How come Tour pros hit the ball so low...

[SasQuatch<3]

I was at the range last week during work while pros were there practicing before they tee off. Effortlessly they were hitting the 170 yrd green, only big difference is I noticed there ball flight is a lot lower. Im guessing its an 8i or 7i, but it just seems so much lower than average. I also noticed this at a pga event, the ball flight only going maybe 40 to 50 feet in there air on longer shots when an average guy hits em maybe 100 feet high. Explain.

[Hammer 4]

Was it windy...? I have No explanation re: the low ball flight other than to get under the wind.

[inthehole]

I was at the range last week during work while pros were there practicing before they tee off. Effortlessly they were hitting the 170 yrd green, only big difference is I noticed there ball flight is a lot lower. Im guessing its an 8i or 7i, but it just seems so much lower than average. I also noticed this at a pga event, the ball flight only going maybe 40 to 50 feet in there air on longer shots when an average guy hits em maybe 100 feet high. Explain.

I noticed this at the couple events I've attended, most noticeably with irons/wedges into the greens.     The pro's shot shape is consistently LOWER than anything I've seen even from better players I've been paired with on local courses.    I could see where a lower ball flight would be more accurate, but unless there's alot of spin would run out too much.     My guess is it they probably hit down on the ball more than us mere mortals, which may deloft the club ??     Otherwise, I have no idea & would love to hear how they accomplish this lower tradjectory (on their iron shots) ?

[mvmac]

PGA Tour players hit their woods, long irons, mid irons pretty high, would surprise most people how high they hit it. Their short irons on the other hand tend to go lower than you might expect.

They all tend to max out at about 30 yards, though. With the driver it's obviously much farther down-range than with a wedge. Average golfer is different, p eak height tends to be too low with long irons and too high with short irons.

[WUTiger]

If you have really high clubhead speed like the pros do, you don't have to get the ball up as much to get good carry. This ties into the "penetrating ball flight" which the Player's category irons promise in their ad promos.

On the wedges, some will play their partial wedges back an inch or so from center, and hit the low punch shot that hops once and stops. This an alternative to playing the wedge an inch in front of center, and actually hitting up on the ball slightly for "more stop."

During my last lesson, the pro suggested that I could get more reliable short shots if I hit down slightly on everything, rather than just on chip shots.

For us mere mortals, there's the high launch shafts for our irons. I reshafted from Project X Rifle Flighted 5.0 (115 grams) with NS Pro 8950GH R.flex (97 grams); this is a high launch, low-spin shaft. The R is about a half flex lighter than the 5.0. So, I have a high-launch shaft on a GI head, and the combo really works nicely.

Haven't had a chance to play with the full set yet, but I play some holes with my reshafted demonstrator 6i. The 8950 shots go noticeably higher than the 5.0, and about 12 yards farther - even into the wind. As others have told me, the 8950 doesn't spin the ball much when it lands, but the steep descent angle makes for a very stable landing on the green. The low spin helps it fight the wind.

This probably ties into the "loft up" ideas for the longer clubs.

As @ mvmac noted, the average golfer hits long irons too low and short irons too high. This is why the club manufacturers are pushing flighted shafts.

[14ledo81]

I think they are hitting it higher than you think.  Most better players (that I have seen) start the ball lower and it climbs to peak height later on.  It appears lower because the peak height is farther out.  Compared to me where the ball gets up right away and then just falls out of the sky.

[Jeremie Boop]

I think they are hitting it higher than you think.  Most better players (that I have seen) start the ball lower and it climbs to peak height later on.  It appears lower because the peak height is farther out.  Compared to me where the ball gets up right away and then just falls out of the sky.

This is what I was thinking also. I can tell a significant difference when I hit the ball correctly and the ball climbs gradually and lands with backspin over shots that climb high quickly but land and roll out. The sound of the ball flight is completely different too.

[Spitfisher]

I witnessed one PGA tour pro hit each club in his bag from driver down to gap wedge almost the exact same heighth ( within a couple of feet of each other) as part of his warm up with the flight scope launch monitor. So think of it, the apex of his shot was the same height just further and further down range. Why one may have a noticeable low ball flight, could he have been purposely practicing that type of low shot? Or maybe he just likes seeing it.

[DoubleFlangeMan]

I was at the range last week during work while pros were there practicing before they tee off. Effortlessly they were hitting the 170 yrd green, only big difference is I noticed there ball flight is a lot lower. Im guessing its an 8i or 7i, but it just seems so much lower than average. I also noticed this at a pga event, the ball flight only going maybe 40 to 50 feet in there air on longer shots when an average guy hits em maybe 100 feet high. Explain.

It's because their irons have lower lofts------their 8 irons are actually six irons------then the commentators ("announcers" to you Yanks\!) wax lyrical about how far the pros hit the ball!!  It's all BS, designed to persuade you to part with your cash and buy the same clubs as them.!!

[billchao]

I'm surprised at the low flight observation, as well. I can only imagine it was windy, or they were working on something. Last time I went to a PGA Tour event, I was amazed by how high they hit their long irons and woods.

[Golfingdad]

------their 8 irons are actually six irons------

Except for the fact that it's our clubs (the GI and SGI versions, I mean) that typically have the stronger lofts.

Titleist, for example;  AP1's have a 36* lofted 8 iron, AP2's 38*, and MB's 39*

Or Callaway:  x2hot 8 iron is 34.5*, whereas x-forged is 38*.

Taylormade Speedblade ... 34.5*, Tour Preferred MC 38*

So, yeah, that's not it.  Their 8-irons are actually our (those who play GI or SGI off the rack at least) 9-irons, so it's even the opposite for a lot of people.

But still, regardless of any of that, as @Spitfisher points out, in general, most people have an apex height similar throughout the clubs, it only appears higher or lower due to the distance from you that it occurs.

[David in FL]

Except for the fact that it's our clubs (the GI and SGI versions, I mean) that typically have the stronger lofts.

Titleist, for example;  AP1's have a 36* lofted 8 iron, AP2's 38*, and MB's 39*

Or Callaway:  x2hot 8 iron is 34.5*, whereas x-forged is 38*.

Taylormade Speedblade ... 34.5*, Tour Preferred MC 38*

So, yeah, that's not it.  Their 8-irons are actually our (those who play GI or SGI off the rack at least) 9-irons, so it's even the opposite for a lot of people.

But still, regardless of any of that, as @Spitfisher points out, in general, most people have an apex height similar throughout the clubs, it only appears higher or lower due to the distance from you that it occurs.

Dammit GD, there you go ruining a perfectly good, albeit wildly inaccurate explanation with facts again.  Knock it off!

[allankyoto]

I made an account just to respond to this and I think the thread is quite old at this point but anyway.... I think the reason you see pros hit it low is that  they generally hit it 'pro-side thin'.  By that I mean their divots start about 4 inches after the ball. The average amateur who hits a 'good shot' tends to have the divot almost right at the ball. The amateur's 'good shot' angle of attack is steeper causing the ball to pop up faster and float. The pro's angle of attack is descending but shallower. This is also why the spin rate goes through the roof on their shots, btw.  Amateurs thin shots on the other hand tend to bottom out before the ball and then catch the ball on the upswing of the club.  Oh and so if you want to work on your game try practicing taking divots 4 inches or so after impact with your irons even your wedges. Also, be careful because when you do this the dreaded "s" tends to appear.

[boogielicious]

Welcome to the forum @allankyoto Thanks for posting. I remember reading an article about pro divots being deepest 4 inches after the ball. But you have to be careful just focusing on the divot location. To get proper contact and control flight, the other keys need to met to. Check out the thread below. [CONTENTEMBED=/t/55426/introducing-five-simple-keys layout=inline]​[/CONTENTEMBED]

[iacas]

I made an account just to respond to this and I think the thread is quite old at this point but anyway.... I think the reason you see pros hit it low is that  they generally hit it 'pro-side thin'.  By that I mean their divots start about 4 inches after the ball.

Unfortunately that last part isn't accurate. The bottom of their swing and the deepest part of the divot is 4 inches or so after the ball, but the divot starts under or toward the front edge of the golf ball.