hitting down on the ball?

[qtong]

Well here is a drill to get you to hit the ball first. Place a towel 6 inches behind the ball and grab an 8 iron and ttry to hit the ball without touching the towel. Sounds easy but... not really until you actually hit down.

[hacker23]

The old standby, "hit down on the ball" is simply not correct. The club should be moving downward, but to actually try to "hit down" on the ball causes a lot of problems.

Bingo!! well said. I've finally realized this concept earlier in the year and my game is taking off. now if only i can putt

If your swing mechanics is correct (weight shift, hip rotation, hold wrist hinge/lag), the club head should make contact w/ the ball first, then take a divot.

[Zeph]

Well here is a drill to get you to hit the ball first. Place a towel 6 inches behind the ball and grab an 8 iron and ttry to hit the ball without touching the towel. Sounds easy but... not really until you actually hit down.

I can put a towel 1 inch behind the ball and hit the ground first without touching the towel.

[MJP]

I can put a towel 1 inch behind the ball and hit the ground first without touching the towel.

A better way to tell if you are striking the ball consistently where you want is to line up your range shots next to each divot with the front of the ball being up against the start of the other divot. If you strike it like the previous strike (assuming the previous was a good one) the two divots will be parallel to eachother. Keep lining the ball up against the butt of the divot, regardless if you hit the previous shot fat. Kind of hard for me to explain but most people will know what I am talking about if they saw a picture of it.

KEY: Divot ---- Ball O Filler because spaces dont work _______ Example how to hit balls at the range for accurate divot feedback. ---- Solid shot _---- A little fat _---- Solid _------ very fat _____O <<< -------------------- Ball positioning for next strike YOU AT ADDRESS At the end of all this you can check your consistency (hit maybe 8 shots per row). Maybe you had some fat shots and some good ones, but the good ones were all in a row. So something obviously was correct with the swing at that point. Would look something like: ----- Solid _----- Fat __------ Fat __------ Solid __------ Solid __------ Solid __------ Solid ____------Fat That's one line of shots. I hope people see what I mean by now that's as well as I can explain it.

[Zeph]

I don't want to move my ball position, I want more weight forward and more hands in front of the ball at impact. Moving the ball back is kind of counter-intuitive.

I know why I hit it fat and I know what do to with it, so that is not a problem. I was just pointing out that you can hit it fat with obstructions somewhere behind the ball.

[bwdial]

The old standby, "hit down on the ball" is simply not correct. The club should be moving downward, but to actually try to "hit down" on the ball causes a lot of problems. The shaft must trail the hands well through impact, which will force the ball to be struck on a downward angle.

Money.

When I think "hit down on the ball", I usually hit the ground three inches behind it with a swing that could split firewood. The other day, I was hitting these gorgeous four irons about 190-200 yards at the range. I was taking a nice, shallow divot and the trajectory was wonderful. Then I started hitting nine irons, and my mind began to focus on "hitting down". Fats... tops... shanks... you name it, and I was barely hitting any of them over about 110 yards.

[Taggsy]

Money.

That's a common problem when folk try hitting down on the ball.

This is what you're doing wrong; You set up, you look at the ball, and you say to yourself "I'm going to hit down on that". So what happens? You hit the ball fat by 4 inches. This is why; by aiming at the ball and trying to hit down on it, you're subconsciously making the ball the lowest point in your swing. Unfortunately, the lowest point of your swing can be half an inch under ground. This is why the club hits the turf before the ball. It's easily fixed however. The solution is to ignore the ball. Aim to hit the ground 4 inches or so after the ball. Set up, look at that point on the floor and say to yourself "I'm going to hit down on that patch of grass". Now you're moved the low point in your swing forward you're actually hitting down on the ball.

[breakout89]

I didn't read the whole thread, but keeping a weak grip in my right hand usually promotes forward shaft lean for myself.

[B-Con]

That's a common problem when folk try hitting down on the ball.

I started focusing my eyes on the ground an inch or so to the left of the ball for my irons and wedges. It's really, really helped me. As I try to train myself to hit down, the swing thought that's helped me is, basically, "Bottom out the club where the eyes are looking just a millimeter below the ground, and lead with the hands into that position." When I successfully execute that thought, I get good results.

[DDSeabolt]

Take a bag of sunflower seeds to the range with you and put the seed about 4 inches in front of the ball. Then....hit the seed. On the course just keep your eye lined about 4 inches in front of the ball.

[nikeman6]

Here's a good drill I use at the range, when I'm just not "feeling it" :-/
Place ball on the same line equal to your right foot. Then do some swings, trying not to hit the ball both on your backswing and upswing. Then, place a ball in your normal ball position, and make about 5 swings with the 2nd ball in place.
Then, remove the ball and hope all is good.
Hope this helps you all, sure helps me...

[MJP]

I didn't read the whole thread, but keeping a weak grip in my right hand usually promotes forward shaft lean for myself.

This is a great tip. Why? Because the right hand is usually responsible for throwing the club.