HIGH ball flight

[LRMgolf]

Hello everyone, I hope your all having a great golf season so far this year. I know I am, I have already dropped my handicap from a 16 to 14.8 this season and hope to continue to get better. That is one reason I am here. Looking for advise or tips. Now down to the problem. As I had said I am a 14.8 handicap so I am not the perfect ball striker. But I have had pretty consistant distances with all my clubs. I hit my driver an average of 270 and my 7 iron around 170. So my distances are not all that bad, but the ball flight on the other hand. Now the ball flight is very, very high. People are amazed on how high I hit the ball but continue to get my distances. My question is what cause the high ball flight? I get it through my entire set, driver-SW. I know the key is hitting down and clean contact. I would say 80% of the time it is good contact but just goes super high (dont know if it matters but I am using graphite shafts in all my irons, which im not very fond of just no money to buy new). So my question is, is the problem something to do with me swing? Are the graphite shafts the problem for me? Could it be a combination of both? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[Zeph]

What is your typical shot shape? I hit it high myself and love it. Distances are almost the same as yours. There are of course many things that contribute to the height of the ball flight. Type of ball, clubs, angle of attack, effective loft etc. I like to divide it into two groups, which of course are seamlessly connected. 1: The guys that flip. Shaft is usually not leaning forward at impact, the effective loft increases and spin decreases. The ball starts out pretty high and gets and similar shape as if you threw the ball. Spin is not affecting the curve too much. 2: The guys that don't flip (or just a little) and hit the ball with a forward leaning shaft. They de-loft the club at impact, ball launches lower. The spin rate is higher, so the ball will still climb pretty high. At the peak it will stop and fall down pretty fast. These guys usually hit it farther and experience the ball stopping dead on greens or spinning back. As long as we don't have numbers or actually see your ball flight, it's impossible to tell if you are hitting it too high. With your distance though, I would not say it's likely that you flip too bad. The best way to find out is by looking at a video of your swing. It will tell a lot about your ball flight.

[Jason Humes]

so the answer is a forward leaning shaft at impact.  But what's the trick to achieving that?  Lean the shaft fwd just a tiny bit before you start the backswing?  Thought I saw Els do that this weekend at the Palmer tourney... thoughts?

[Zeph]

It's a result of the entire swing. You can't really strip it down to a single detail. Weight distribution, head movement, speed of the arms, hip action, flying wedges, swing path etc. Here is a start: http://thesandtrap.com/t/45317/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-forward-shaft-lean-through-impact

[LRMgolf]

Originally Posted by Zeph

What is your typical shot shape? I hit it high myself and love it. Distances are almost the same as yours.

There are of course many things that contribute to the height of the ball flight. Type of ball, clubs, angle of attack, effective loft etc.

I like to divide it into two groups, which of course are seamlessly connected.

1: The guys that flip. Shaft is usually not leaning forward at impact, the effective loft increases and spin decreases. The ball starts out pretty high and gets and similar shape as if you threw the ball. Spin is not affecting the curve too much.

2: The guys that don't flip (or just a little) and hit the ball with a forward leaning shaft. They de-loft the club at impact, ball launches lower. The spin rate is higher, so the ball will still climb pretty high. At the peak it will stop and fall down pretty fast. These guys usually hit it farther and experience the ball stopping dead on greens or spinning back.

As long as we don't have numbers or actually see your ball flight, it's impossible to tell if you are hitting it too high. With your distance though, I would not say it's likely that you flip too bad. The best way to find out is by looking at a video of your swing. It will tell a lot about your ball flight.

It seems from your description that I am more like that #2 option you wrote. When my ball hits the green, it is usually with in 2 feet of the divot. Sometime in front of the divot and other times behind it. But normally in the same area.

Thank you for your reply, I will work on getting a video posted soon.

[LRMgolf]

Originally Posted by Zeph

What is your typical shot shape? I hit it high myself and love it. Distances are almost the same as yours.

There are of course many things that contribute to the height of the ball flight. Type of ball, clubs, angle of attack, effective loft etc.

I like to divide it into two groups, which of course are seamlessly connected.

1: The guys that flip. Shaft is usually not leaning forward at impact, the effective loft increases and spin decreases. The ball starts out pretty high and gets and similar shape as if you threw the ball. Spin is not affecting the curve too much.

2: The guys that don't flip (or just a little) and hit the ball with a forward leaning shaft. They de-loft the club at impact, ball launches lower. The spin rate is higher, so the ball will still climb pretty high. At the peak it will stop and fall down pretty fast. These guys usually hit it farther and experience the ball stopping dead on greens or spinning back.

As long as we don't have numbers or actually see your ball flight, it's impossible to tell if you are hitting it too high. With your distance though, I would not say it's likely that you flip too bad. The best way to find out is by looking at a video of your swing. It will tell a lot about your ball flight.

As for shot shape, With driver I normally hit it straight, and irons play a high draw

[LuciusWooding]

I have an insanely high flight lately; I can't determine the cause unless it's my equipment. I have been hitting off mats that leave residue on the sole of the clubs, which has been on the leading edge indicating proper shaft lean, yet I have a hell of a time getting proper distances out of anything longer than an 8 iron. I get plenty of launch, but even a 1 club wind kicks me in the balls when the shot reaches its apex; the ball climbs excessively, then falls out of the sky in the last 1/3rd of the flight.

I have been measuring my swing speed with my radar unit, and I'm getting very high numbers; consistently in the low 120s with my driver, with 96-100 on my 5 iron. I found it hard to believe, but the ball speed has been in the 170s on good hits, so it's not just picking up ball speed instead of CHS. Despite the ball speed, my distance at the range has failed to carry over 250. The ball climbs and climbs, starting at a pretty high launch, but drops at the end from a great height.

I'm using a 9* driver with a prolaunch red stiff shaft, and it's insane how high I'm hitting it. I must be launching at about 15* and getting over 5500rpm backspin or something... Great if it's with a 30mph wind, but rubbish otherwise. I can launch it lower working the ball low, but it carries about the same. I must be getting crazy spin, and ditto with the irons. I'm hitting the driver on the upswing too, so my AoA shouldn't be causing this amount of spin. I know I should be using Xstiff shafts, but this is a bit insane. I was only swinging in the high 90s when I bought the damn clubs... There are range balls at the range I use, but many lost balls as well, and it doesn't seem to help much using real balls.

I'd rather be hitting 20 yards less than my potential, but launching low and getting roll and not losing as much into an 8mph wind. At least I straightened everything out...

[do4au2010]

i went from a 65g X to a 95g X flex shaft in my driver last week. The first 2 rounds i struggled getting the ball into the air but once i got used to it and was able to swing it comfortably i gained up to 15yds off the tee. the ball flies much heavier and as a result i get much more roll out.  best move i ever made. It wouldnt hurt to demo a heavier shaft. it may not work for everyone but i think it could help you.

[Paradox]

Is there any reason you want to lower your ballflight?  On the whole, a higher ball flight with good distance is always gonna be easier to play with than a low ball flight simply because your ball will be coming down at a steeper angle and have less roll out.

I have a high flight and get spot on the same distances you get out of your clubs.  I haven't had a problem playing this even on windy days...just take a club or two more and play the ball back a little and make an easier swing.

[LuciusWooding]

There's high ballflight and there's high ballflight. It's possible he plays in the wind a lot, has an unusually high swing speed for his yardages and loses distance, or plays a ball that doesn't react well to it.

With a high swing speed one generates so much spin you can lose a lot of yardage and distance control. Launching low is one method to optimize the ball flight, and it also keeps the ball out of the wind compared to a high ball and minimizes the hit you take without reducing the spin, which is harder to do. There's also the issue of when you want release on the shot, such as with a driver, where a shallow descent angle is useful. Some prefer a lower flight that can be worked higher when needed. Generally for a high swing speed player on a well struck shot, you generate enough spin for the descent angle to be steep and the spin to check the ball quickly regardless of the shot height, and you can learn to control the spin a bit as well. For me, it's as simple as hitting really violently and hard for a high shot with lots of spin, as well as a slightly forward ball position. Not so hard I can't control it, but harder than usual. Distance wise the flight is inefficient as hell but it has a purpose.

For me, I hate the high ball on most shots because I tend to lose track of the ball in the sky, and a low ball can be more easily tracked to the target. It just fits my eye and feels more controlled. When I hit a high shot it feels like I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it lands near the target; It's not as much of a directional thing as a distance control thing, and even a slight wind can knock a really high ball around or cause it to lose trajectory enough to miss. That goes double for wedges, I have to look at where I'm aiming and wait a few seconds for the ball to hopefully land and behave how I want instead of just looking at the pin or target and seeing the ball fly, which gives me a better view as well as information about the shot so I can make corrections.

I'm not talking about hitting a stinger every time that goes 20 feet off the ground, but my driver and most of my irons are forgiving and have high launching shafts in my irons, so the harder I hit the ball the higher and weaker it flies. SGI irons are less workable than players irons in the draw and fade spectrum, but especially in the high and low trajectory control.

Many tour players hit drives in the 80 foot max height range, and many launch below 10 degrees. Could they get better numbers and more carry? Probably by a decent bit. They can afford whatever equipment they want, but for a number of reasons they choose their current gear. I think some players intentionally limit their rollout in order to stay in the fairway, play their shot type to prevent a hook, depend on a penetrating trajectory in varying conditions, and play a swing more like that of their irons; the average pro in the PGA hits down on their driver slightly, though several hit up to get the best distance. The LPGA on the other hand has almost all the players hit up because they need all the distance they can get. When you get to the level of the pro men in terms of power, it's a personal preference of control over potentially obscenely long distance but less control, as well as what fits their eye and the courses they play most.