Tips for a low, penetrating ball flight?

[GoldenBearCub]

A low handicapper here with a to-the-moon ball flight. Looking to lower it a bit. Now I know it could come from 'scooping' the ball up off the ground, and picking it clean, so I try to move the ball back in my stance a bit, and I still have a pretty high flight. Any suggestions on how to keep a 'Ricky Fowler' like ball flight? Every tip appreciated!

[senorchipotle]

keeping the same swing habits and moving the ball back will only serve to hit high hooks. you need to level out your shoulders and drop your shoulder in the downswing and make sure you're not flipping your wrists.

[TourSpoon]

Yep, check the shoulder tilt at setup. The left shoulder is higher than the right, so try to get the feeling of them being more parallel to the ground. As Senior said, make sure to lead the handle through impact to avoid the flippity do.

[CuppedTin]

Chances are good that you are hitting to the moon shots due to flipping the club, there is a great thread already started on flipping that you should look at. I'm a former low handicap flipper so I know it's possible. Get your shoulders more level, press hands forward an 1", hinge and hold back 90 and through 180 without releasing the hands at impact. I could not do this 2 weeks ago, but now I can hit a low boring 3 iron into a 6x10 Easton net from 40 yards away...

[GoldenBearCub]

Thanks guys! I'll be sure to work on the level shoulders and preventing wrist flips today. Hopefully I can work it out in a few hours on the range.

[rustyredcab]

Ball goes up because of launch and spin. You are either launching high (flipping or hanging back to increase loft) or spinning the ball too much, or both. Since you are a low handicap player, I would guess "to the moon" may be misfitting club shafts.

Spin can be lowered with shafts and ball changes.

If your swing looks good on video, consider a trip to a fitter or big-box that can give you spin numbers.

[GoldenBearCub]

Yeah I do believe I've been holding it off for a while, but I have regular flex shafts in my irons, stiff in my woods and driver. Looking to get new irons maybe next year though, I have some X20's i got last year and they feel a bit chunky for me, rather have something cleaner.

[CuppedTin]

Post up a video of your swing before you jump to new shafts. Like I said earlier, just because you are a low handicap does not mean you do not flip the club...

How do your divots look?

Hey, one of the biggest problems that led to my flipping was my set-up. Unconsciously I was setting up while tilting backwards an inch or so. Here is a good check that I did. Get a left handed and right handed club that are the same, say a 7 iron. Now take your set-up position from both sides, in my opinion it should be identical. Here was my example, I'm a lefty so try and follow:

Because of my backwards tilt at address left handed, my hands were slightly behind the ball at address and my head was 2-3" behind the ball. Well at setup right handed my weight was more on my front leg and my hands were a good 2" in front of the ball with a very nice shaft angle with my head directly over the ball. So what I took from this was that.

Sorry if this makes no sense, but it works for me.

[mick18]

unlike you i hvae an incredibly low ball flight but also have a lower more penetrating shot.... my advice... ball back in the stance shorten the swing slightly and keep the hands forward during impact also aim slightly left and swing along plane of feet to avoid turning it over... takes some practise but is a very effective shot

[logman]

Why would you want a lower ball flight?

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by GoldenBearCub

A low handicapper here with a to-the-moon ball flight. Looking to lower it a bit. Now I know it could come from 'scooping' the ball up off the ground, and picking it clean, so I try to move the ball back in my stance a bit, and I still have a pretty high flight. Any suggestions on how to keep a 'Ricky Fowler' like ball flight? Every tip appreciated!

If you've already moved the ball back in your stance... And aren't getting the low traj that you're looking for... Then go back and check these items:

Increase forward shaft lean at impact.... An easy way to do this is to get into an an Impact Fix position at address. Try taking a 3/4 swing.... And maintain the wedge a little longer, post impact.  Here is a drill that you can try.

[westcyderydin]

For a non-mechanical solution, if you need to keep the ball down because of wind or a tree in the way you can take an extra club or two and choke down on it.  You can also swing lighter, which lets you use a less lofted club and takes spin off the ball.

[stevegolflve]

Do you also but the ball back in your stance I do and takes off low then flights up with a bit of fade

[saevel25]

Caused for high ball flight

1) wrong golf shafts in clubs

2) increase loft by letting your left wrist break down (flipping at the ball)

3) ball way far forward in your stance

You could shallow out the swing a bit, but i bet your flipping at the ball. If you have good timing you can play good golf. Believe me, i've played 7-12 handicap with my ball back in my stance, my weight falling away from the target, and flipping at the ball. I could hit towering high irons.

I would work on ball position, make sure its correct, then try to get a flat left wrist at impact. See if that gets the ball flight down. If its not enough, then you can try to shallow out your swing a bit more. In the end, you might be playing golf shafts that promote a higher ball flight.

[Zeph]

Why would you want a lower ball flight?

Given that it is a result of excessive flipping into a less than forunate impact position: [LIST] [*] More consistent ballstriking in general [*] Less affected by wind [*] More backspin [*] More carry [*] Easier to shape the ball [/LIST]

[mvmac]

Hitting the ball high is generally an asset in golf.  I think when guys on here post about hitting it too high, they are mostly referring to ballooning shots or a shot that's a result of a flippy motion, sending the ball high and short .  Equipment can also play a part but most likely it's a technique issue.

Simple way to hit it low would be to play the ball middle of the stance and don't have the club head and hands go higher than belt height into the followthrough.  Like that video Beach posted.  Would tend to produce more of a draw.  Want to hit it really low, like out of the trees, just translate the head forward on the downswing and stay "flexed over" into the followthrough.

If the problem is a high weaker shot, probably a "flipping" problem, the Two Ball drill is great.  The OP is a 5 handicap but even those guys can struggle with Key #3.  The regular flex shafts are probably not helping either.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/61376/5sk-video-thread#post_783068

[stevegolflve]

Hi after some advice I've got my handicap down to 10 from 20 in just a few weeks but the only thing im stuck on is when I come to my boggie holes I have got a cross wind on the three holes allways and most of the time miss right of the target it's a fade but a little bit more I'll say it's a small slice are these holes playing with my head or am I setting up to open I can hit a draw but sometime it stays straighter than a normal shot I've never had a lesson and not sure if I will get one just listing to blogs and watching videos and lots of practice I'm lucky our course isn't very busy so can practice going around just need help with this dame cross wind lol