Hitting up vs. down with driver.

[Rwilhelms08]

I'm pretty sure that when I hit my driver I hit down on the ball. I get a very high ball flight with minimal roll out. I would say my average drive distance is 180-200 yards with a swing speed around 90mph. I'm going to work on trying to hit up on the ball but am wondering how will I know if I'm actually accomplishing this without a launch monitor? Will I be able to tell just from ball flight? Are there any specific drills that promote an upward angle of attack. Also for a club Im hitting a cobra fly z+ set to 9degree draw and the weight at the back of the club. If I move the weight forward I get a lower ball flight but more slice.

 

[arydolphin]

This is a very easy drill to do to hit up on the driver:

 

[Rwilhelms08]

I will definitely be using that drill when I go to the range this weekend. If I'm understanding right the reason I have a high ball flight is because of the high amount of back spin on the ball when hitting down. If hitting up I will increase launch angle but won't gets as much back spin which will mean lower ball flight?

 

[Tadashi70]

Typically hitting down with the driver doesn't produce a high ball flight. It's just the opposite. It sounds to me like you are catching the ball high on the face and getting pop ups.

What is your current ball position with the driver? How high do you tee it up?

 

[Rwilhelms08]

I tee the ball about a 1/4 of the ball above the club face and have the ball at the inside of my left foot. (right handed)

 

[Rwilhelms08]

I also just looked up the specs for my driver shaft. Matrix VLCT ST Stiff flex 65g and from what I saw is that its a mid/low launch shaft. So it's got to be something I'm doing to cause the high ball flight. I hit all my shot with high ball flight. Thing that pisses me of is I can carry my 5i 160-170yds but my driver only goes 200.

 

[Switter]

You may be flipping with your driver swing, that will cause excessively short high ball flight too.

You can purchase a Zepp 1 or a Garmin tru-swing personal swing analyzer for less than $50 @ ebay and really receive some good personal instant swing data. Thats what I did, also added a dozen birdie balls ($29) for home practice & have never looked back.

 

[mikeg_74]

Freddie - any drills you have or recommend for hitting up without popping up off the tee? I'm trying to get my AOA to be more positive, but when I attempt to hit up on the ball it's a weak pop up that doesn't go anywhere. Tracking my carry & total distances, i'm leaving some yards on the table given my swing speed & ball speed numbers and everything i've read says that hitting up on the driver will help generate extra yardage.

 

[Greg Kulbick]

I'm not Freddie, but the thing that helped me most was that Callaway video they put out several months ago that said to imagine you've got a ramp in front of the ball you need to swing the driver up after contact.




Edit, I can't actually see it while I'm at work, but I used the link from Google. So I hope its the right one.

 

[Asden105]

It's perfectly fine to hit down on the ball, but only by a degree or so. The average PGA Tour Professional hits down 1 degree. Hitting up will cause the ball overspin if you're not careful. Overspin makes the ball dive; the only real way to put that kind of spin on the ball is when your angle of attack is more up than your loft. If you hit up 11 degrees, but your driver loft is 9 degrees, you'll never get the thing in the air.

That said, you can know when you're hitting up because the ball will roll at least 20 yards on any given fairway. If you hit down, it might only roll 5-8 yards.

I'd suggest not worrying too much about it. If you fade the ball, this could be the reason your ball flight is so high and why you're not getting roll. Fades tend to do that. If you were to draw the ball, the ball flight would be lower and you'd get more roll as well as about 20 more yards of distance. I fade the ball on purpose, but sometimes when I need to get a bit more length, I'll draw the ball. Learn how to do that and I think it would get your ball flight down without having to change your equipment.

What ball do you use? You might benefit from using a lower spinning ball.

 

[Michigan Slice]

A real struggle for me....
A definite focus heading into 2018!


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[Cjgolf25]

Been working on this one myself. Im teeing it up a bit higher to promote swinging up on the ball. There is definitely a noticeable difference in ball flight when I hit up on the ball.

 

[RayG]

Stiff shaft w/ 90mph SS? That might be an issue. Not getting the full ‘pop’ of the shaft’s potential. Did you try a similar Driver with a regular shaft for comparison?


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[ohnolan]

Just need to make sure you stay behind the ball at impact.

Chris Ryan has a great video on setting up to hit up on the ball.

Unless you have tour level speed, you need to hit up on the ball for optimum launch.

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[DG_1234]

I'm pretty sure that when I hit my driver I hit down on the ball. I get a very high ball flight with minimal roll out. I would say my average drive distance is 180-200 yards with a swing speed around 90mph. I'm going to work on trying to hit up on the ball but am wondering how will I know if I'm actually accomplishing this without a launch monitor? Will I be able to tell just from ball flight? Are there any specific drills that promote an upward angle of attack. Also for a club Im hitting a cobra fly z+ set to 9degree draw and the weight at the back of the club. If I move the weight forward I get a lower ball flight but more slice.

There is no "separate swing" for the driver (vs other clubs).
I think it's best to learn sound fundamental address technique (address-posture-alignment) and then you will find the shaft length and lie angle of your various clubs, from SW thru driver, produces the appropriate swings for those different clubs.