Having a hard time hitting off grass

[hacker101]

All,

My son is starting to play again after a few years he is 14 and seems to be having a very hard time hitting off grass. He does really well off the mats but the minute you put him on grass all goes bad. He is hitting behind, in front and topping there really does not seem to be any reason for it. I am not the best person to advise i deal with my own issues. He will be in lessons in the next couple of weeks but in the mean time he is becoming very frustrated. I was hoping there was a little advise I could get for him until he starts his lessons. I am just the dad and never wants to hear what i have to say.

Thanks

[geauxforbroke]

Unless there is absolutely no other option, please don't let him practice off of mats. I have seen them ruin a number of swings. You don't carry a mat around the course to hit off of, so why practice off of one?

He likely does better on mats because there is a much larger margin for error. If you hit 1/4 behind the ball on a mat, you won't see much affect on the ball flight. You hit 1/4 behind the ball off of grass, you see a big difference.

[hacker101]

Thanks, you make a very good point, we do have the option to hit off the grass. For now on I will make sure we only hit off grass, its just usaly a little crowed.

Thanks

[Datsyuk]

Not all mats are the same. Some do a pretty good job of simulating shots off turf, but when you say "having a hard time hitting off grass" you really mean "having a hard time golfing". Two weeks (your scheduled lessons) is nothing so what's the panic?

[hacker101]

No he can hit some very nice, consistent shots off the mats, has a very nice swing. You put him on the grass can hit the ball to save his life. And no panic just questions to see if anyone else had that problem and what they did to fix it that's all. As we all have had in the game he is dealing with frustration.

[nevets88]

I had the same problem when I first started. Mats made me groove a swing with the low point BEHIND the ball. No good. No one told me. Waste of time practicing on mats without someone telling me the difference and I had too little golf sense to figure it out.

If you start out on mats and hit the ball first, low point in front of ball, then you'll transition to grass fine. But most people start out flipping, hitting fat pretty much all of the time.

There are mats that simulate grass and you lose distance on fat shots, but not as much as grass will punish you.

Once you learn the difference between grass and mats, then practicing on mats is ok, but there's nothing like real, well maintained grass. When grass and mats are available I notice most people still opt for irons off mats.

[hacker101]

That makes sence, I had the same issue years back but no one ever said anything.

I just pushed through it so i really had not way to really help him or understand why.

Another good reason for him to take lessions but now at least I can adjust a time to be sure we get grass to hit off of.

Thanks all for the great incite.

[dak4n6]

Weight FORWARD, head STILL.

[Paradox]

For some reason...there are some golfers who are just too worried about hitting the ground/taking a divot.  So they do all sorts of things in their downswing trying to just hit the ball and not the ground.

[dozu]

mats hide a lot of problems... that 'nice swing' you see is actually flawed somewhere.

[AmazingWhacker]

True - I started on mats and didn't know how to tell if I was making clean contact or hitting a mile fat.  Man - I was soo excited with those nice draws I was hitting at the range . .only to go onto the course and hit fat slice after fat slice.  Then I learned about the "mat draw" . where you hit fat, heel first - and the mat causes your clubface to flip over - giving you a wonderful "mat draw" . .he he.

[dak4n6]

Originally Posted by AmazingWhacker

True - I started on mats and didn't know how to tell if I was making clean contact or hitting a mile fat.  Man - I was soo excited with those nice draws I was hitting at the range . .only to go onto the course and hit fat slice after fat slice.  Then I learned about the "mat draw" . where you hit fat, heel first - and the mat causes your clubface to flip over - giving you a wonderful "mat draw" . .he he.

Mat Draw - great name for a fictional gunslinging cowboy hero

[nevets88]

You can hit toe-draws too. Off mats or grass. You can swing out to in and still hit a shot that looks like a draw.

[14ledo81]

Originally Posted by dak4n6

Mat Draw - great name for a fictional gunslinging cowboy hero

Mat Draw the lesser known relative of the famous "Trap Draw"

[Mfed]

Originally Posted by hacker101

All,

My son is starting to play again after a few years he is 14 and seems to be having a very hard time hitting off grass. He does really well off the mats but the minute you put him on grass all goes bad. He is hitting behind, in front and topping there really does not seem to be any reason for it. I am not the best person to advise i deal with my own issues. He will be in lessons in the next couple of weeks but in the mean time he is becoming very frustrated. I was hoping there was a little advise I could get for him until he starts his lessons. I am just the dad and never wants to hear what i have to say.

Thanks

If you're interested, on page 48 of the Nov. '12 issue of Golf Digest, there is some information regarding mats and hitting off them.

[hacker101]

Thank you Mfed for the above and your link, i have started to read it and will see what i can take from it.

Thanks

[robrey85]

I had a huge problem hitting behind the ball but after talking to one of the guys who worked at the range he showed me where my issue was. I was lining my hands up behind the ball at address instead of putting my hands in front of the ball at address. It made a HUGE difference just that day. I did quarter swings just practicing my release and making sure I had good contact and then full swings when I got used to it. Anytime I hit behind the ball, I went back to a couple quarter swings.

It helped a lot. The following week, I broke a hundred.

[sk golf]

Originally Posted by hacker101

All,

My son is starting to play again after a few years he is 14 and seems to be having a very hard time hitting off grass. He does really well off the mats but the minute you put him on grass all goes bad. He is hitting behind, in front and topping there really does not seem to be any reason for it. I am not the best person to advise i deal with my own issues. He will be in lessons in the next couple of weeks but in the mean time he is becoming very frustrated. I was hoping there was a little advise I could get for him until he starts his lessons. I am just the dad and never wants to hear what i have to say.

Thanks

Generally I would suggest more weight forward and hands further forward.  This will help move his low point further forward.  Here is a drill that will help with the hands.