HITTING DOWN ON THE BALL

[Barney]

I have always had a problem with lack of distance until I played the other day and thought I'm going to forget everything else and concentrate on really hitting down on the back of the ball.
I must admit my distances especially with my long irons increased dramatically but found it really hard to stop the ball fading (sometimes quite considerably!!)
Now I do know how to swing to work the ball from right to left but now i'm concentrating on hitting down on the ball I simply cant do it.
As you know when you draw the ball the club head rotates with your hands/arms. How do you get the club head to rotate when your hitting down.
Im obviously doing it wrong.......HELP !!!!

 

[bobmac]

If you are hitting down on the ball, you have increased the angle of attack. This is normally achieved by swinging over the top making your swing out to in. You react to this instinctively by opening the clubface at impact to stop it shooting off left.
Barney, do you have a video of your swing please?

 

[Barney]

Morning Bob, Im afraid I dont have the facility to put one up so I do appreciate it is hard for you to assist me.
I thought we should be hitting down on the ball ?
Should I be leveling off my swing then and not coming down so steep ?
If I did level off then surely I would be hitting the back of the ball and not so much hitting down on it which is how I used to swing where my distances where short !

Or is it I simply need to concentrate on hitting down onto the ball but make sure its an in to out plane ??

Oh im confusing myself now !!!!

 

[JustOne]

Hi Barney,

Once you make changes to a swing it's quite often the case that you'll need to make other changes to adjust for the first one.... but rest assured you are supposed to hit down on the ball so that is a good thing.

Let's say that you have a weakish grip and you used to lean back on the ball through impact -- scooping the ball into the air whilst rolling your wrists, well you're not doing that anymore so something has CHANGED. You can't keep that same weak grip as your angle of attack has changed, the club would simply be open at impact as you'd have less time to square the face. It could be that whilst hitting down on the ball you are coming in just a fraction TOO steep, it might be that you are getting slightly ahead of the ball, especially if you used to lean back slightly. As soon as you change something in your swing the ball is going to react differently, no matter what.

The key to golf is to keep the basics as constant as possible, stance, posture, alignment, grip, ball position, then you only need to focus on what the club is actually doing.

.... good thing is that you are hitting down on the ball

Hope this helps

 

[Barney]

Hi Barney,

Once you make changes to a swing it's quite often the case that you'll need to make other changes to adjust for the first one.... but rest assured you are supposed to hit down on the ball so that is a good thing.

Let's say that you have a weakish grip and you used to lean back on the ball through impact -- scooping the ball into the air whilst rolling your wrists, well you're not doing that anymore so something has CHANGED. You can't keep that same weak grip as your angle of attack has changed, the club would simply be open at impact as you'd have less time to square the face. It could be that whilst hitting down on the ball you are coming in just a fraction TOO steep, it might be that you are getting slightly ahead of the ball, especially if you used to lean back slightly. As soon as you change something in your swing the ball is going to react differently, no matter what.

The key to golf is to keep the basics as constant as possible, stance, posture, alignment, grip, ball position, then you only need to focus on what the club is actually doing.

.... good thing is that you are hitting down on the ball

Hope this helps

Morning, Thanks very much for your reply.
As you say I think Ill just have to keep the basics correct ,stick with it and learn to adjust the rest of my swing then until it hopefully comes good.

 

[JustOne]

No problem. It's a tricky game at the best of times. Hitting down on the ball is a good thing...apart from when using your driver. Find 10 other good things and that'll be your swing sorted Always start with the basics. I'd say there is a good chance you need to adjust your grip slightly, so take a moment to ask someone in your local pro shop about it. If they change it then it's going to feel VERY WEIRD for quite some time until your body gets used to it and it'll even feel like another step backwards for a while.

See if you can get a mate to video your swing on their mobile phone, then it can be uploaded onto the web.

regards....

 

[Barney]

No problem. It's a tricky game at the best of times. Hitting down on the ball is a good thing...apart from when using your driver. Find 10 other good things and that'll be your swing sorted Always start with the basics. I'd say there is a good chance you need to adjust your grip slightly, so take a moment to ask someone in your local pro shop about it. If they change it then it's going to feel VERY WEIRD for quite some time until your body gets used to it and it'll even feel like another step backwards for a while.

See if you can get a mate to video your swing on their mobile phone, then it can be uploaded onto the web.

regards....

My grip is something I recently concentrated on and can say I always make sure the line between finger and thumb on both hands is always right of my chin. Is this correct or could that be part of the problem ??

 

[JustOne]

That sounds good, but I'm sat in my office as opposed to looking at your hands on the grip

As Bob says if you're moving the ball from left to right (fade) then you must be cutting across the ball slightly [out-to-in] to impart left to right spin with the face either open or opening. It could be many things causing this. If you've started hitting down on the ball then it's possible you might be swinging the club a bit steeper (higher plane) which is causing you to throw it over the top slightly. SEEING your swing and guessing are two entirely different things as I'm sure you appreciate.

 

[Barney]

That sounds good, but I'm sat in my office as opposed to looking at your hands on the grip

As Bob says if you're moving the ball from left to right (fade) then you must be cutting across the ball slightly [out-to-in] to impart left to right spin with the face either open or opening. It could be many things causing this. If you've started hitting down on the ball then it's possible you might be swinging the club a bit steeper (higher plane) which is causing you to throw it over the top slightly. SEEING your swing and guessing are two entirely different things as I'm sure you appreciate.

I sure do but I appreciate your replies anyway.
I off to the range and going to concentrate on coming from the inside but still hitting down onto the ball.
Ill see what happens next !!!

 

[bobmac]

If your divots are straight, it sounds as if your swing isnt over the top. Double check your grip. Can you see 2-3 knuckles on your left hand when gripping the club?

 

[Adjani]

I'm going to forget everything else and concentrate on really hitting down on the back of the ball.

So now try concentrating really hard on hitting down AND through the ball.