Why do I hit the ground?

[Glenfish]

Having spent a lot of time soring out my driving I now finally am making progress. Unfortunately I have another problem. I now often find myself in a great situation lying on the fairway with a 7 iron to the green for my 2nd shot.

My problem is that I often hit the ground before the ball on these shots.
So am I making an obvious swing error or is this a job for my pro???

 

[Basher]

Where abouts in your stance do you position the club at address?
7 iron normally midway in your stance.
Are you leaning back on your downswing leading to you hitting it fat ie hitting the ground before the ball.

I'm no pro, I often suffer the same fault but they seem the most logical reasons why you are doing what you are doing.

Other members may have different explanations.

 

[viscount17]

oh does this ever sound familiar!

reverse pivot (not getting weight transfer forward),
leaning back on the shot trying to force the ball up,
head up too early

see your pro, it's impossible to self-diagnose

 

[theeaglehunter]

Try forcing your weight through onto your left foot a bit earlier, and make sure you don't hang back. Being agressive sometimes help as you shift your weight much better through the turn meaning you are going to be leaning very slightly forward ensuring a downward strike. Making sure you retain a good angle between your wrists and clubhead on the downswing may also help.

A good drill to make sure you are hitting ball then turf is to place a short tee all the weay into the ground about 1cm in front of the ball. If you are hitting ball then ground the tee peg should fly out of the ground.

 

[RGuk]

I always think it makes sense to check the finish of your swing. If you make a positive attempt to finish with your torso facing the target and the club wrapped around your head (as it were!) and the weight almost on the outside of your left foot, then you have transferred well.

There's only a couple of reasons for hitting the ground that can be fixed by yourself, so a pro eye will be helpful. If it's just bad weight transfer or a reverse pivot you might have a chance on your own. Try making lots of practice swings with your feet together and you will gradually get a consistent place where the club bottoms out. It may be that you are moving too consciously to the right, try NOT moving and think about rotating around your spine without any weight transfer.

 

[RGuk]

A good drill to make sure you are hitting ball then turf is to place a short tee all the weay into the ground about 1cm in front of the ball. If you are hitting ball then ground the tee peg should fly out of the ground.

I know this drill, and it's always worth a go, it can't hurt i.m.o. Can you think of a way to recreate it at a range??

 

[Glenfish]

Thanks for the replies guys, I do find it hard to analyse(?) my swing straight afterwards, if I hit the groung then my shoulders drop straight away as I know it! But I do feel that if I approach my shot confidently and really swing through then maybe I will prevent the problems that you mention.

 

[theeaglehunter]

oh yea sorry, I use a grass range so that's how I get away with it, that wouldn't work off of matts. I'll have a think about what you could do at the range and get back to you. Unless of course some bright spark already knows- which wouldn't surprise me, there must be a way.

 

[RGuk]

The only idea I could come up with would be hitting irons off the matt a few cm behind the actual rubber tee.

???

 

[viscount17]

don't think its possible off the 'hard' mats but if you have the longer tufted ones then it could work with a shortened tee.

could the drill of placing a second ball about six inches ahead of the 'object' ball with the aim of striking both balls with the club work?

 

[nackanut]

try making a couple of practice swings and brush the grass with the club. this will give you a good idea about where your swing naturally bottoms out, you may find that you are trying to play the ball too far forward in your stance therefore catching the ground before the ball.

 

[theeaglehunter]

yea Dave that might work, clip the tee after hitting the ball althoguh it wouldn't be as obvious whether you hit the ball first or not as you could probably still hit up on the ball and catch it. Thinking about it though with the smallest tee in place and the ball quite close it would work as hitting up on it would result in you swinging above the tee- good thinking! Better than my ideas which are quite comical when you think about them, I certainly won't be trying them any time soon.

 

[RGuk]

could the drill of placing a second ball about six inches ahead of the 'object' ball with the aim of striking both balls with the club work?

This is similar to the drill in GM christmas issue. I think it would work.....better to try it at a quiet range....you'll waste a lot of balls and look like a nutter!!!

 

[RGuk]

Thinking about it though with the smallest tee in place and the ball quite close it would work as hitting up on it would result in you swinging above the tee- good thinking!

Yep, I'd use my special low range tee (5 mm ish) and experiment with a few distances away. I'm going to check it out now we've given it some thought. Nothing to lose.

 

[TonyN]

What about placing a ball marker a couple inches in front on the range matt? Surely it would flick up or forwards in same way tee would on grass!

Check out this video, you may spot something on here! why you hit fat

 

[pjaz]

A good drill to make sure you are hitting ball then turf is to place a short tee all the weay into the ground about 1cm in front of the ball. If you are hitting ball then ground the tee peg should fly out of the ground.

I know this drill, and it's always worth a go, it can't hurt i.m.o. Can you think of a way to recreate it at a range??

Just had a great revelation about doing this at the range - its a common problem for me also. What about those things you stick to the face of your club to see where you are striking it? Just stick it to the mat and place the ball at the front edge - you should get a good reading on where you are hitting - the ball or the mat. The only problem is whether you will get more than one use out of them - especially if you hit it like I can - 4 inches of mat then ball!!

 

[viscount17]

use a strip of masking tape instead, cheaper, replaceable

 

[rgs]

if the problem is staying back on your right foot-then Gary Players soultion is worth a try-he suggests taking a step forward after hitting the ball to ensure your weigh transfers forward.

As others have stated a quick lesson with your local pro shoudl solve the problem.

 

[theeaglehunter]

nice idea pjaz/ viscount similar to what I was thinking which was placing some sand on the mat (not enough to alter the flight of the ball) just enough so that you can see where about you hit as the sand will be moved from here like taking a divot.

 

[Glenfish]

Had a round today and only hit the ground once! Was really pleased as weven when I did I knew where my mistake was, ie. leaning back and not turning confidently into the shot!
Thanks for the help guys,
Shot 105 with 3 X 9's and 40 puts...