Hitting down on the ball

[TheSuperCaddy]

Anyone have any advice or tips to learn hot to hit down on the ball and make divots, becasue for some reason i just sweep and hit alot of thin and fat shots.

[tigerwoo]

1) Try putting the ball further back in your stance as this will promote a steeper swing path as you come down on the ball to hit it. I.e. just right of middle (right handed player). Use this drill only at the range as it is to help promote a steeper angle of descent to the ball. Otherwise, use the regular ball position for your irons (just left of middle).

2) Hands forward (i.e. ahead of the club head) at impact... if your hands are back and behind the clubhead upon impact you will tend to sweep and/or worst case hit it thin.

3) Keep your left wrist (right handed player) FIRM upon impact to allow the back of the hand/palm be parallel with your forearms. You should be able to draw a straight line from your forearm down to your knuckles. Breaking this angle will add loft to the club as well as allowing it to pass your hands and thus leading to once again a sweep or thin shot.

4) Most of your weight should be shifting onto the left leg at time of impact or just after

[seattlemudder]

I agree with all of the previous post - make sure you don't strangle the club with your hands - use a light grip. If you waggle the club, it will help to remove tension.

[greenail]

Take a lesson, save yourself hours of time on the range trying to fix it your self.

[tigerwoo]

Take a lesson, save yourself hours of time on the range trying to fix it your self.

But that's part of the whole learning process. Figuring out a few things on your own is a great way to learn how your body works with this game. That's how I learned and I don't discourage going to a pro for a lesson, just that sometimes you can get some benefit of doing things your way. Plus, why else would this forum exist? If everyone told each other to go and get lessons, what fun would that be!??

[gogolfing]

Using an impact bag, (or some kind of make-shift one) can be very useful for getting the feeling of the hands for solid impact. Once you have this feeling, hitting down on the ball and making solid contact with good divots is easier.

[greenail]

But that's part of the whole learning process. Figuring out a few things on your own is a great way to learn how your body works with this game. That's how I learned and I don't discourage going to a pro for a lesson, just that sometimes you can get some benefit of doing things your way. Plus, why else would this forum exist? If everyone told each other to go and get lessons, what fun would that be!??

I'd guess there is nothing worse than trying to learn how to fix your swing on a web forum, I get screwed up watching the golf channel and trying to "fix" something because what you think you feel you are doing isn't what you are actually doing most of the time. Just my .02. If I would give some advice for the OP i'd say to just concentrate on keeping your head relativly still, though there are tons of things that would lend to having your head move too much; bad posture/chin down, over backswing, lateral slide, poor transition and tempo, not pickign a spot on the ground or the ball and holding focus, pulling up before impact, poor weight transfer. Hitting the ball Fat/Thin all the time could be caused by a million things, and most likely multiple poor fundimentals and bad habbits, so that's why I recommend a lesson. I recently dropped 7 strokes off my handicap in 3 months due to good instruction.

[tigerwoo]

I recently dropped 7 strokes off my handicap in 3 months due to good instruction.

Congrats on the new handicap! That's always great to hear.

I totally agree with you that too much information could be detrimental to your game. I think you definitely have to be selective and wise when it comes to advice being given by those of us in the forum with varying handicaps who are no where near being a professional nor have we ever taught anyone with some measurement of success? What works for me may not work for others so take everything you read here with side of caution. Experimenting can be fun but can also lead to bad habits that may be hard to correct.

[Mitch Cumstein]

After reiterating all the caveats above about getting personalized instruction, etc., here is a drill my instructor gave me along with a swing thought (use at your own risk):

1. "Penny and Towel" Drill: From your regular stance, put a towel about 2-3 inches behind your ball and a penny (or tee if hitting from grass) about 2-3 inches in front of your ball. The trick is to hit the ball and the penny without hitting the towel. Focusing on hitting the penny forces you to hit down and through the ball.

2. "Buttons to the ball" Swing Thought: When working on the drill above, I try to feel like my shirt buttons near my neck are moving down towards to ball with my downswing. I have a tendancy to lift up (by straightening my front leg too early) and focusing on keeping my chest down helps me stay in the shot.

Again, your mileage may very, but these are the drills I've been working on to get those tasty divots and good compression.

[gaz d]

i used to hit the ball clean but that never held any greens so i figured, just hit down and hard to make sure you follow through.

[guitarace372]

When you take your swing, pretend that your hands are having a race with your club, and make sure that your hands swing through first.

[TheSuperCaddy]

thanks guys, advixce is still welcome. im now making divots and hitting down. my shots are going a bit farther also. i did that towel dril, and its working pretty good.

[TheSuperCaddy]

help still welcome

[DDBowdoin]

this may be the only thing I do very well and something keeps my scores low.

1.) move the ball back in your stance, this will cause you to have a lower trajerctory (something you'll have to practice with and get used to the difference in carry and distance)

2.) hands in front the ball

here's the important stuff for me

3.) if you ever watch the swing videos on telecasts you'll notice the best ball strikers in the game (Tiger, Sergio etc etc) their heads remain over the ball and still as much as possible. a lot of people struggle with this aspect of their swing, their head will float back causing you to lunge at the ball or dipping, you'll see some heavy shots with this.

with your head still you really need to work on feeling your belt buckle rotate. also its important to incorporate your legs into the swing, this will provide a great deal of power and torque into your ball

[seattlemudder]

Put a penny about 1 to 3 inches in front of your ball, make sure that the penny is gone after you swing - when I took lessons some time ago, this is what my teaching pro had me do. It worked back then and it should work for you as well.