Ballooning drives/high ball flight

[magicboy]

I set up half ball above driver and play off heel, but all my shots start off looking good but then just take off and fall from the sky. Is there any common causes for this or would I have to upload a video. My shots also slice a whole lot as well, I have now started using a 21 degree hybrid off the tee as I get much better ball flight and accuracy with that almost straight every time. Thanks

[saevel25]

your hitting the ball with a descending blow, which causes it to spin up the driver face causing more backspin.

[magicboy]

How would I combat this is there any drills or swing thoughts to help me. Thanks for the reply

[saevel25]

Just thinking about it, the best thing i can think of is tee up your normal driver, i would tee up a tee just past your ball but lower, maker sure you don't hit that tee.

[magicboy]

thanks for that I'll try it out tomorrow If I go to the course.

[Zeph]

I'd rather say you are flipping. Without a video there is no way to tell for sure. What you see and analyse yourself doesn't mean anything, the ball could be starting out too high all the way.

[saevel25]

Thats true, ballooning is when the ball starts of lower, because you are descending on the ball, but then just does a reverse curve upwards, because of the high backsing.

But since you say you get better results with a higher lofted club, i am suspecting you are hitting the ball off the tee with a descending blow.

[Zeph]

A hybrid can't really be compared to a driver anways. He can have a different swing with those two clubs. The shafts can produce very different ball flight too.

Hitting down on the ball with the driver is no fault, I would rather say it is recommended. I doubt that he has got a so forward lowpoint that the ball balloons because of backspin. I can hit shots with the driver that looks like they balloon because of backspin, but in reality is because of flipping.

To reiterate, try getting a video of your swing and post it.

[saevel25]

Hitting down on the driver is a fault, at worst you want to hit the a the bottom of the swing, but you definetly want a bit of an upswing on it. Its the highest velocity shot in golf, which in turn brings side spin into play more. The more off you are with the club, with the higher speed will just increase the miss. Hitting up on the ball will increase the loft of the drive, usually a 10.5 will go to a 12-14, also this move decreases the chance of side spin more. If you hit down on the ball like that, you can create more backspin and more side spin as well.

[$2 Nassau]

Hard to tell what you are doing exactly, but I use to ballon balls quite a bit with my driver. Make sure you tee up far enough towards your front heel (looks like you are doing this already) and have some spine tilt away from the ball and maintain that posture through the swing. Think "high launch/low spin" to do that you need swing slightly up on the ball.

[Shanks A Million]

Hitting down on the driver is a fault

Really? I thought we had already dispelled this myth.

[$2 Nassau]

I suppose you want to "feel" like you are swinging, if reality is you are actually hitting down a little then fine. But if you go for the "feel" of hitting down because the average tour pro hits slightly down then I think that could be trouble.

Also, the -1.3 angle of attack, is that the clubface or the actual swing? Because with your hands ahead of the ball you could still be swinging up on the ball yet delofting the club slightly. At least in theory I think you could.

[magicboy]

I was out back there and recorded some swings and it does look like I'm taking bit of grass infront of ball with driver. Should i post videos of swings in a new thread. Thanks for all the replys

[saevel25]

But does a negative degrees mean you are hitting down on the ball?

Riddle me this (i can't help it, i love the joker from batman, great vilan ;b)

What do most people do, they don't have a flat wrist or bowed wrist at impact, most people flip at the ball, this in turn creates loft. What do pro's do, they have a flat wirst or slightly bowed wrist at impact, this decreases loft.

So you can have an upward swing into the ball, and still deloft the club by the position of ther hands compared to the club.

[Shanks A Million]

Nice try, but no, they hit down on the ball. End of story. Delofting and angle of attack are different, you can deloft while swinging up, and vice versa, but the measurement taken was angle of attack. This topic has been beaten to death for a long time on here. Despite the traditional wisdom, most all good players hit down on the driver.

[saevel25]

Then lets ask the question then, what causes ballooning of the golf ball? Is it just an excessive angle of attack?

[iacas]

Hitting down on the driver is a fault

I think that's been proven wrong by plenty of people already. Angle of attack and dynamic loft are two different measurements, as you should now understand. The stated number was angle of attack.

Then lets ask the question then, what causes ballooning of the golf ball? Is it just an excessive angle of attack?

Simple answer: too much backspin.

For most people, that's caused by a steep angle of attack paired with an over-the-top move (upper center goes forward instead of the hips) or flipping, which turns their 9 degree driver into an 18 degree driver. A club swung at 100 MPH with 18 degrees of loft is going to spin a LOT. Too much...

[magicboy]

I posted my swings onto another thread maybe the answer will be in them.