Low straight shot driver? What causes this

[late347]

I was at the range with pro and kind of forgot to ask aboit it. This shot was like a good drive basically, off from that rubber tee at the driving range, wilson 10,5 loft driver (rental club) Its like, the pro showed me a drive, his shot went up into pretty good altitude, and dropped from its arc, presumably with little spin. He definitely took advantage of the loft of the club. When i hit a straight drive with that club it was almost, almost like a punch shot pretty much (slightly higher altitude though than a punch) What is going on in here?! Where is the contact point in the clubface?

[Righty to Lefty]

You are probably hitting down on your driver instead up catching it on the upswing.

[Yukari]

More likely, the shaft didn't fit your swing. If the shaft doesn't have that "kick" at impact, the ball will fly low.

[Righty to Lefty]

More likely, the shaft didn't fit your swing. If the shaft doesn't have that "kick" at impact, the ball will fly low.

Maybe the shaft can have an effect on the flight of the ball but the loft delivered at impact by hitting up or down on the shot is way more important than the shaft is in regards to the launch angle of the shot. Even if the shaft doesn't fit your swing it's still not going to effect the loft at impact to the point where your launch goes from 5 to 14 degrees as that is a technique issue that has to be cleared up first.

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="Yukari" url="/t/71685/low-straight-shot-driver-what-causes-this#post_933357"] More likely, the shaft didn't fit your swing. If the shaft doesn't have that "kick" at impact, the ball will fly low.[/QUOTE] Maybe the shaft can have an effect on the flight of the ball but the loft delivered at impact by hitting up or down on the shot is way more important than the shaft is in regards to the launch angle of the shot. Even if the shaft doesn't fit your swing it's still not going to effect the loft at impact to the point where your launch goes from 5 to 14 degrees as that is a technique issue that has to be cleared up first.

If he hits low on the face it would cause the low flight. Hitting down should cause a pop up because of the higher spin. The shaft could also be too stiff, which could also cause a low short flight.

[Righty to Lefty]

If he hits low on the face it would cause the low flight.

Hitting down should cause a pop up because of the higher spin.

The shaft could also be too stiff, which could also cause a low short flight.

Just because you hit it low on the face doesn't mean that the ball launch low as you can still hit the shot with a positive AoA an it will launch lil bit lower but still way higher than the line drives that he said he was hitting. Also you can hit down on the driver and still hit it high or low on the face. The shaft being to stiff is about the third on the list because AoA, then loft of the clubface have way more influence on the launch than any shaft ever will.

See for yourself:

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="Lihu" url="/t/71685/low-straight-shot-driver-what-causes-this#post_933616"] If he hits low on the face it would cause the low flight. Hitting down should cause a pop up because of the higher spin. The shaft could also be too stiff, which could also cause a low short flight.[/QUOTE] Just because you hit it low on the face doesn't mean that the ball launch low as you can still hit the shot with a positive AoA an it will launch lil bit lower but still way higher than the line drives that he said he was hitting. Also you can hit down on the driver and still hit it high or low on the face. The shaft being to stiff is about the third on the list because AoA, then loft of the clubface have way more influence on the launch than any shaft ever will. See for yourself: [URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDaKUHxk0I8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDaKUHxk0I8[/URL] [URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrbiWGHftgA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrbiWGHftgA[/URL]

Hitting this way would give you the worst case scenario for distance. Any time you hit down there is a lot more spin. Try teeing up lower and maintain a positive AoA with some impact tape, and watch the ball flight. You should see lower flight with lower tee heights, and the impact should be lower on the face. Try 20 balls per configuration to statistically mask out non-optimal shots. I spent a good deal of time last week experimenting with impact tape adjusting every aspect of my setup, as I was testing different shafts.

[mvmac]

Do this

[dchoye]

Just because you hit it low on the face doesn't mean that the ball launch low as you can still hit the shot with a positive AoA an it will launch lil bit lower but still way higher than the line drives that he said he was hitting. Also you can hit down on the driver and still hit it high or low on the face. The shaft being to stiff is about the third on the list because AoA, then loft of the clubface have way more influence on the launch than any shaft ever will.

See for yourself:

This was good thank you L to R

I was at the launch monitor this week and gain 20 more yards just by lowering my spin rates down to the low 3000 and even below 3000 on occasion!

[Taigolf]

Is it helpful when performing this drill by using a higher tee, making the need to hit up as the drill want: hitting up with belt moving up?

[Righty to Lefty]

Is it helpful when performing this drill by using a higher tee, making the need to hit up as the drill want: hitting up with belt moving up?

I do the same thing when I practice. I tee the ball much higher than I do on the course and just try and hit moon balls. Yes there is a point of diminishing returns but I have found that once you know how to hit it high it is very easy bring it back down and find optimal.

[mvmac]

Is it helpful when performing this drill by using a higher tee, making the need to hit up as the drill want: hitting up with belt moving up?

Is this directed at me?  Yes teeing it higher will help.

[Taigolf]

Thanks, Mike.

[jude]

Not sure if this is your problem but I know when I start hitting line drives like that it's because my upper body is getting to far forward when I'm hitting the ball .

[Hammer 4]

Not sure if this is your problem but I know when I start hitting line drives like that it's because my upper body is getting to far forward when I'm hitting the ball .

Same for me. On a side note, went to the range just a couple hours ago, and made a concerted effort to keep my noggen behind the ball, and guess what, I hit the best drives so far, long and a nice ball flight, also slowed the tempo of my swing down. Sorry for the OT, but I had a great time.

[late347]

Ok, ok guys, calm down, original poster checking in to my thread :D  !!!

I only waited for this thread to stir up some answers lol

Also, for matter of setting the record straight, the original complaint about my low driver shots, occured when I was golfing with influenza  in hot Spanish weather. It sucks to be sick, and on vacation, but what can you do.

So, I'm gonna give myself a free pass on that one instead of feeling too bad about it xD

I really gotta work on my driver swing more though. I've heard some pros saying that it's a different swing, than iron/hybrid swing. So it's a two-swing game, any truth to that?

I don't exactly know what it is, it's so hard to put it in words, what I'm feeling is wrong everytime I swing my driver. When I hit hybrid, It's not that bad really.

When I take the driver I start to despair slowly as I keep hitting more balls with it. It feels like I get out of tempo when swinging the driver. I start to feel out-of-synch, in the middle of the driver swing LOL

. At first, I sort of despaired at the thought of my driver shots. This was in last year autumn when I got back to golf, and was out on the field last season. I had tons of mishits, and OB-shots. From the tee. And it makes the recovery  from the hole that much more difficult definitely.

What I did last year at the range though (also at indoor range), I almost exclusively focused on my hybrid shots, and iron shots. I sort of, followed the advice from the local pro at the golf course. The pro said to me that I could focus on teeing with the hybrid, for a more enjoyable experience. I would say that my hybrid shots have improved somewhat, and my iron shots are not too bad either.

That local pro at the golf course, he did say to me, honestly, that I'm not that flexible of a fellow (embarrassing I suppose but it's just how it is at the moment - it's the overweight I think, though I'm gonna work on that problem too!)

Although to be fair I do get some mishits with irons (it's that specific mishit, with like 7iron - ball flightpath is really low and far - instead of normal flightpath for a club like 7iron)

[Lihu]

It really sounds like you're hitting too thin with the 7i, and low on the face with the driver. :-)

[late347]

sounds like I should buy some of that impact tape, and put on the face of the driver?

and go to the range again, even if it's indoor range. It seems like I really gotta get my driver swing fixed, preferrably with a pro lesson.

I've never had pro lession for driver only, so yeah. (or I should say, never had a pro lession focused on driver only really the iron swing so far)

For driver swing, two problems that I may have so far identified: I don't trust the club to carry the ball with driver yet, (sounds weird when you say it...), and I sometimes get out-of-synch during the actual swing (I realize it in my brain too!, during the swing, but it's too late, the stroke has begun and will be recorded LOL)

I think there was a golf simulator there as well, so I might be able to try to see some of those driver shots where they land. (I guess, the simulator doesn't account for slices/hooks though, if they happen?)

Or are the golf simulators so advanced these days?