hitting down on the ball vs. scooping

[timtim]

Jay Willimson. Wonderful slo mo of the clubhead after impact.

[timtim]

Second to last one. Faldo. On a down slope. Hitting down.

[timtim]

One more. Moe Norman.

[timtim]

Woods. Nicklaus. Watson. Faldo. Norman. Hogan.

Down. Down. Down. Down. Down. Down.

I am sure I could continue to find video on every great player hitting down.

[DaveLeeNC]

what are some ways that can help me hit down on the ball?

I would not focusing specifically on "hitting down on the ball". Instead I would focus on

- forward shaft lean at impact - bottoming out your swing infront of the ball (for shots not hit off a tee) Bobby Clampett's book The Impact Zone might be helpful here. dave

[Dr. Slice]

I would not focusing specifically on "hitting down on the ball". Instead I would focus on

so how to keep my hands ahead of the ball at impact...

what i have so far is. start with you hand in front of the ball get the club and my left hand to a 90 degree angle. keep it that way until i until i get my wrists through

[timtim]

Don't shift your weight to the right away from the ball at takeaway. Keep your right leg stable. Resist twisting your hips. (Too many people shift too much weight to the right, away from the target, at the beginning of the backswing, so they only get BACK TO THE BALL, and never move forward.)

At the top of your backswing, come to a complete stop. Just for now.

Start the swing with a combination of your hips turning and your arms FALLING DOWN THE PLANE toward the ball. Half way into the downswing, your hips should be turned, your chest should be pointing at the back of the ball, and the butt of your club should be pointing at the ball.

Now continue pulling the club through the impact zone.

Push your right hand toward the target as if you are reaching out to shake hands with the target.

Keep your hands moving all the way to the finish.

Do not hit at the ball. Swing through the ball.

Your weight should end up mostly on your left side. This is the result of not having moved right first. Staying centered allows you to move toward the target instead of simply move back to center. Look at ernie els after he hits a ball. Think about being like that. Tall. Relaxed. Weight on your left foot.

[Andycapped]

I think if youll just pay attention to keeping your hands in front of the clubhead and ball youll naturally do some of the things you're supposed to. I was a caster and the biggest leap in my iron game came when my instructor said to pay attention to keeping my hands in front of the clubhead through the ball. This pretty much guarantees my divot will be in front of the ball and that I will be hitting down. It also naturally pulled me forward so my weight was on my left (front) leg, my left arm was parallel to that leg and the clubhead and ball were behind (middle of stance). I almost completely stopped topping off the ball, my shots would go the same distance (unless I came in steep) and every divot was in front of every ball.

You might try addressing the ball, put your weight on your left (front) foot and run your right arm parallel to your left leg. Now hit the ball. I think that's the feeling you want when you make contact. Now address the ball normally, do your swing and simply pay attention to keeping your hands in front of the clubhead as long as possible. You may end up naturally shifting your weight into proper position.

[Andycapped]

I should also note that the forward weight transfer should help you not drop your right (back) shoulder

[timwalsh300]

Here is my understanding, as someone who has spent the last 2 months working everyday on this...

I think that hitting down on the ball is missing the point. Good players typically strike the ball with a descending blow only as a symptom of not releasing the club head, thus not reaching the low point of the swing, until after impact. Not releasing the club head until after impact is a matter of consistency . When you release the club head the face rotates 180 degrees very rapidly. We don't want that to happen before or at impact. If it does (and probably 99% of high handicappers do) then you have a swing that relies on very fragile timing to produce a straight shot. Instead we want to strike the ball with a club face that is square prior to impact, at impact, and immediately after impact.

In the videos of all the players above and you will notice they don't let the club head flip past their hands until well after impact.

Of course, simply telling someone to "hit down on it" might be enough to produce this kind of swing.

Tim

[nevets88]

If you freeze the moment of impact, a scooper's right hand overtakes his left, assuming he is a righty. The left wrist is cupped, the top of the left hand is not flush with the top the the forearm and the shaft lean is not toward the target but away. It relies alot more on exact timing.

For more, check out the Bobby Clampett's Point of Impact book thread (I forget the title, but it's close.)

[mcfc_nick]

you'll hit the ball a lot cleaner and further hitting down on it than scooping it!

and to help try putting the ball back a tad in your stance, thats what i do and its helped me recently anyway!

[Andycapped]

you'll hit the ball a lot cleaner and further hitting down on it than scooping it!

I don't know how correct this is. It seems to me that putting the ball back in your stance is compensating for not hitting down on the ball properly. If you impact the ball with your hands in front of the club (and havent dropped your right (back) shoulder), you should be able to effortlessly hit down on the ball with the ball in the middle of your stance. I think putting the ball back in your stance is compensating for having a scoop swing that bottoms out in the middle of you stance. If a snap shot of you at address and at impact looks anything alike, you're not hitting the ball correctly.

[mcfc_nick]

I don't know how correct this is. It seems to me that putting the ball back in your stance is compensating for not hitting down on the ball properly. If you impact the ball with your hands in front of the club (and havent dropped your right (back) shoulder), you should be able to effortlessly hit down on the ball with the ball in the middle of your stance. I think putting the ball back in your stance is compensating for having a scoop swing that bottoms out in the middle of you stance. If a snap shot of you at address and at impact looks anything alike, you're not hitting the ball correctly.

ok maybe its not a great solution but it has helped me a lot, if youd seen my ball striking this time last year to now the change is actually huge, im not meaning hugely like on your back toe but just right of middle in your stance, maybe a ball!

[nevets88]

Do this on a grass range. Put the ball 6 inches or even more *in front of* where you normally do - that's right - towards the target. Make an easy swing with a wedge and try to get the divot to be in front of the ball.