Hitting behind the ball with Driver

[anthony]

As the title states, I've been hitting the ground before the ball with my driver. I'm hitting all my other clubs pretty good and even have decent drives when it hits the ground .

As a bit of a prequel, I've really improved my ball striking over the past few months. I've finally understood what it means to release to right field and my ball striking has improved tremendously by doing that and keeping my right shoulder back while getting the hips towards the target. I was having trouble with my 4 and 5 iron, but standing a little taller helped that out. I also eliminated my 3 wood issues by standing taller and have tons more consistency with the 3 wood now. However, it goes 210-225 on average and while I'm happy to get that in the fairway, I know I can put it further with my driver.

I know it's tough to diagnose without any video, but I think it has something to do with my swing being to steep, hence the ground being hit. However, when I try to flatten out the swing I slice it or pull it. Mainly because the right shoulder comes out and around instead rotating under like it does with my irons. I think anyways. I suppose I could be releasing early as well. I'm fine with my 3 w and 5w, but the driver is throwing me threw a loop. I suppose I could choke down some, but I already do a little. I'm 5'11" by the way. Any ideas? Thanks.

[R7Player]

You could be trying too hard and swinging not within yourself
causing the drop of the arc. Try to get into a rhythm where your
feet do not come out of balance. I've hit the ground too, but it goes away.
Try warming up with wedge, pw, 9,8, etc. then swing the woods then driver.
You may not hit the ground (at the range) after getting warm. Good luck.

[mike68]

I fought this for years and basically found out that I was trying way to hard. Let the driver do the work. Slow take away and lead the club head back through the ball. Having the ball to far forward can also contribute to this. You might try with the ball 2 or 3 ball widths inside your left heel. See if that helps.
Mike

[Dub]

I.....ahem...admit...to sometimes doing this, too.


I just try to relax. I stand behind the ball and pick my line....breath deeply. Step up and address the ball....breath deeply.....firm up lower body and keep upper body relaxed...turn away smoothly and then fire through to a full finish.

Don't get too "ball" focused with the driver. Just try to make a good pass at the ball, free of tension with a nice release and finish.


Good luck. Hitting the big ball before the little one is aggravting, I know.

[mc0388]

You could be trying too hard and swinging not within yourself

R7Player has it right. Remember loose muscles are fast muscles. You need speed not power to hit it farther. You might be dipping a bit when your trying to hit the crap out of the ball...

[Lean, Mean, Hitting Machine]

REMEMBER THIS: It's not a shoulder tilt...its a shoulder TURN...that should flatten your swing out more.

[anthony]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm gonna go to the range today and just take some smooth swings. I get so wrapped up in my crappy drives that I'm probably getting tight trying to hammer the ball. I'll post my results tonight.

[iacas]

REMEMBER THIS: It's not a shoulder tilt...its a shoulder TURN...that should flatten your swing out more.

Technically, I think it's both, but if you're overdoing one then certainly, look more at the other.

[anthony]

I went to the range with minimal driver success. Honestly, I got a bit frustrated with the driver so I put it away to concentrate on other things.

However, I think I found part of the problem. I'm about 90% sure I'm over rotating in my backswing. I unmounted my full length mirror and set it up where I could take a look at my swing when I got home. To my surprise, what I considered a 50% (or maybe somewhere between 50% and 75%) backswing with my driver was what should be my full backswing. I almost couldn't believe it. But, I would take practice backswings to 50% and then look up at the mirror and the shaft was pointing towards the target and my shoulders were fully rotated.

After I thought about it more, I should have realized this already. In the beginning of the summer I was working on my short irons and wedges. I would start with pitch shots and work my way up to a full swing. Well, I realized that my "half" swings were going just as far as my "full" swings, but with better consistency and the felt better to. So, I played everything down to a 7 with a half swing. My ball striking improved dramatically with those irons. Just recently, I started employing the same method with my 5, 6 & 7. I hated having a 5 iron shot because I would constantly hit it bad. Now, I don't cringe everytime I need to hit my 5i.

I just figured my full swings were bad so I would just hit half or 3/4 swings until I could sort out my full swing. I never considered overswinging as a problem. But, it makes a lot sense now.

[jambalaya]

Just a thought but you kept talking about standing taller with some of your other clubs and that helping. When I first saw this thread my first thought is that you were swinging too steep with the driver. You should be sweeping the ball off the tee with the driver. Do you ever kind of pop the ball up? Your doing find with your other clubs but you might try flattening out the driver plane a bit.

[mc0388]

I went to the range with minimal driver success. Honestly, I got a bit frustrated with the driver so I put it away to concentrate on other things.

The way I control the amount of my shoulder turn is: I play off of my left shoulder. As I take the club away I turn until my left shoulder is under my chin. This tells me my backswing is complete and my shoulder turn is square to the target.

[anthony]

*** another update

Went to the range yesterday to work on a few things. Namely, the driver. My assessment about overswinging was 100% on point. I hit one or two behind it, but mimicking my swings in the mirror improved things dramatically. It also improved my 5 wood and 3 wood shots. I even brought the 4 iron out since I replaced it with a 5h and was hitting it crisp. I won't be trading it in for my hybrid 5 though, I love that club.

However, I did notice something else. My grip was falling apart a little at the top. I think the grip on my driver is thinner than my irons. I might get it regripped. I like the feel of the grip, but it seems thin. Maybe I'll measure it to see for sure.

All in all it was a productive session. Even though I was still slicing it some, I am working towards a fix.

[Zeph]

Are the upper body swinging too far or is it just the arms that keep going and collapsing into the body? Try turning the upper body without the left arm getting any closer to your chest. It will feel like you are taking a very short swing, but if you normally overswing, just ignore the strange feeling and see how it works out. If you have someone watch you while swinging, it's useful to let them watch your arms and the club, how far back it's going.

[anthony]

**** UPDATE ***

To a large extent I fixed problem hitting behind the ball and my wild slice and sometimes massive pull hook. Here's what I did:

In combination with my corrected back swing turn I made the entire backswing trying to keep the club face pointing at the ball. I've tried this technique in the past to an extent. Before, I would keep it facing the ball about half way back and then revert to my other swing. This time I tried to keep the club face pointing at the ball for the ENTIRE back swing.

The first time I tried it, it went right down the middle. I then proceeded to hit 4 more down the middle and one with a slight fade(along with a few more towards the end of the session that also went straight). It felt so weird to swing back this way, and I was sure it looked goofy going back. However, I went home and swung in the mirror and it looked good. It kept my left wrist nice and flat. I guess it just felt weird swinging the driver correct

I can't wait to take this to the course. Anyone that is struggling with the driver, I highly suggest this tip. It completely turned my drives around.