Moon High Drives!

[Leeds]

I have a Kobra M Speed Driver with 10.5 loft and an Aldila NV 65 Regular shaft (high kick for lower flight)........

I tee 2 joints high and have a 98 mph swing speed (105 mph ball speed).

Although I consistently get the ball on the fairway, my high, arcing drives are only traveling 175 to 190 and I feel I am losing distance.

I do have a high launch angle!

I had changed my stock shaft for the Aldila NV to rectify this!

Can anyone guide me as to how get more penetrating flight and distance?

Thanks

[enduro]

I have a Kobra M Speed Driver with 10.5 loft and an Aldila NV 65 Regular shaft (high kick for lower flight)........

Are you flipping and losing distance?

Maybe you're just getting under it? Don't tee it up so high.

[Leeds]

When I went on the launch monitor and teed it lower, I was hitting with the toe!

[grizfan]

Are you flipping and losing distance?

I have a very similar problem; what do you mean by "flipping"?

thanks!

[mp0]

First thing I can tell you after looking at your clubhead speed and ball speed is that you must be fanatically slowing down your swing just before you hit the ball. Your smash factor is just shy of 1.1 and you should be getting almost 1.3 and preferably 1.5 or over. Keep that in mind next time you go to the range or to a launch monitor, the monitors often have a page where you can view your acceleration on a graph, ask to see that next time. Hopefully that will help raise your distance to the 220+ mark.

As for hitting it high, it is really hard to say what is happening without looking at your swing. You might be standing too close and "chicken winging" your arms and adding loft to the club.

[ScottRempel]

On your follow through do your hands finish really high? I have a friend that hits the ball a mile in the air, and when you watch him swing you can see that his hands go way up in the air. If that's the case, then your swing is likely partially to blame. However, my friend also hits the ball a long way...you seem to be losing a lot of distance.
Either way, you can read a bit on the following article to see what I'm talking about...may or may not help: http://www.pga.com/2009/instruction/...der/index.html

[mhodar13]

Sound like it's your swing. If you are swinging 98 mph you shouldn't have any problem controlling the regular flex shaft. I had an r flex 10.5 and once my swing got better and faster I had to switch to a 9.5 stiff because I was ballooning and slicing due to the shaft and loft being too high. But that doesn't appear to be the ase here however. Maybe you should submit a video to swing check to be sure.

[Brent]

Adding a video would definitely allow the community to better evaluate what is causing you to hit these, moon drives .

[bpschmid]

I have a Kobra M Speed Driver with 10.5 loft and an Aldila NV 65 Regular shaft (high kick for lower flight)........

Leeds: I carry a Cobra Speed driver 10.5 degrees loft too...Adilda shaft, etc...bought off the rack at Golfsmith..I recently had some new irons made at a custom shop, and the guy checked lofts and shafts on on all my old clubs...turns out my Cobra driver had 13.5 degrees loft and a Regular instead of Stiff shaft..this helped explain my higher than normal drives too...but I also noticed I was flipping my left wrist up at impact too...could only see it on slowed down video...I'm betting you're a combination of both..get your swing on video, you'll see

[jlund]

Sounds like your swing, but the 10.5* driver isn't helping your cause...

[Keep It Simple]

Sounds like you are hitting the ball VERY high. In this case I can pretty much gaurantee your hands are well behind the clubhead at impact. Two possible reasons for this. You are trying to swing too hard from the top causing your wrists to uncock early in the downswing (casting). Or you are slowing your hands down before impact and letting the clubhead catch up to your hands.

The pro's have their hands in line or in front of the clubhead at impact. The best way to accomplish this is to make sure your hands are accelerating through impact. Let your hands swing easy from the top (keep your grip pressure light and let gravity start the swing) and then pour on the effort as you approach impact. This will create lag and make sure the clubhead does not outrace your hands through the hitting zone.

[burnabao]

Just my 2 cents, but I used to have this problem a LOT and it was because I was hitting "down" on the ball (like a short iron shot) and either hitting the ball with the top of the clubhead or swinging right under it completely. The tip that got me on the road to recovery was to think of the club head as a hammer, and focus on the idea that you are trying to hit a nail into the golf ball parallel to the ground. This will (hopefully) result in a level/upwards strike and if you can sweep the ball off the tee like this, your high swingspeed and 10.5 degrees will do the rest. You can then work on optimising your trajectory with small adjustments, but the core hammer/nail principle will still stand.

[ks8829]

When you take your backswing with the driver keep the club as low to the ground as possbile even brushing the grass in combination with teeing the ball lower and slightly back in your regular position. If you top the ball make small adjustment and find the right combination

[Bump-n-MI]

How do you hit the rest of your clubs? Are you happy with the ball flight? If so…..a launch monitor should answer all of you questions----------if not.......see your local pro.

[Zeph]

Just my 2 cents, but I used to have this problem a LOT and it was because I was hitting "down" on the ball (like a short iron shot) and either hitting the ball with the top of the clubhead or swinging right under it completely. The tip that got me on the road to recovery was to think of the club head as a hammer, and focus on the idea that you are trying to hit a nail into the golf ball parallel to the ground. This will (hopefully) result in a level/upwards strike and if you can sweep the ball off the tee like this, your high swingspeed and 10.5 degrees will do the rest. You can then work on optimising your trajectory with small adjustments, but the core hammer/nail principle will still stand.

I'd encourage you and TS to try hitting down on the ball. It may help get rid of any ideas of hitting up on it, which can be destructive. I don't know what 2 joints are or how tall your driver head is. Could you explain this in terms of how many percent of the ball is showing over the clubhead?

The problem here is obviously too much loft at impact, most likely caused by a flipping action. Without seeing your swing I won't give any swing tips, but I can give you two when it comes to ball placement and mindset. 1: Tee the ball further back, an inch or two inside your left heel, not at it. Also, tee it lower. Let 20% or something like that of the ball show over the top of the driver. Go behind and bend down to check this, because it's difficult to see from above the ball. 2: Swing down at the ball, not up, try hitting the ball when the clubhea is moving a couple of degrees down. It is a mental picture that can help. Hit it like a fairwaywood.

[Keep It Simple]

Hit down on the ball with a driver is not good advice to give to a 36 handicapper. We both know where that clubhead will end up. Teeing the ball lower and moving it back in his stance may be great advice if he was playing into the wind but otherwse this would be a band-aid fix to a bigger problem. How many pro's tee the ball low and back in their stance with a driver?

[Zeph]

More than you'd think. The average angle of attack on the PGA Tour is -1º, which means the clubhead is moving one degree downward at impact. If I recall correct, most keep the equator of the ball below the top of the driver head. Maybe not as far as 20%. Experiment to see what works best for you. You position the ball relative to the bottom of the swing, inside the left heel is more towards the bottom or the way up.

Where will the clubhead end up by telling him to hit down on the ball? I'm not telling him to hit the club into the ground, but not have a mental thought to hit up on the ball.

[catfell]

Without video it's pretty tough to diagnose your issue.

However, I used to hit my driver unusually high until someone mentioned that my swing plane was very steep, so I was essentially increasing my effective loft at impact. When I remember to take a flatter path on the takeaway and backswing, my ball flight with the driver is normal looking.

And you should be hitting up on the ball with the driver.