# Hitting out the bottom of the driver



## Alex1975 (Feb 26, 2014)

Hi all, 

Driver is always a club I have enjoyed hitting, have hit well, have never practiced and have been confident in. In recent times as my swing has become better the driver have gone away from me so I have started to regularly work on it. While working on it the shape went from draw to fade and is now straight. I am happy with the shape, I can work it both ways if needed(our 18th is nicer with a fade) but tend to setup to hit it straight.....


However it is straight and out of the bottom of the club. I am told that a driver will spin the ball up more out of the bottom of the face but that is not what I see. Into the wind it starts low gets up and then drops, its a beautiful flight but it is short.


I have tried teeing it up a little more but still hit it out the bottom, I have moved it forward, same result. I am aware that you cannot tell exactly without seeing it but any ideas?


This is not some mad panic help thread as I am hitting fairways and loving the flight, I just wondered if anyone had a swing thought that may help or have had success with this issue.


Thanks

Alex


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## One Planer (Feb 26, 2014)

I'm no expert, but I would ahve thought moving the ball forward would make the situation worse as the club will be travelling more on the up.

If anything, I'd move it back a little.

Could you also be hanging back a little?



NB: I did state I'm no expert


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## Alex1975 (Feb 26, 2014)

Gareth said:



			I'm no expert, but I would ahve thought moving the ball forward would make the situation worse as the club will be travelling more on the up.

If anything, I'd move it back a little.

Could you also be hanging back a little?



NB: I did state I'm no expert 

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Nope, all good buddy. Both great points. If the tee peg is higher I reasoned that on the up the ball would be more centered on the face.... but I may not be on the up hu!

I really hope I am not hanging back as its something I work hard to not do atm... however it is possible as I get pretty paranoid about my head getting in front of the ball.

No need for the "Im on an expert" disclaimer with me bud, I like interesting input.


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## garyinderry (Feb 26, 2014)

stuggle with this myself.  my 910 is peppered pretty central but slightly low on the face.


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## mab (Feb 26, 2014)

Just a thought...

If the ball is your point of reference, then regardless of teeing the ball higher or lower it remains your point of reference and you strike the ball in the same place on the face.  If your point of reference became the ground beneath the ball, i.e. make the swing you would to play the ball of the deck, then that point of reference is static... and you can adjust tee height accordingly to influence whether you hit the ball low or high on the face.


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## Alex1975 (Feb 26, 2014)

mab said:



			Just a thought...

If the ball is your point of reference, then regardless of teeing the ball higher or lower it remains your point of reference and you strike the ball in the same place on the face.  If your point of reference became the ground beneath the ball, i.e. make the swing you would to play the ball of the deck, then that point of reference is static... and you can adjust tee height accordingly to influence whether you hit the ball low or high on the face.
		
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I like, this is exactly the sort of advice I was after.... that is a swing thought I can play with, thanks.


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## fundy (Feb 26, 2014)

Alex1975 said:



			I like, this is exactly the sort of advice I was after.... that is a swing thought I can play with, thanks.
		
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Focus on your pink tee Al   That or just make sure you stay down through the ball a little more (beware the straight leg!)


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## mab (Feb 26, 2014)

Alex1975 said:



			I like, this is exactly the sort of advice I was after.... that is a swing thought I can play with, thanks.
		
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You're welcome - good luck!


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## Alex1975 (Feb 26, 2014)

fundy said:



			Focus on your pink tee Al   That or just make sure you stay down through the ball a little more (beware the straight leg!)
		
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Dude.... No one is outing you about your.... 


I cant think of anything....


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## fundy (Feb 26, 2014)

Alex1975 said:



			Dude.... No one is outing you about your.... 


I cant think of anything....
		
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Im hardly outing you after the picture that got posted last year(?) of you shades on, colured ball, pink tee (AVGC 11th tee?)


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## Alex1975 (Feb 26, 2014)

fundy said:



			Im hardly outing you after the picture that got posted last year(?) of you shades on, colured ball, pink tee (AVGC 11th tee?)
		
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Hehe, it was about 3 years go and on the 10th..... The ball was orange as I recall....


Grrrr Rickg!


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## the_coach (Feb 26, 2014)

Alex1975 said:



			Hi all, 

Driver is always a club I have enjoyed hitting, have hit well, have never practiced and have been confident in. In recent times as my swing has become better the driver have gone away from me so I have started to regularly work on it. While working on it the shape went from draw to fade and is now straight. I am happy with the shape, I can work it both ways if needed(our 18th is nicer with a fade) but tend to setup to hit it straight.....


However it is straight and out of the bottom of the club. I am told that a driver will spin the ball up more out of the bottom of the face but that is not what I see. Into the wind it starts low gets up and then drops, its a beautiful flight but it is short.


I have tried teeing it up a little more but still hit it out the bottom, I have moved it forward, same result. I am aware that you cannot tell exactly without seeing it but any ideas?


This is not some mad panic help thread as I am hitting fairways and loving the flight, I just wondered if anyone had a swing thought that may help or have had success with this issue.


Thanks

Alex
		
Click to expand...

One thought, your brain needs precise information to complete a task well especially complex ones like the golf swing. 
Thats why you putt best by picking a small point in front of your ball on your line to the hole to get correct aim, but then you should be focussing on the precise bit of the back of the ball as you make your stroke.

If you are using a hammer to hit a nail into wood, you first focus on exactly where on the wood to place the point of the nail, but if you value your fingers your focus moves exactly to the head of the nail before you apply the hammer to it.

Ball on a tee, with a 460 driver and the ball's equator level with the top of the driver head so the ball's equator is some 31/2" to 4" off the ground, your focus better be the precise area of the back of that ball you want to strike, and not the point where the tee enters the ground some 4 inches below that point.

Undoubtedly if you are getting the ball consistently out of the bottom of the face of the driver, what's happening is the face/head is arriving at the ball before the hands and the handle so the club head is nearer target than the hands. (eg. If you were hitting a 3 metal off the ground precisely the same way, you'd be topping it.)

You've got a bit of a flip situation going on up to and through impact, so your left wrist has broken down and your arm and wrist are not flat through impact. 

Ideally driver off a tee you would want your left arm, wrist and shaft to be in either a straight line (at this point there is still some flex in your right arm & your right wrist still retains some of it's angle (-right wrist retaining angle here is what helps your left wrist to be flat)  or you could have a small degree of forward leaning shaft, but you don't want your shaft backwards leaning as it is now in the shot you describe.

There's a number of things both in set-up and your swing motion that could be causing this, so without seeing some swings both DTL and face on, can't give you the one or more reasons that is/are precisely causing this in your swing.

I can go through what they are so you can see through trial and error what might work for you, but then this would be twice as long. If you want that info on this thread just ask and I'll write it up, or if you'd rather you can PM me and I'll send it that way. (once I figure how that works)

There is a drill you can work through with a driver, but again it's a bit wordy to explain properly but happy to write it out, if you want it.


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## Alex1975 (Feb 26, 2014)

the_coach said:



			One thought, your brain needs precise information to complete a task well especially complex ones like the golf swing. 
Thats why you putt best by picking a small point in front of your ball on your line to the hole to get correct aim, but then you should be focussing on the precise bit of the back of the ball as you make your stroke.

If you are using a hammer to hit a nail into wood, you first focus on exactly where on the wood to place the point of the nail, but if you value your fingers your focus moves exactly to the head of the nail before you apply the hammer to it.

Ball on a tee, with a 460 driver and the ball's equator level with the top of the driver head so the ball's equator is some 31/2" to 4" off the ground, your focus better be the precise area of the back of that ball you want to strike, and not the point where the tee enters the ground some 4 inches below that point.

Undoubtedly if you are getting the ball consistently out of the bottom of the face of the driver, what's happening is the face/head is arriving at the ball before the hands and the handle so the club head is nearer target than the hands. (eg. If you were hitting a 3 metal off the ground precisely the same way, you'd be topping it.)

You've got a bit of a flip situation going on up to and through impact, so your left wrist has broken down and your arm and wrist are not flat through impact. 

Ideally driver off a tee you would want your left arm, wrist and shaft to be in either a straight line (at this point there is still some flex in your right arm & your right wrist still retains some of it's angle (-right wrist retaining angle here is what helps your left wrist to be flat)  or you could have a small degree of forward leaning shaft, but you don't want your shaft backwards leaning as it is now in the shot you describe.

There's a number of things both in set-up and your swing motion that could be causing this, so without seeing some swings both DTL and face on, can't give you the one or more reasons that is/are precisely causing this in your swing.

I can go through what they are so you can see through trial and error what might work for you, but then this would be twice as long. If you want that info on this thread just ask and I'll write it up, or if you'd rather you can PM me and I'll send it that way. (once I figure how that works)

There is a drill you can work through with a driver, but again it's a bit wordy to explain properly but happy to write it out, if you want it.
		
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Nice one, thank you for your time. I may take you up on that video/PM in time. If I were in trouble I may take you up on it now but I am playing extremely well by my standards so am really looking for just a swing thought rather than getting too deep.

May I challenge you on one point though with the view of having a chat about it rather than doubting you. Surly my/ones focus needs to be on the target not the ball, its not my job to hit the ball!! The brain needs a target, if you make the ball the target it is very easy to hit at the ground rather than swing to the target?!

Thanks

Alex


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## the_coach (Feb 26, 2014)

Alex1975 said:



			Nice one, thank you for your time. I may take you up on that video/PM in time. If I were in trouble I may take you up on it now but I am playing extremely well by my standards so am really looking for just a swing thought rather than getting too deep.

May I challenge you on one point though with the view of having a chat about it rather than doubting you. Surly my/ones focus needs to be on the target not the ball, its not my job to hit the ball!! The brain needs a target, if you make the ball the target it is very easy to hit at the ground rather than swing to the target?!

Thanks

Alex
		
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Your overall target when _playing golf_ is where you want the ball to go to. 

I had thought you were asking about a way and what to focus on when doing block practice on the practice ground or the driving range in order to get rid of the swing fault that's giving you the strike from the bottom of the driver's face, because it is a swing fault, or swing and set up fault.

My point about where the focus should be height-wise was in regard to that practice and advice previously that seemed to be saying to focus on the ground under the tee (unless I read it wrong), which wouldn't be a good idea at all.


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## Alex1975 (Feb 26, 2014)

the_coach said:



			Your overall target when _playing golf_ is where you want the ball to go to. 

I had thought you were asking about a way and what to focus on when doing block practice on the practice ground or the driving range in order to get rid of the swing fault that's giving you the strike from the bottom of the driver's face, because it is a swing fault, or swing and set up fault.

My point about where the focus should be height-wise was in regard to that practice and advice previously that seemed to be saying to focus on the ground under the tee (unless I read it wrong), which wouldn't be a good idea at all.
		
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Cool cool, 

I took the advice of focusing on the ground/tee in my head as... And I have not had a club in my had today to swish it yet... if I focus on taking the tee peg out or smashing the tee forward then I am going to be hard pressed to hit it out of the bottom. 

I guess I am saying that it might be a good swing thought for me and my body should/might follow.

I fully appreciate your help and did not mean to be glib on a small detail.


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## mab (Feb 26, 2014)

Alex1975 said:



			... if I focus on taking the tee peg out or smashing the tee forward then I am going to be hard pressed to hit it out of the bottom.
		
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For what it's worth, that's exactly what I meant.  I have no idea whether or not it's a good idea nor whether or not it will work... and the thought may well be worth precisely what you paid for it. :-D


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## bobmac (Feb 26, 2014)

Do you take divots with your irons?


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## Odvan (Feb 26, 2014)

Forgive me for attempting to contribute but to the OP....

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/school-golf-driver-irons-november-1-2011/

From about 1:45. Perhaps you already set up like this but just a thought.


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## garyinderry (Feb 26, 2014)

one of my drives from the weekend just past!   only remembered I had some impact tape in my bag on the 17th.


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## Alex1975 (Feb 26, 2014)

bobmac said:



			Do you take divots with your irons?
		
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Hey bob, with my shorter irons ye.


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## Alex1975 (Feb 26, 2014)

Odvan said:



			Forgive me for attempting to contribute but to the OP....

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/school-golf-driver-irons-november-1-2011/

From about 1:45. Perhaps you already set up like this but just a thought.
		
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Nice one for that, thanks.


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## bobmac (Feb 27, 2014)

Imagine there's a ball about a foot in front of your target ball and try and hit them both


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## DAVEYBOY (Feb 27, 2014)

I had trouble with this when I first switched to my G25 driver, maybe the shorter shaft compared to my RBZ took some getting to grips with but I then decided to try slightly higher tee and hey presto... Sweet spot Central.


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## SocketRocket (Feb 27, 2014)

If you are creating a low initial ball flight that eventually rises then falls then you are creating too much spin with your driver and hitting down with it.   Try teeing up higher (Orange castle tee) ,have the ball level with your left heel and tilt your upper body slightly to the right.  In your downswing keep the body tilt and leave slightly more weight on your back foot, have the sensation of hitting up slightly as you sweep the ball away to a full finish.

Hope this helps.


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## Trojan615 (Feb 15, 2017)

Alex... did you ever fix this... 
I put some impact tape on my driver and every shot was bottom of the club.... even the good ones


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## MadAdey (Feb 16, 2017)

Trojan615 said:



			Alex... did you ever fix this... 
I put some impact tape on my driver and every shot was bottom of the club.... even the good ones
		
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Ball position and tee height is the key.

Just got an M1 and getting it sorted on the range I was catching it out the bottom of the club. I moved it slightly forward, got a good shoulder slant and set the tee to the correct height and hey presto, in 10 mins it was all sorted.


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## BrizoH71 (Feb 19, 2017)

I was doing this for a couple of weeks, but today I tried something else which seemed to have worked for me.

Old setup with driver was to have the ball opposite left heel and at address tilt my spine slightly away from the ball. Today, I set up again with the ball opposite my left heel, but rather than actively tilt my spine I bumped my hips a little towards the target to create some spine tilt which felt more natural than before consciously tilting my spine away. Think I got all but one out of the middle and was straighter and longer than I've been for a few weeks.


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## Alex1975 (Feb 22, 2017)

Trojan615 said:



			Alex... did you ever fix this... 
I put some impact tape on my driver and every shot was bottom of the club.... even the good ones
		
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Wow, I don't remember this at all so I guess I did in the main. I have days when I have that low(strike and flight) one but with the current driver it's as long as the high toe end, high flight one as it's such a low spin driver that it will just make up the lack of carry with additional roll. 

Not really playing at the mo as I am (it's rather over used as a phrase) fully _rebuilding my swing_. But no clue what I did to help with the above.


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## fundy (Feb 22, 2017)

Alex1975 said:



			Wow, I don't remember this at all so I guess I did in the main. I have days when I have that low(strike and flight) one but with the current driver it's as long as the high toe end, high flight one as it's such a low spin driver that it will just make up the lack of carry with additional roll. 

Not really playing at the mo as I am (it's rather over used as a phrase) fully _*rebuilding my swing*_. But no clue what I did to help with the above.
		
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hurry up and finish so we can get a game!


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## Alex1975 (Feb 22, 2017)

fundy said:



			hurry up and finish so we can get a game!
		
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A wise man once told me I'll never be finished so ready when you are. I'll holla at you.

PS, the same guy told me to work on the first two feet but he missed out the part where that involves EVERYTHING else ... hehe


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## merv79 (Feb 23, 2017)

From personal experience I hit out of the bottom when I get ahead of it with my lower body, and hands and club approach the ball from quite a high position.

To hit higher on the face and get positive AOA, I feel like I keep my weight on the right side for longer in downswing and feel like club head makes contact with ground about a foot behind the ball and then gently rises when u hit the ball (i.e. Keep clubhead low).


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## Robobum (Feb 23, 2017)

merv79 said:



			From personal experience I hit out of the bottom when I get ahead of it with my lower body, and hands and club approach the ball from quite a high position.

To hit higher on the face and get positive AOA, I feel like I keep my weight on the right side for longer in downswing and feel like club head makes contact with ground about a foot behind the ball and then gently rises when u hit the ball (i.e. Keep clubhead low).
		
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I get the exact opposite to Andy - arms go too early, shaft gets too steep, attacking from the outside. Only way I can then even hit it is to bunch myself up and back out of it to give myself room.

Spent all winter trying to eliminate that, work in progress


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