I can't hit down on the ball. Help me.

[rygamer]

I just started playing golf and joined my company's golf league.   I'm a classic scooper or sweeper of the ball.  I actually can hit the ball pretty good this way most of the time if it's in a good lie, or off the tee.   But as I played with other advanced golfers I noticed I hit the ball with a very high trajectory (even with long irons) and never took a divot.   If i took a divot, it was a fat shot indeed.

So, I started researching on what I was doing wrong, and I came to the conclusion that i'm not "hitting down on the ball".  I've seen many vids on youtube trying to address this problem.

Are there any recovering scoopers out there? Or other  golfers that actually were able to fix this problem.   I really feel this is the biggest part of my game that is holding me back.  Thanks.

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by rygamer

I just started playing golf and joined my company's golf league.   I'm a classic scooper or sweeper of the ball.  I actually can hit the ball pretty good this way most of the time if it's in a good lie, or off the tee.   But as I played with other advanced golfers I noticed I hit the ball with a very high trajectory (even with long irons) and never took a divot.   If i took a divot, it was a fat shot indeed.

So, I started researching on what I was doing wrong, and I came to the conclusion that i'm not "hitting down on the ball".  I've seen many vids on youtube trying to address this problem.

Are there any recovering scoopers out there? Or other  golfers that actually were able to fix this problem.   I really feel this is the biggest part of my game that is holding me back.  Thanks.

I would venture a guess that anyone from high singles handicap and up has some amount of scoop.  It comes from improper sequencing in the downswing.  You have to learn to hit the ball with your hands in front of it instead of behind it.  You also don't really want to hit "down" as much as you think.  +0-5 degrees up with the driver, -4 degrees or so with the short irons.  Don't think of it as hitting down.  Think of it as hitting level with the hands forward.  That might help some.  Then work on your body.

[awmgolfer]

I didn't really start hitting down on the ball well until this year, I was in a very similar boat to you. I just figured I wasn't a divot golfer but rather just pick it off the fairway. After some work on my swing this winter with some video I realized I wasn't shifting my weight forward which held the bottom of my swing arc behind the ball. As soon as I started shifting my weight properly my arc moved in front of the ball. Might not be your issue but that is what was getting me. Now I am striking the ball better then ever and taking nice divots. My best advice is take a video of yourself from the side and see if you can see what you are doing or not doing as I saw it pretty quick with myself.