Losing Distance

[King Cobra]

Basically I never hit my clubs the distance I should get out of them and that is because I never hit down on the ball and take a divot after. What points do I need to work at in order to take a divot after striking the ball. Any drills that I could work on, including indoor drills. If I do take a divot it is way before the ball and the shot is fluffed.

[Wizardvette]

Basically I never hit my clubs the distance I should get out of them and that is because I never hit down on the ball and take a divot after. What points do I need to work at in order to take a divot after striking the ball. Any drills that I could work on, including indoor drills. If I do take a divot it is way before the ball and the shot is fluffed.

I corrected this same problem by making sure my knees were flexed and not straight. Also, be conscious of how you stand over the ball. I hit much better while keeping knees flexed, upper body quiet, and slightly leaning over the ball on the downswing. maybe these tips can help you too. Good luck

[Ben]

Something that I've been working on is to not swing quite so hard on the majority of my shots. I have found that my swing as well as ball stricking is much more consistent. Standing above a shot I tell myself, "tempo for contact." I believe in distance through solid contact, not club head speed. The thoery goes, I can either swing hard at the ball using 95-100% of my swing speed and have a bunch of mishits in a round, or a can swing at 85-90% of my swing speed and hit the ball solid 90% of the time.

And when you say, "Basically I never hit my clubs the distance I should get out of them," perhaps your expectations are a bit high? You have 14 clubs in your bag, use them accordingly. Why let your ego dictact your club selection?

The actual mechanics of hitting the ball fat (or "fluffy" as you'd say) is more than likely due to the angle of your back changing in anticipation of impact. Trying to take a divot you are probably thinking "I need to hit down", your back angle dips and there you have it, fat.

[King Cobra]

I corrected this same problem by making sure my knees were flexed and not straight. Also, be conscious of how you stand over the ball. I hit much better while keeping knees flexed, upper body quiet, and slightly leaning over the ball on the downswing.

Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated. I was at the range yesterday working at it (not having seen your reply), and concluded that that was my problem too. I struck the ball really well despite not taking divot all the time. My problem was that I was not staying down on the ball even though I started out initially in that position, and also raising my head too quickly to see where the ball was going. This was because I was conciously working on keeping my chin up for improved posture. Not only was I striking it well yesterday, but I was also getting the distance expected. Now when I hit it feels like I am not going to clear my hips. But the result is so heartening to behold that I cannot wait to get on the course this weekend. Like the pros I will be picking up my tees way before the ball lands, lol. Don't you just love it.

[King Cobra]

Something that I've been working on is to not swing quite so hard on the majority of my shots. I have found that my swing as well as ball stricking is much more consistent. Standing above a shot I tell myself, "tempo for contact." I believe in distance through solid contact, not club head speed. The thoery goes, I can either swing hard at the ball using 95-100% of my swing speed and have a bunch of mishits in a round, or a can swing at 85-90% of my swing speed and hit the ball solid 90% of the time.

I am really chuffed with the replies thus far, as they only confirm what I discovered yesterday. I noticed that I really didn't have to strike as hard as I normally did. The clubs I hit were S, P & 7 iron. My expectations of the distance I should strike these (85, 100 & 150) are modest to say the least, and based purely on what manufactureres say a club with a particular loft should hit. Really has nothing to do with ego. Having set myself goals regarding my handicap I am at the stage where I need to hit these distances in order to break 90 over 18 holes. I currently play off 17, Hit my #1 driver 250 yrds carry. But I am fluffing my second shot 75% of the time.

I'm not particulary fussed over not taking divot as I stand over the ball, as I am over hitting the club the distance, but pointed that out as I am aware that that is why I am not getting the distance. So as you correctly point out, I have been striking the ball even harder to acheive that and hence hitting fat (that's exactly what I meant. By fluffing I merely meant that I was making mistakes). That coulpled with not staying down over the ball has being the problem. I will keep you all posted with how my game goes. 'Tempo for contact' is something I will ingrain into my pre-shot routine. Thanks once again.

[King Cobra]

Something that I've been working on is to not swing quite so hard on the majority of my shots. I have found that my swing as well as ball stricking is much more consistent. Standing above a shot I tell myself, "tempo for contact." I believe in distance through solid contact, not club head speed. The thoery goes, I can either swing hard at the ball using 95-100% of my swing speed and have a bunch of mishits in a round, or a can swing at 85-90% of my swing speed and hit the ball solid 90% of the time.

The progress is good. Very good. I was in contention at our monthly society outing, scoring 33 points, and would have won it but for the poor course management on some holes and poor alignment. Came in with 20 points on the front 9 and 13 on the back which was disappointing (5 pars, 1 birdie). I struck the ball very well, remembering the buzz word 'tempo for contact' and was only let down by poor alignment. Can't believe I palyed 3 par 3's badly and only scored 1 point. My distance with all my clubs was good. I had opportunities to shoot birdie on many more holes. Really looking forward to the next day out, which is in two weeks time.