Ball Striking

[HogansAlley]

Does anyone know any good range drills to improve ball striking? Also, this may belong in a seperate thread but I'll throw it in here anyways. I have a high trajectory on all shots. Is there any drills to do to help lower trajectory or is that a swing issue? I obviously know that moving it back in the stance will help but didn't know if there is something else I could work on.

[The Recreational Golfer]

1. Hit lots of wedges.

2. Put two stakes ten feet in front of you and several feet apart. Tie a rope between the stakes three feet off the ground. Figure out how to hit your 7-iron so it passes underneath the rope.

[tshapiro]

What's wrong with your ball striking? Also, what direction does your divot point? Do you tend to fade or draw when you hit your driver? Are your divots deep or shallow? Do you feel you hit the ball squarely or do you swipe across from the outside? Do you prefer short or long clubs? Does your ball position tend to creep forward or backward? Would you prefer a tight grassy lie or a thicker grassy lie?

[goodguy96]

The Only time you would ever need a lower trajectory is to hit a shot  under the wind or shots with TONS  roll .... I would just stick with the High trajectory ...

[Zeph]

Originally Posted by goodguy96

The Only time you would ever need a lower trajectory  is to hit a shot  under the wind or shots with TONS  roll .... I would just stick with the High trajectory   ...

If he's flipping, that is not such a good idea. If he's hitting the ball clean with a forward lowpoint, sure.

[HogansAlley]

Originally Posted by tshapiro

What's wrong with your ball striking? Also, what direction does your divot point? Do you tend to fade or draw when you hit your driver? Are your divots deep or shallow? Do you feel you hit the ball squarely or do you swipe across from the outside? Do you prefer short or long clubs? Does your ball position tend to creep forward or backward? Would you prefer a tight grassy lie or a thicker grassy lie?

Just inconsistent. I can't say that I consistently take a divot. I tend to hit my driver straight or fade it a bit. I feel like lately I'm hitting a lot of my irons close to the hozel. My favorite club is my 8-iron. My ball position is a little forward of center and I think that's why I tend to hit my shots high. I don't mind a tight grassy lie. The last few times I've played there has been dew on the ground still and I've hit a few of my opening iron shots fat. Could I possibly be standing a little too close and that's what's causing me to hit it towards the hozel?

[HogansAlley]

Originally Posted by The Recreational Golfer

1. Hit lots of wedges.

2. Put two stakes ten feet in front of you and several feet apart. Tie a rope between the stakes three feet off the ground. Figure out how to hit your 7-iron so it passes underneath the rope.

Thanks. Will definitely try that next time at the range.

[michaeljames92]

If you live in one of the windiest cities in the world where you rarely get a still day and get one of the strongest sea breezes most afternoons. you can't hit high drivers where its all carry because the wind is usually too strong. You need to learn to hit knockdown shots, which can be difficult sometimes with push draws.

Originally Posted by goodguy96

The Only time you would ever need a lower trajectory  is to hit a shot  under the wind or shots with TONS  roll .... I would just stick with the High trajectory   ...

[golf4ever]

A 7I should be about in the center of your alignment; with the 8I also centered to just slightly back.  Although, your excessive height may be caused by not having your hands ahead of the clubhead at impact, which would deloft the clubhead.

When I don't consistently strike the ball (fat or thin) it is because I released the club too early (fat) or stood up during the downswing (thin).  I try to take a slightly steeper angle and look at the front of the ball to be sure I hit down on it.

[goodguy96]

Originally Posted by michaeljames92

If you live in one of the windiest cities in the world where you rarely get a still day and get one of the strongest sea breezes most afternoons. you can't hit high drivers where its all carry because the wind is usually too strong. You need to learn to hit knockdown shots, which can be difficult sometimes with push draws.

Luckly For me  I live in a state that gets little wind (Mississippi)  I Just try to keep my shot Selection as simple as Possible,,, How do you even hit a Knock down shot? @ Stupid Question

[goodguy96]

Originally Posted by Zeph

If he's flipping, that is not such a good idea. If he's hitting the ball clean with a forward lowpoint, sure.

Maybe He Needs to post A Video For Us to tell if he`s Flipping?

[bunkerputt]

About 3 weeks ago, my standard trajectory was a low push-draw.  After working on a couple of things after a lesson, I'm hitting it really dead straight to a very slight fade at times and super incredibly high.  It's almost disconcerting because I'm used to looking for it at a medium height.  Now I have to crane my neck a little to see the ball.  Everything is high.  Wedges.  Driver.  Chips.  Well, not putts, but they are rolling better so they aren't being hit into the ground as much.  I know I have more lag now, so I'm just not sure where the height is coming from.  I've got more distance now, it just gets so high up in the air...

Changing the subject a little, just to address the concern that high-shots are necessarily bad or the result of swing faults.... I've always read on forums that tour players hit their shots with a 'boring' trajectory.  I've also seen comments that, "Great players hit their long irons high and their wedges low."  Not actually having seen a tour player hit a ball, the best thing I have to go on, other than comments on the internet is a comment from my instructor who played on some mini-tours.  He said it's really crazy how high tour players hit it.  I said really?  I always thought they hit it low...  He said, "They can hit it low if they want, but their standard shot is pretty high."

I guess it depends on what you mean by high.  My new swing certainly isn't tour quality, but I know it's better than that low push-draw swing I had a couple of weeks ago.  It's looking pretty good on camera so I know I'm starting to get the changes.. and the ball is going really really high.....like backing up a 4-iron on firm greens high.  Probably not really a playable shot in Texas, but hopefully closer to how the guys on tour hit it.  I guess it will be my new 'stock' shot and I'll have to relearn how to hit it low....or play the wind better.

Anyone care to comment on how "high" tour players hit it?

[bunkerputt]

I guess, if I were looking at this video alone, I would say tour players hit it "high" more often than not.  Tiger seemed to be an exception and it looks like he used to play a low-ish draw with a hell of a lot of speed and spin.  My old trajectory looked more like that shape, maybe a little lower, and obviously much less ball speed so not quite as much rise to it.  Foley mentions that Tiger is hitting it higher than ever.  That low draw-hook for me was just too fickle a shot to keep playing.  Now, the player I'm working with has me hitting it more like the other guys are hitting into the par-3's in this video.  Note that neither category of players on tour suffer from a lack of lag here...  Getting yourself on camera at impact is really the best way to tell.  Also, putting something about two feet behind the ball and missing it on your downswing will tell you whether you are preserving lag.

[rossvanwyk]

Hogansalley. I could also just suggest maybe slowing things down. I have started to hit so consistently now by just keeping the backswing slow and not bringing my arms into the downswing. If I ever hit the ball fat, it's because I'm trying to bring my arms into it and muscle the ball. Keep things simple and fluid.

Obviously I havent seen your swing and this might not help you a damn. But it helps me to hit very consistently.

[Zeph]

Originally Posted by bunkerputt

Anyone care to comment on how "high" tour players hit it?

Each hit it different I would assume, but average stats from the PGA Tour shows that the ball reach a maximum height of about 30 yards with every club, from PW to driver. They hit the ball with a forward leaning shaft, launch it low with lots of spin. The ball takes off on a low trajectory, but is carried high and long by the spin.

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by michaeljames92

If you live in one of the windiest cities in the world where you rarely get a still day and get one of the strongest sea breezes most afternoons. you can't hit high drivers where its all carry because the wind is usually too strong. You need to learn to hit knockdown shots, which can be difficult sometimes with push draws.

What do you mean by "knockdown shots can be difficult sometimes with push draws".  Are you saying trying to keep the ball low when you are push-drawing it is difficult?  Or are you saying knockdown shots should be push draws and can be difficult to hit for that reason?

[michaeljames92]

I'm saying push draws which are hit with an open clubface to the target usually go high hence why stack and tilt is supposed to make you hit high draws. So when this is your natural shot it can be tough to get the ball down. I am a very high spin player with every club so into a strong wind it can tend to balloon at times.

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by michaeljames92

I'm saying push draws which are hit with an open clubface to the target usually go high hence why stack and tilt is supposed to make you hit high draws. So when this is your natural shot it can be tough to get the ball down. I am a very high spin player with every club so into a strong wind it can tend to balloon at times.

Great.  That makes sense.

Hogansalley, I've got a great drill for you.  Take an impact bag or range bucket and put it behind the ball and slightly inside so it's behind the swing path.  The idea is to miss it on your downswing, so you'll have to experiment on a good location.  Somewhere around 2 feet or so.  You want to hit it if you cast, but miss it with lag.  Now also, take your normal address and point your right thumb at the target, i.e. take it off the shaft.  This will magically fix a lot of ball striking problems.  It's really not magic.  You have to lag it to miss the impact bag and your right thumb off the club forces you to maintain lag pressure to maintain control and also closes the clubface naturally fixing any open-face slice issues.  You might need to start the swing pre-cocked somewhat to miss the bag on the way back.  Also, swing easy at first to get the hang of it.  Do that 30 times or so and I bet your problems are fixed....at least until tomorrow.