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Hitting the ground before the ball

Germerican

Germerican

AngryYankee
Joined
Apr 18, 2013
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Location
Brentwood, NY
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23.8 USGA
Lately when I tee off I have been hitting the ground, take a divot, and then hit the ball. Really mushes my drives and they sail 50 yards with very little air time. I also notice this when I am on the range. I am sure it's something small that I need to fix, but I don't know what it is.
 
A lot of times this can be an easy fix and I suggest you look at the ball position first and foremost. If the bottom of your swing is X and the ball is Y, and they don't meet at the same place then you have what's happening with you currently. What I try and work on is this, my sternum is the centre of my body and the club will almost always contact the ground in line with it. If I put the ball in line with my sternum then I know I'm going to make decent contact. If however I want to get backspin and compress the ball I make sure my asternum is slightly ahead of the ball, by doing this I can guarentee I'll never hit a shot fat or topped.
Try looking for a few videos on YouTube that Shawn Clement has posted. He is really good.
 
I will have the same issue from time to time, but can do it with any of my clubs. Mine stems from years of not knowing the basic mechanics of a swing and being an all arm swing until about 2 years ago (20 plus years of an all arm swing is tough to change). Why I find I have the issue is casting the club, I now have a decent sequence of body movements I feel but I have to constantly think about and make sure I keep my lag and not "throw" the club at the ball. If I start hitting any fat shots on the course or feel that horrible feel of catching the ground with the driver, then my only swing thought on my next shot is to hold my lag as long as I can and only swing at about 65%.
I am by no way saying this is what you are dealing with, just what I have found about myself that causes the same issue.
 
When I do it, it's because I let my weight hang back on my back foot. When I can't seem to get out of it, I will preset 70% of my weight on my front foot and keep it there on the backswing for a while, until I start hooking the ball. It usually works pretty good for me.
 
AngryYankee said:
Lately when I tee off I have been hitting the ground, take a divot, and then hit the ball. Really mushes my drives and they sail 50 yards with very little air time. I also notice this when I am on the range. I am sure it's something small that I need to fix, but I don't know what it is.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you are describing an early release in the downswing. Tough to diagnose without seeing the swing from a front view. I actually like what Bullitt mentioned below. Check your weight transfer through your swing. Make sure that as you are getting through to the hitting area that you are getting over to your left foot. There are occasions that when someone with an early release is not getting proper weight transfer that it can exaggerate the bottoming out of the swing more than normal. I'm not a huge fan of simply moving the ball farther back in the stance to get the ball closer to the bottom of the swing arc but in the middle of a round it can be a temporary fix to help improve contact.
 
I was having the same issue and my problem was an early release. Try working on releasing slightly later. May help to get a lesson with a pro at your local course and they may be able to give you a quick tip based because they can identify exactly what is causing the issue.
 
This was my thought as well. You could also be changing your swing plane by standing taller during your back swing. This will change the impacy postion of the club. make sure the hip flex and knee flex remains when turning away from the ball. This will insure the club travels alon your address position. It will be easy at this point to know if you are early releasing the club which I suspect is part of the problem along with some decelaration
Callawaygolfpro said:
It sounds like you are describing an early release in the downswing. Tough to diagnose without seeing the swing from a front view. I actually like what Bullitt mentioned below. Check your weight transfer through your swing. Make sure that as you are getting through to the hitting area that you are getting over to your left foot. There are occasions that when someone with an early release is not getting proper weight transfer that it can exaggerate the bottoming out of the swing more than normal. I'm not a huge fan of simply moving the ball farther back in the stance to get the ball closer to the bottom of the swing arc but in the middle of a round it can be a temporary fix to help improve contact.
Click to expand...
 
Right elbow by left pant pocket feel ...get that lower body cleared and out of the way of that elbow. When elbow gets "stuck" behind..dump and fat city. Right elbow in and forward gets your low point way ahead..and more out. Should naturally open up your lower body too
 
Wow, I missed out on a collection of replies here. Thanks for the input Bullitt, Tadashi, and CGP. I will work on a couple things tomorrow and hope for the best. It's not a constant issue, but it happens about twice or three times per 18 holes. The good news is that I play in the rough so much I am becoming somewhat an expert on how to get out of it :act-up:
 
SaffaClint said:
A lot of times this can be an easy fix and I suggest you look at the ball position first and foremost. If the bottom of your swing is X and the ball is Y, and they don't meet at the same place then you have what's happening with you currently. What I try and work on is this, my sternum is the centre of my body and the club will almost always contact the ground in line with it. If I put the ball in line with my sternum then I know I'm going to make decent contact. If however I want to get backspin and compress the ball I make sure my asternum is slightly ahead of the ball, by doing this I can guarentee I'll never hit a shot fat or topped.
Try looking for a few videos on YouTube that Shawn Clement has posted. He is really good.
Click to expand...

Yea but if he is talking about driver tee shots don't we want to hit the ball at "y" on the upstroke of the arc and not at the bottom "x" part of it? Wood off the deck or irons different from each other and both are not the same thing as teed up driver hit. At least this is what I always thought.
 
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