Hitting ground before the ball.

[marty4]

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.

 

[London mike 61]

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 .

 

[MadAdey]

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.

 

[JustOne]

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]

 

[One Planer]

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?

 

[JustOne]

^
^

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).

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

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.

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:

 

[stevelev]

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

 

[SocketRocket]

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]

 

[One Planer]

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.

 

[SocketRocket]

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.

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.

 

[One Planer]

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.

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:

 

[Oddsocks]

Any chance of a link g - to the golf video

 

[Oddsocks]

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

 

[One Planer]

Any chance of a link g - to the golf video

Here you go chief:

http://youtu.be/GSzV5N7W4ZM

 

[Sharktooth]

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.

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...

 

[SocketRocket]

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]

 

[marty4]

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..

 

[JustOne]

Change your aimpoint perhaps? a simple fix.

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

 

[Oddsocks]

Here you go chief:

http://youtu.be/GSzV5N7W4ZM

Surely that's reverse pivoting?