Due to the fact that it is the only club in the bag that does not make contact with the ground through impact, has the lowest loft angle of any golf club, and is used to hit a ball that is teed up lends itself to every swing fault that exists. The basics of hitting up vs hitting down with driver dwg golf. So i hit a few balls with trackman and realised that i do hit down on driver, attack angle was like 0. In the february hot list issue of golf digest, currently on the newsstands with the melting red driver on the cover, theres an article by sean foley discussing whether you should sweep your. Its a frequently asked question and one that will vary from person to person and depend on a number of factors that could get very technical and indepth. Hitting the heel of the driver is most likely as someone said, an over the top issue, as the left arm folds too soon before impact the body comes forward to catch the ball at least on the heel. Most recreational golfers are hitting down on the ball with their drivers for a number of reasons, and because of that they are not optimizing their distance. Thats where the phrase hit down on the ball comes from. But many amateur golfers have a misunderstanding of what hitting down on the golf ball actually is and they do it. Hitting popups with the driver is something that every golfer wishes to avoid. Once in position, sweep the clubs head back in an arc until its behind your head. Wind up your torso over a stable lower body with your main focus on leaning your upper body away from the target.
Feel like there is a short subtle pause at the top of your driver swing for everything to gather, and then start down with your lower body pulling the club into position. Anthony kim shows you how to hit your driver straighter. Gaining a firm understanding of the golf swing and especially the mechanics of hitting down with an iron is vital to programming muscle memory. When i do hit this well it does wonders and it does force you to shift your weight a bit earlier. Does this mean hitting down is better because the best players in the world are slightly negative. Sweepers tend to hit the ball with a level or upward stroke, sweeping the ball off the ground or tee. But if you frequently hit slices or pulls, this swing. But if you frequently hit slices or pulls, this swing thought will likely. Been out a couple of times since i read this and my driving seems to have improved although no extra 56 yards, maybe close to 15 or so. The problem with this assumption is that it is excluding club head speed from the conversation. Eventually you can hone in on a number that works for you. Hit through, not down on the ball march 12, 2016 the golf fixs michael breed debunks a common myth to hit down on the golf ball. To cure your slices and pulls, hit down on the ball with your driver.
I tend to struggle off of the tee because my driver can send the ball in both directions slice and hook. They are willing to sacrifice a few yards for increased accuracy in their mind. If you were to start your swing with the driver head above the level of the driver, you would likely be left with a swing that moves downward through the ball. The aoa is simply a measurement of whether the club head is moving upward or downward through impact. All golf swings are different, and no one can say x angle of attack is the right one. Hitting down on the golf ball with irons thoughtco. Choke down an inch when you grip the club and cover the face of your driver with a dry erase marker. The pga tour average club head speed with a driver is 1 mph. The fix often comes from simple adjustments to avoid hitting the ball toward the top of the clubface.
The secret to hitting your driver better the left rough. Hit the golf ball farther by improving spin loft adam. This will help you shift to your front side on the downswing and swing into impact from inside the target line. How to hit down on a golf ball, to get the ball up video by pete styles so, for many golfers, getting the ball airborne and up into the air is often a bit of a problem. How do you hit down on the golf ball when hitting irons.
Whenever i discuss the impact position, i usually include my thought process of swinging up to the tfinish. The height at which you tee the ball is a variable. I play a lot in gusty conditions, and there were a few instances when i was playing into the wind that choking down paid off. After you get the feel for leading with the hands and hitting the ground, add a golf ball and hit some shots. Many golfers fail to get maximum distance with their drivers. When they say that some pros are hitting down on their driver its not to the extent of an iron shot. But as you know, a divot with your driver is the kiss of death. Amateur golfers commonly hit down with their drivers, like an iron shot. What causes the sweep, or on theupswing, is ball position. Hitting down on the ball swing surgeon don trahan peak. I guess i will play the driver in the middle of the stance and try to take a divot. Sometimes they contradict themselves with the actions theyre trying to make and the.
Take your golf posture and hold as normal but now pull your arms and hands in close to your chest. Learn how to swing a driver in the most efficient manner with rotary swing. A good day is hitting two or three fairways in an entire round. No need to club down how to hit more fairways with your driver. In fact, hitting up with a driver is beneficial for maximizing distance. Lets look at five key fundamentals to hitting the driver to help get you pointed in the right direction during your very next round.
And until it becomes logical to you, your muscles may resist as a result. However, there is no question that if you are a golfer who has mostly been hitting down on the ball with your driver, you can pick up some serious yardage by fixing this. Jun 10, 2014 by taking the time to learn what you need to do with the driver in order to find both more distance and better accuracy, you can improve your overall game in the long run. Oct 02, 2014 hitting up on the driver can give you added distance and an improved flight, but there are right and wrong ways of doing this. Basically, lessskilled players were hitting down on the ball while golfers who shoot in the 70s hit up on the ball. We have all heard that golf is a game of opposites and this is true in many respects. Proper driver setup is essential to success on the tee. If you are a beginning golfer, make sure your driver has a flexible shaft, a large clubface with a large sweet spot and a loft of at least 10. How to hit more fairways with your driver it starts with balance. The speed of your swing will be reduced when you choke down, which means your spin rate should be reduced as well. How to stop hitting the golf ball high on the clubface. It was 170 yards, but i figured that choking down on my 4iron would help keep the ball down and reduce spin. In the driver, the swing bottoms out just before the ball.
Hitting down on the ball will cost you massive, massive distance. Squat down heres how you can rip it out there with a choked grip and a short backswing when you swing down. While tiger does hit down on his driver, he hits less down on it now with foley than he did with hank and that is mainly why his distance has remained constant despite losing a. Hitting the driver straight duke university golf course. Mar 29, 2019 to swing a driver, start by standing 3 steps behind the ball with your feet shoulder width apart. Watch the best of sean foley hit down with the driver golf. Our goal is to get enough spin to achieve lift, while minimizing hopefully eliminating drag. Remember that you dont need to hit the ball at full force to send it far. Why you shouldnt hit down on the golf ball adam young golf. By hitting down with the driver, you will make contact with the ball slightly above the center of the clubface and your ball will launch off the face like a cannon. Michael breed, host of the golf fix, shows you how to hit a driver straight by rotating your shoulders properly. Hitting a driver with too much backspin will cause the ball to balloon up in the air and land with no roll, resulting in lost distance. If youre feeling uncomfortable on the tee, check your distance from the ball. Use a sweeping motion, instead of a downward angle, to give the ball more lift and less spin.
Were hitting down on the ball with this driver as if it were an iron shot. Butch harmons best driver tips will get you hitting it straight and long. Even moving down the grip by just an inch or two can go a long way toward improving your accuracy. Here we discuss 5 ways to hit more fairways with your driver. Then, bend your knees and lean forward from the hips. I watched your peak performance golf swing dvds and i saw an improvement straight away, but the only thing now is that i slice my tee shot with my driver most of the time. I do not recommend they be told to hit down or up on the ball as the swing changes that result make things way more complicated. Hitting down causes more spin and therefore more control. You might have been told to sweep the ball off the tee with your driver to maximize distance. Michael breed how to hit a driver straight the golf. Then, swing the driver back down and straighten your arms as it approaches the ball.
Im just wondering how many of you guys hit down to the ball with your driver. The driver is one of the most difficult clubs to hit in golf. Tips on hitting down with irons golf tips team titleist. How i hit drives 56 yards farther with one adjustment golfwrx. My playing partners are saying it is because i am hitting down on the ball, but i am only doing the catchers mitt and up the tree like on the dvd. How to hit a driver or 1 wood is all about just that hitting driver. May 28, 2017 the pga tour average attack angle with a driver is 1. How i hit drives 56 yards farther with one adjustment. With so many pga tour pros in that measurement, its basically that some pros hit up and some hit down, within a range. We know without a doubt that in order to maximize your distance when hitting the driver, based on whatever your club head speed is, that you want to hit up on the driver. By simply hitting up on the ball with the driver, the ball launches higher, while the spin rate stays the same thus allowing the ball to go further. Mar 19, 20 hit down with the driver sean foley show you how to cure your slices and pulls by hitting down on the ball with your driver. Since the golf ball sits on a tee with the driver, this means a golfer can do one of two things.
Certainly on the surface anyway hitting down at something you want to go up is not logical. It is worth noting, that you dont have to hit down on hybrids, some. A good drive will come off the driver with a low amount. Theyll play the ball a fraction further back in their stance with a very slight descending blow on the ball, 34 degrees at most. In fact, the average angle of attack aoa on the pga tour is 1. Jan 30, 2020 the key to hitting the ball farther with the modern, 460cc driver and modern golf ball which spins much less off of a flat face than balls of the past is high launch angle combined with a low spin rate. Chris ryan explains how to achieve this correctly in this video. This figure shows the difference between somebody hitting down on the ball swinging at 90 mph vs. Do you often sky your driver off the tee, hitting balls that go straight up into the air. While trackman stats for the pga tour may show that on average tour players hit down on their driver 1. They can either hit up on the ball positive angle of attack, or hit down on the ball negative angle of attack now youll read a lot of blogs on the internet from people with various opinions on this topic. A good thought is to try to take a little divot after impact or to hit with the shaft leaning toward the target top photo.
However, that doesnt mean im hitting up on the ball. So why would you want to hit down on the ball with your driver when it will create more backspin. Sean foley show you how to cure your slices and pulls by hitting down on the ball with your driver. The key to hitting the ball farther with the modern, 460cc driver and modern golf ball which spins much less off of a flat face than balls of the past is high launch angle combined with a low spin rate. So, with the path fixed you want to fix the face angle. When using your driver, kolb says the most common cause of power loss is hitting down on the ball. For maximum distance, find out how to properly set up for the driver and how the driver setup differs from the irons. Doug boone sent in a few questions and one of them was on the subject of hitting down on the ball.
I have given up maybe 57 yards but have been hitting more fairways and therefore having a better chance of. This causes the ball to come off the driver with too much backspin. Hitting down on your driver will make it harder to achieve solid contact, and you will lose distance due to the high rate of backspin. Anthony kim shows you how to hit your driver straighter than ever. You can hit what feels like a perfect drive, have it head straight down the fairway, then have it fall 100 yards short of your intended target. While this is the normal hitting stroke with a driver or a fairway wood, a true sweeper also plays iron shots with a sweeping motion, taking little or no divot from the fairway. How to hit down on the golf ball swing tips if your ball striking is struggling, one of the most common tips youll hear instructors tell you is that you need to hit down on the ball more. Place a tee flush into the ground 12 inches behind the ball and ask the golfer to brush the ground there no divot. A lot of golfers have been taught to do exactly this, but for the average golfer its terrible advice. Unless you want to plow the ground behind the ball or dropkick it. However, it is a myth that hitting down on the ball causes the ball to go up.
You need to keep spin rate down while playing drives into the breeze, so this is the perfect adjustment to make. To hit more fairways while still using your driver. I take a unique grip and make a shorter backswing than most of the guys on tour. But basically, people struggle with the driver because low point and the ball overlap. It all depends on how you have your wrists setup and the way your swing fits together.
If you have ever hit a poppedup drive off the first tee, or any tee, you know just how embarrassing it can be. How to hit a driver swing tips for distance and consistency. Really work on flattening the swing by making practice swings 6 inches above the ball. Jan 15, 2010 hitting down on the ball is a great way to hit drivers. Swing experts joseph mayo and grant waite discuss whether golfers should hit up or down on their driver, and why most amateurs lose yards. The only odd thing is that david toms changed from hitting down to hitting up at 34 degrees see brian manzella and is now the best statistical driver added 20 yards or so. When a shot comes up that requires the best of your accuracy, but you still want to hit your driver, consider choking down on the grip of the club. The angle of attack whether the club is moving up, down or level with the ground at impact has very little to do with the launch of the ball. When you are hitting a driver or three wood, you will always put the ball forward in your stance, encouraging the sweep. The goal is to feel the clubhead working down and hitting the ground where the ball would be. May 10, 2017 choking down on your driver is also a good method when you need to play a tee shot into the wind. It seems logical but we have so many people get so worked up over this. From beginners to more advanced players the big stick is the one we all want to hit and hit with distance and consistency.
If you swing down, it doesnt mean you will automatically hit the ball down. When you teach kids to swing down, they actually, literally. The reverse spine swing fault is a killer when it comes to hitting your driver as well as causing injuries. With irons, wedges, and woods you want to hit down on the ball creating a divot. Trying to hit up on the ball when it lays on the ground is one of the biggest conceptual misunderstandings that the averagebeginning golfer has. How to hit more fairways with your driver golficity. Its merely a thought i use to keep me from moving my whole body forward during the transition. Slow it down to speed it up with your driver swing swing. Hit down with your driver you might have been told to sweep the ball off the tee with your driver to maximize distance. What scares the devil out of me is hitting a driver from a tree lined, narrow space tee box in order to get the ball to the fairway. Nov 10, 2011 shots struck off the ground need to be hit with a descending blow and shots struck off an elevated tee are better when hit with an upward blow fact. This is because the club is longer than the other clubs, and it has a lower loft angle. For example, i was hitting into a very strong 23 club wind into a par 3. Where else can you go from the top of the back swing but down.
Watch the best of sean foley hit down with the driver. The driver is unlike all the other clubs in your bagyou really dont want to hit down on the ball at all. Hit up or hit down with driver rick shiels is joined by pga golf professional dan whittaker at quest golf academy and are going to. However, that concept does not translate to the driver. Thinking about cutting my driver shaft down an inch.
Players who are struggling with hitting driver inevitably start to feel awkward when they address tee shots. I know what a good flight looks like and i already have one playing it off my right foot and trying to hit it just past the low point in my swing. I realized i wasnt hitting down on it when i killed a bird with a worm burner. Where you hit the ball on the bat is going to have a huge effect on whether or not the ball goes up or down. Hitting down with the driver is a concept that deserves a post on its own. The basics of hitting up vs hitting down with driver dwg golf swing tips in order to have. The ball may only go 10 or 20 yards, and you might have made an ugly mark on the top of your driver at the same time. Instead, you want to be hitting up on your driver, using the advantage that the tee is giving you. Ive seen a number of drills out there to increase angle of attack, and i think this one from andrew rice is one of the best. So, i guess if you swing at 115 mph, you can still whack it out there. Remember, the goal is to hit the driver on the upswing as it will result in maximum ball flight and translate into more distance and carry. How to hit down on the golf ball golf practice guides. Jul 10, 2018 certainly on the surface anyway hitting down at something you want to go up is not logical.
If you are hitting down on the ball with the driver, not swinging too far to the right, and you can not keep the face open. The very nature of a driver and its designed purpose makes it a very individualistic golf club requiring its own swing, etc. Recently i came across this article written by sean foley, hitting down with a driver promotes greater consistency like tiger and hunter mahan do. Hitting down into your irons shots is a great thing because it imparts spin onto the ball and allows the loft of the club to do the work of getting the shot high into the air. Bring the driver back down at the ball and shift your center of gravity to your front foot as you make contact. If you were to play the ball on the ground instead of on a tee and provided you perform a geometrically perfect stroke, there would be no divot. How to hit down on a golf ball, to get the ball up video. Most recreational golfers are hitting down on the ball with their drivers for a number of reasons, and because of that they are not optimizing their distance potential for their swing speed.
Shots struck off the ground need to be hit with a descending blow and shots struck off an elevated tee are better when hit with an upward blow fact. In golf posture place your driver directly down against the front of your body so that the driver head is between your knees. Golf can be a paradox in a lot of ways, and hitting long drives is one of those things that may seem a little backwards. In any event i have sort of been down this road before but as time went by i lost this approach and was actually i am sure hitting down with my driver. The pga tour average attack angle with a driver is 1. Hitting off heel of driver instruction and playing tips. Hit down with the driver sean foley show you how to cure your slices and pulls by hitting down on the ball with your driver. Hit a few shots with your normal grip and a few choking down an inch, note where on the face you are hitting the ball and see if you are more consistent at finding the center of the clubface with the shorter length. For the same reasons the path of the clubhead relative to the clubface causes side spin, the same should be true of causing backspin right.