Suddenly hitting up on the ball

[bunkerputt]

Over the past month, I've noticed that all of my shots with every club are punching a hole in the sky and dropping short. My 6-iron distance has suddenly gone from 190, to 130. I hopped on a launch monitor to see what it would tell me and it said my clubhead speed hasn't changed (~97mph), but my launch angle went from 18 degrees to 25, my spin went from 4000 to over 9500. My ball speed is hard to get a read on because I'm thinning most shots. I really have no idea what has caused this sudden change. It's made the game completely unplayable. A couple of days ago I hit a 3-wood, made solid contact but it looked like I skied the ball. The launch angle had to be 40 degrees or so. It dropped at around 170 after getting caught up in the wind. That shot normally flies 245-250 for me. Any tips on what I can check before I give up golf for good?

[David in FL]

No change in ball or other equipment, right?

May be worth checking to make sure that you haven't developed a bit of a reverse pivot. Insidious little buggers......

[umpiremark]

I'm no expert, but I can give you a few ideas from bad habits that have creeped into my swing ...

I had a tendancy a while back to make "room" for my longer clubs, by arching my back away from the ball (is that a reverse "C"???) ... anyways, besides the wicked slice I got I was also opening the loft on the face, thus a few pop ups.

You could be playing the ball a little more forward in your stance than previously, catching the ball on the upswing (good for driver), thus the thinned shots and pop ups.

Other than that, that's all I got ... IMHO ... like the two above faults, a video session with a pro at the range, found them. Hopefully they're gone for good ... till my next problem!!!

[bunkerputt]

Without access to video, here's the evolution of my swing in a nutshell:

1. Developed swing based on trying to mimic what it looked like the pros were doing until I thought I had it down, all by feel, mind you. The ball flight should have been a clue that I wasn't quite in the ball park.

2. Got a camera and noticed the following things:
- Shocking lack of hip flexibility. Nowhere near as Tiger-esque as I had
imagined
- Reverse pivot
- Lateral slide both away and towards the target
- Loss of spine angle on backswing
- Poor rotational dynamics, likely caused by reverse pivot
- Arm swing too big
- Poor hip turn
- A little dippy-do before impact
- Hands drop significantly during transition. This was originally my attempt at "finding the slot".

3. Worked on those in that order for about a year. Got a whole lot better at ballstriking, but still nowhere near ideal. Tended to hit shots off the toe, though nowadays I've started shanking quite a bit: at least 5 times per range session. For the first two years of playing, I shanked 4 times, all with a short pitch with a 60 degree wedge. I didn't know what it was the first 3-times and thought I somehow opened the club up 70 degrees. By the 4th time, I figured it out and didn't see a shank for nearly 2 years. But there were plenty of fat shots and toe shots to make up for it.

Lately I've been working on a little pause at the top, letting my hands "float" instead of dropping during my transition, and getting my lower body moving first. That is, I've been trying to "lay it on the table", as they say, where the shaft flattens on the downswing. Used to, my finish formed a 'T' with my spine angle when viewed down the line. Lately, I've been noticing that it slaps my back more vertically, like a 'y'. This makes me think I'm coming in steeper than I used to. I could also swear I felt a little chicken-wing today on a couple of shots.

I went and bought a net and mat to hit into. That way I can get some camera footage, and start all over.

[bunkerputt]

No change in ball or other equipment, right?

You got it! I know it was partly guessing, but it seemed like an educated guess. I've been attempting to get my hands a little higher in plane on my backswing to avoid getting stuck. Combine that with trying to firm up my right side, and voila, the tendency to reverse pivot returned. The recurring pain around my left rib cage should have been a clue. I was getting a lot better at getting my hands in the air! I thought I was just getting more flexible

[David in FL]

You got it! I know it was partly guessing, but it seemed like an educated guess.

Don't feel bad, it's a tendency that can sneak up on just about anyone...... .......ask me how I know!