# Hitting ground before the ball.



## marty4 (Jan 16, 2014)

Guys,

Is there quite a few reasons you would hit the ground before the ball? I keep doing this and taking huge divots, any tips drills etc? It's killing me

Cheers.


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## London mike 61 (Jan 16, 2014)

I assume you are talking about iron shots, it sounds like you are swaying. If you are right handed , before you start your back swing put your weight on the INSIDE of the right foot and keep it there throughout the whole of the shot ( especially the backswing). This will stop you swaying to the right and it will help you transfer your weight onto your left foot for impact. I hope that helps .


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## MadAdey (Jan 16, 2014)

I agree about the swaying, but starting with your weight on your back foot is just going to make you stay there through impact. To me having your weight distribution more on the left would be better as it would keep you in front of the ball through impact. I probably set up with about 45 on the front and 55 on the back foot.


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## JustOne (Jan 16, 2014)

Lots of reasons for it happening.....

Quick fixes include... (i) having a little more weight into your left side at address (ii) hands more forwards at impact.


[video=youtube;im5UAZHeoDc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im5UAZHeoDc[/video]


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## One Planer (Jan 16, 2014)

A question on the above video James.

Mike Bennetts stance is quite narrow in that video. 

What effect would a stance that is too wide have on contact?

Is a more narrow stance suited to better contact?


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## JustOne (Jan 16, 2014)

^
^

The spine angle (forward tilt of the spine at address) is far more important. Check out how he gets into his forward spine tilt at 0.08 seconds....

The width of stance invariably affects the rotation, too wide and you can't turn (or keep your head still enough) for consistent striking (generally).


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## Deleted Member 1156 (Jan 16, 2014)

marty4 said:



			Guys,

Is there quite a few reasons you would hit the ground before the ball? I keep doing this and taking huge divots, any tips drills etc? It's killing me

Cheers.
		
Click to expand...

Numerous causes marty which could include swaying off the ball during takeaway, losing height through impact or even deliberately trying to compress the ball and overdoing it. 

If you can get a video posted on here that would help  :thup:


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## stevelev (Jan 16, 2014)

Also an early release could cause this, squatting into the ground on your downswing (think this is what JO means with compressing??)

Best to get around 55% of your weight on your left side, then rotate around your spine on your back swing and start your downswing with a gentle shift of weight over to your left side. As you make contact nearly all your weight should be on your front foot. There are a couple of guys on youtube 'meandmygolf' they have a couple of lag drills that are good for sequencing' worth a try and you can practise at home with an impact bag or similar


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## SocketRocket (Jan 16, 2014)

It's true that there are many causes.   Not transferring weight to the front foot is a major one, another is allowing the shoulders to dip down too low.

[video=youtube;oninkO4RCo8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oninkO4RCo8[/video]


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## One Planer (Jan 17, 2014)

Something that happens to me on occasion.

When trying to keep my head behind the ball coming into strik, my weight is moving forward but my right shoulder drops too far. I either catch it fat or hit a huge block or a slice with the longer clubs.


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## SocketRocket (Jan 17, 2014)

Gareth said:



			Something that happens to me on occasion.

When trying to keep my head behind the ball coming into strik, my weight is moving forward but my right shoulder drops too far. I either catch it fat or hit a huge block or a slice with the longer clubs.
		
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It may be worth looking up Tom Watson's 'Secret'   He learned that dipping his right shoulder was stunting his game and learned how to rotate his shoulders on plane.


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## One Planer (Jan 17, 2014)

SocketRocket said:



			It may be worth looking up Tom Watson's 'Secret'   He learned that dipping his right shoulder was stunting his game and learned how to rotate his shoulders on plane.
		
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I've just seen a tip Michael Breed gives on the Golf Channel. Makes sense and seems to work.

I'll give the Tom Watson info a look up too :thup:


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## Oddsocks (Jan 17, 2014)

Any chance of a link g - to the golf video


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## Oddsocks (Jan 17, 2014)

I like this drill

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ZBJ7Fk_AU

Here's one my old pro used 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vmasOOS9jpM


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## One Planer (Jan 17, 2014)

Oddsocks said:



			Any chance of a link g - to the golf video
		
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Here you go chief:

http://youtu.be/GSzV5N7W4ZM


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## Sharktooth (Jan 18, 2014)

marty4 said:



			Guys,

Is there quite a few reasons you would hit the ground before the ball? I keep doing this and taking huge divots, any tips drills etc? It's killing me

Cheers.
		
Click to expand...

Of all the duff shots in my collection, this is the one that upsets me most. Thing is, this can follow after a beautiful shot making the feeling of disbelief even worse. Thanks for the videos...


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## SocketRocket (Jan 18, 2014)

I dont like that Michael Breed video, he suggests you get your shoulders under plane which is IMO a big mistake.

Attached is a little video with Tom Watson.    I would rather listen to what he says:

[video=youtube;piHHfKxNP9w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piHHfKxNP9w[/video]


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## marty4 (Jan 18, 2014)

Cheers guys. 

Think i'll be playing my rounds with the feet together drill for the forseeable future. Seems to be the only thing that sorts it out..


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## JustOne (Jan 18, 2014)

Change your aimpoint perhaps? a simple fix.

[video=youtube;CnWt6YFvDeU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnWt6YFvDeU[/video]


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## Oddsocks (Jan 18, 2014)

Gareth said:



			Here you go chief:

http://youtu.be/GSzV5N7W4ZM

Click to expand...

Surely that's reverse pivoting?


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## One Planer (Jan 18, 2014)

Oddsocks said:



			Surely that's reverse pivoting?
		
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Only if the weight moves to the back foot pal. 

If you transfer your weight properly you can't reverse pivot.


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## Oddsocks (Jan 18, 2014)

Hmm, seems another range session maybe in order


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## DAVEYBOY (Jan 18, 2014)

When I was hitting fat shots about a year ago it was down to me swaying backwards on the backswing. I'm not an expert but my biggest tip would be to keep the head as still as possible.


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## Beezerk (Jan 18, 2014)

Sharktooth said:



			Of all the duff shots in my collection, this is the one that upsets me most. Thing is, this can follow after a beautiful shot making the feeling of disbelief even worse. Thanks for the videos...
		
Click to expand...

Same here mate.
Duffed a few today after decent tee shots, I just have to tell myself I'm still going to do it for a while until I can really groove something of a swing.


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## Oddsocks (Jan 19, 2014)

I tend to catch stuff fat more often than not, irons have little or not compression and I've assessed that's it's pretty much down to not covering the ball

I'm trying to drill this home, which is funny as it's a drill that another pro tried me with last year,

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UwvJ1qLc1YQ


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## Cherry13 (Jan 19, 2014)

DAVEYBOY said:



			When I was hitting fat shots about a year ago it was down to me swaying backwards on the backswing. I'm not an expert but my biggest tip would be to keep the head as still as possible.
		
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Anyone got any good drills/exercises hints tips etc for keeping head still?  I've noticed I drop my head quite a lot during my swing!


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## dsanders9944 (Jan 22, 2014)

I saw this video, helped me a lot with topping the ball and keeping my posture angles better in the swing


<br>[video=youtube_share;C1nW7o2IBNU]http://youtu.be/C1nW7o2IBNU[/video]


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