Hitting on the ground vs tee

[Sandhills Golfer]

Why is it so much more difficult hitting off the ground vs the tee? If the rules allow one to tee the ball up in the fairway, I could be a low 80's shooter.  But, under normal conditions I shoot high 90's.

Are there any good thoughts or techniques to strike the ball off of the fairway? I'm wondering if I have an hit impulse and might be scooping the ball in the air.

Edited June 20, 2018 by Sandhills Golfe

[dennyjones]

Teeing the ball up would give you a nice clean shot each time.   It definitely would be easier.   It's more difficult to hit a shot when the ball is on a slope.   

Do you take a divot?   Where is the divot in relation to your swing?   Where is the bottom of your swing?

[Sandhills Golfer]

6 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

Teeing the ball up would give you a nice clean shot each time.   It definitely would be easier.   It's more difficult to hit a shot when the ball is on a slope.   

Do you take a divot?   Where is the divot in relation to your swing?   Where is the bottom of your swing?

Thanks, Dennyjones. When I hit the ball well. I don't take much of a divot. But, I either top the ball or take a chunk out of the ground, when hitting behind the ball.

[dennyjones]

You need to buy Erik's "Lowest Score Wins" which is available here on the website.   Look up the 5 simple keys.   It's an eye opener and a great read.  

[Carl3]

36 minutes ago, Sandhills Golfe said:

Are there any good thoughts or techniques to strike the ball off of the fairway?

When I have had problems with turf interaction in the past, I would go to the range and practice hitting off grass. I would take the club and repeatedly brush it along the top of the turf to get a good sense and feel for it. I would then lay a ball down and hit it with a partial swing. I would keep alternating a series of brushes on the grass with hitting a ball off the turf with an easy swing. I would then repeat this process with an increase in swing length until I would be hitting some full shots. I would do this for about 45 minutes to an hour with say 20 to 30 balls.

Then the next time I am on the course I feel like I can hit just the turf and not take too much or too little. To regain some some confidence on the course I would maybe take a few light brushes through the turf before hitting.

There is some good discussion on this board about the hallmarks of good players having a consistent bottom point to there swing, which is probably a big part of the issue, but I was trying to relay how I solved what I perceived to be a similar problem. 

5 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

Erik's "Lowest Score Wins"

I concur. 

18 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

Teeing the ball up would give you a nice clean shot each time.

I seeing up the ball as a crutch. I had played on an executive course a lot and consistently used a tee to where it screwed up my game. Now if I am at such a course I forgo the tees to keep my game from going bad.  

[dennyjones]

Another idea...On the practice range, lay down a towel about 4" behind the ball.   

[Sandhills Golfer]

Thx guys

[saevel25]

Steady head, weight forward at impact and club head inline with the hands and shoulder at impact. 

Take a face on video of your swing. I would bet you struggle with all of these. The ball on a tee allows you to hit up on the ball. 

[Moxley]

There's no margin of error - with a tee, you can go under the ball (what would be fat off the ground) to ensure you don't go too thin , and the worst that will happen is you hit the ball high on the face and lose a small amount of distance. 

Weight forward and stability play a far bigger role from the turf. Others more qualified than me are better explaining how you do those things 🙂 

Just one thing - when I first come back to the game I took a par 3 course membership & used a tee for the first shot as normal. My dad advised me not to use a tee, and it was one of the best things that I did to improve my ball striking quickly.