Hitting down on the ball,

[khale]

What are some drills that help/promote hitting down on the ball? My problem is picking the ball at contact which makes the ball flight very high and losing distance. Someone suggested buying the 'tour striker' practice club but I don't want spend more money right now.

Thanks,

[mrbillinoc]

A good way to learn without spending a lot of cash is to push a tee all the way down to the ground ONE INCH IN FRONT OF THE BALL. Remember that hitting DOWN on the ball also means hitting THROUGH the ball. When you can hit your iron and your club goes THROUGH the tee in front of your ball you have accomplished that. There is no way you can "pick" the ball and take out that tee.

Next time you see a tour pro hitting a shot on tv...male OR female...watch their DIVOT. I was watching the AT&T; the other day on TV and Justin Rose had an 80 yard approach. Rose's 80 yard wedge shot included a 4 to 5 inch long DIVOT that ended up 20 FEET down the fairway!!! That's what you call "hitting down and THRU the ball"!!!

[breakout89]

I've also heard that putting your golf towel an inch or two behind the ball will help promote hitting through the ball. You just try and hit the ball without hitting the towel. It will force you to get your hands in front of the club head. Although I WAS at the range today and my buddy tried it and just continued to top every single one of his shots, haha. He didn't get the concept I don't guess.

[CG031]

How do you take the golf club back on the takeaway with the towel there?

[RC]

Something you can try is to artificially start your hands down (with a proper shift and turn) while overemphasizing the "lag" position. Don't try to hit it hard, just start down maintaining or increasing your wrist cock, coming from inside the line to down the line. Get down to at least waist high and then let the club come on down through the shot, not with a flip, but a down and through, with divot in front. Try hitting an 8 or 9 iron about 3/4 normal distance holding off unhinging wrists, keeping maximum lag. If you shift your body forward as it turns, just like a normal swing, you should have a nice descending contact that really compresses the ball well. It is amazing really, you can't do it (hit it only 3/4 distance)... the ball will go about as far as a full hard swing, but the swing will feel effortless if you do it corrently. When I need to hit one a little harder, I just try to relax and hold my lag longer down to the ball. My guess is 90 plus percent of golfers start unhinging on the way down too soon, which makes for lots of fat and thin, as well as pushed and pulled shots. If you wonder why pros look effortless, this little drill will show you why. Once you can do it with short irons, you will find it just as easy to do with long irons, etc.

Hope this little drill works for you.

[breakout89]

How do you take the golf club back on the takeaway with the towel there?

Lay the towel as flat as possible, or you could play it like a bunker shot and just take the club back without touching the ground. I do know that with higher lofted clubs the towel should be closer as where lower lofted clubs it would be the opposite. When my buddy and I were doing it we just took the club back without letting it touch the ground. If I were you would implement either mine or mrbillinoc's idea with RC's. Or hell, you could just do all three at once.

[mdl]

Something you can try is to artificially start your hands down (with a proper shift and turn) while overemphasizing the "lag" position. Don't try to hit it hard, just start down maintaining or increasing your wrist cock, coming from inside the line to down the line. Get down to at least waist high and then let the club come on down through the shot, not with a flip, but a down and through, with divot in front. Try hitting an 8 or 9 iron about 3/4 normal distance holding off unhinging wrists, keeping maximum lag. If you shift your body forward as it turns, just like a normal swing, you should have a nice descending contact that really compresses the ball well. It is amazing really, you can't do it (hit it only 3/4 distance)... the ball will go about as far as a full hard swing, but the swing will feel effortless if you do it corrently. When I need to hit one a little harder, I just try to relax and hold my lag longer down to the ball. My guess is 90 plus percent of golfers start unhinging on the way down too soon, which makes for lots of fat and thin, as well as pushed and pulled shots. If you wonder why pros look effortless, this little drill will show you why. Once you can do it with short irons, you will find it just as easy to do with long irons, etc.

I'm intrigued, and I get what you're trying to say, but I'm unclear on the implementation.

i get trying to hold your wrist hinge much longer than you think you can while swinging 3/4. How do you keep from unhinging your wrists past contact without basically just blocking?

[breakout89]

I'm intrigued, and I get what you're trying to say, but I'm unclear on the implementation.

turn your hips? reallllly fast? lol

[$2 Nassau]

Work backwards to achieve it. Meaning, work on proper set set up, swing path, swing plane, balance, weight transfer to front foot, etc. and you will just automatically hit down and through it. It's like trying to manufacture lag, or swing speed, it's impossible. Everything else needs to be in place first. That's been my experience anyway, good luck.

[JML22]

shouldnt a proper setup and moving your weight forward be enough?

[mutadayen]

Honestly, I had your same problem and came up with my own conclusion thru trial and error, and turning my body to a more open stance than parallel with the ball while keeping the club face square to the target. Theres this illusion that comes about that appears the ball is towards my back foot, but its not. Its just my body is angled. My best description is that with my gap wedge, my body is roughly 25 degrees open from parallel (again, with ball looking like its near my back foot), while my 3 iron (yes, I can finally hit off the deck using this technique with confidence) im somewhere in the range of 5-10 degrees open (just an educated guess). Ive found that i'm a great deal more consistent and accurate, and hit down on the ball with all my shots, so much so that with shorter irons (7/8 thru all my wedges) im taking out tour like divots. That just happens to work for me. I hit down on the ball without losing any distance as some might figure I do...

[keiko]

Do not "try" to hit down, it is unnecessary.
If one stays centered-does not sway-AND: turns the chest on backswing without hands and arms manipulating the swing, then just allow the club to drop as one turns left on downswing, an iron will automatically do its thing.
Take an iron and look at its bottom edge, it is made to cut into the turf after striking the ball first.

[TinCupTampa]

I learned to hit down on the ball by learning to hit the ball from a back foot position. Gradually I would work the ball closer to center... even today I still play the ball back if I want a safe shot.

I would be a great links player :)

[RC]

The drill I mentioned really works wonders. To do it, just shift and turn normally through the shot, just make sure you move your hands down and hold or increase lag angle more than normal. The club will automatically come down in a more descending path, with the shaft leaning forward, and you will hit very solid shots. Then just gradually turn up the power staying focused on how the delayed release feels. Soon you will find the unhinging of the wrists are a reaction to the body's moves and not the other way around. You will be longer, and straighter, and best of all you will compress the ball. Start with a nine iron... and work your way up. Avoid the hitting reflex and let the drill work for you. With a driver, it hits a nice draw.

Now it will not work if you start up top first, or hang back on your right side, etc. You need good posture, hands ahead of the ball near your left pant leg at address (and impact,) good body mechanics, and work with your grip until you get the ball flight you want. Once you get that "feel" of the hands going down to the ball well ahead of the club, you will gain a lot of clubhead speed.

I do not think moving the ball back in your stance is nearly as effective as getting to your left side and posting on the left leg as your hips turn clear... that alone will move the bottom of your swing forward. Do the drill and make your divots well forward of the ball. Learn how that happens and you are well on your way to good golf.

Good luck.

[jamo]

Work on getting your weight forward ie. pushing your hips forward.