be since you're hitting the ground behind the ball.

[saevel25]

On 2/3/2020 at 7:25 AM, boogielicious said:

There are a few things that could cause this. Without seeing your swing, we would only be guessing. I recommend starting a My Swing thread in the Members Swings section. We can help you there.

I would 2nd this. 

[Carl3]

On 2/3/2020 at 5:50 AM, Jon Cov said:

Hi.  I'm struggling a bit with just brushing the ground slightly before the ball with the driver.  I don't hit the ball far, probably only averaging 190-200 off the tee which most friends can't understand as they say my swing looks great.

I've taken regular lessons over the last few years and at 1 point last year I upped to distance to an average of 230 which I'd be over the moon with now.  This cam from the instructor getting me to really fold my left knee in then try and kick it out at the top of the backswing.  I've gone back to this and the distance is still 190-200 but generally straight, htting maybe 70+% of fairways.  I was out with my dad yesterday and mid way through the round he said the 2 best drives I had hit, I rolled my left foot keeping the heel on the ground; I was never really conscious of lifting my left heel (I did deliberately try this a few times previously)  It made sense and felt more comfortable and did hit a couple of better and longer drives the last couple of holes and the irons were definitely better straight away.

A bit side tracked maybe but every practice swing with the driver I still brush the ground slightly and more often than not, maybe 90% of the time will catch the ground forst when teeing up properly so just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how I can stop this and maybe get that extra 20 or 30 yards.....

 

Thanks.

How high do you tee it up? I notice a lot of people don't tee it up as high as I like to. When I address the ball my driver is grounded and its top is maybe at the center line of the ball. I have head recommendations of having the top of the driver 2/3 the way up the teed up ball.