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David 7 years, 1 month ago.
- Driver trajectory
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I have completed Day 31. I find my ball flight trajectory with driver is very high, to the extent that it hurts my distance. I am making solid contact – not hitting down thru the ball and skying the ball. I set up with the ball off my left ear with the shaft pretty much perpendicular to the ground – not delofted, nor titled away from the ball. In thinking about what may cause this, I am wondering if maybe i am bending my upper body over too much, swinging the club on too steep a plane. Would appreciate any advice you my have.
Larry,
Without seeing your swing, we will offer a few suggestions of how to lower the ball flight of your driver. It sounds like everything at setup is sound and not the cause of the high ball flight you are experiencing. As you surf down and toward the target on your downswing, it could be a case of standing up too early in your front leg and not keeping this knee bent long enough and into the follow-through. This will hinder your ability to move far enough forward in your downswing to be sure that the shaft is vertical and leaning just slightly forward at impact. As you “Thrust Through Impact” do you feel like all of your weight is moving forward and your upper thighs are the closest part of your body to the target at the finish? It is important there is no weight on that back foot and only the inside of the big toe is touching the ground. This too will ensure you have moved far enough forward on your downswing.
If you hit the ball solidly, where does the ball tend to curve? If it has a tendency to slice, the club face may simply be open or your path may be coming too much across the ball. This will cause the club face to be open and shots to go high. To be sure you are coming down on a good line and are able to close the face down through impact producing a slight draw and lower ball flight, here is a slightly different way to perform “Snap to Level.” As you finish the movement be sure your knees, hips and shoulders are 5-10 degrees closed to the target line and that your front knee, hip, shoulder and hand are much further from the ground than your back knee, hip, shoulder and hand. You should see a slanted angled in your arms, shoulders and hips when looking at a mirror directly in front of you. This should help deliver the club from the inside and allow you to close the face through impact to hit a slight draw and slightly lower shots.
To ensure the club face is square (closed enough) at the end of “Thrust Through Impact” be sure that both of your palms are facing parallel to the ground. Neither palm is facing the sky or the ground but both is facing the horizon. This will help ensure the club face is closed enough or square at this point in the swing.
Thank you Larry, let us know if we can provide any further feedback or assistance.
Thanks. As I continue to do reps the high ball flight is getting better. I believe continuing to work on the snap to level and thrust thru impact movement will continue to help. I think part of my issue is getting that front glute movement grooved. One comment: In your next to last paragraph I believe you mean that the palms should be perpendicular to the ground – not parallel. (It is stated correctly in the evaluation checklist.)
I am seeing progress with the driver, and I believe more reps will bring more confidence and allow me to swing thru to the finish with more speed and get more distance. I am experiencing a good bit of left to right ball flight with driver – not a big slice but I find I need to start the ball down the left side to be sure to hit the fairway. Will also work on getting my lower body 5-10 degrees closed as you suggest.
Thanks again.
Larry,
Great to hear. I would really key on the surf to level move to continue bettering/eliminating your slice. Feel free to exaggerate these alignments at least 10 degrees closed with the knees, hips, shoulders and arms at the end of the movement. The club is most likely coming a little too much over the top in your transition into your downswing and this should really help the body to eliminate that tendency. While playing, it also might be helpful to notice the blur of the club on your practice swing. Can you notice the blur of the club coming through impact? Once you can, begin shifting as much “in-to-out” or left to right through impact as you can. You will notice it will help to begin feeling this right at the start of your downswing to affect the shape of the blur through impact. You will also notice moving your body as described above will help shift this blur from in to out too. Feel free to exaggerate this in your practice swings, how much can you make the blur shift from in to out or left to right through impact (the club will be swinging down the right side of the fairway and even the right rough of right trees). Simply be sure the hands are rotated counterclockwise enough on the downswing and through impact to support the new club head path and eliminate that slice for good.
Yes you are correct about the palms, I’m sorry that is my mistake. They should be perpendicular to the ground not parallel.
Thank you Larry, enjoy!
Well my trajectory is a good but better, but i have not mastered the part on hitting a draw. Most of my tee shots are fades, with the occasional slice. Would really like to be able to hit a draw off the tee. I have found that delaying the surf to level move a bit helps me come more from the inside, and when i do that I hit it straighter. Sometimes on the range i exaggerate that enough to hit a draw, but I’m not confident enough in that move on the golf course.
How is your distance and consistency compared to your previous swing? Any chance you would video your new swing from down the line and face on, post it to YouTube, and then paste a link into this thread? I’d love to see your swing in action.
Larry – I started working on driver with my daughter tonight and can see she’s got to get the club releasing more or the ball will balloon to low orbit. She also has a bit of an open club face, which only worsens the problem. Tonight we worked on adding pressure in the front-arm triceps and lat. Saw some progress but have a ways to go yet. How is your progress coming?
Here are my videos. Still have a higher trajectory than I like and I hit mostly a strong fade with an occasional big slice. I am able to hit fairways consistently by aiming down the left side, but that strong fade/slice kills my distance. Have not had success trying to hit a draw.
Are both videos of the same swing but from different angles or is each angle of a different swing?
Larry – Here’s my two cents on your swing.
First, it looks pretty solid and you do a lot of things right. I suspect your high trajectory is a result of hitting down own the ball. I’d guess that you’re hitting down in excess of 10 degress at times. My theory on your fade/slice is that it appears to me that your driver may be coming “across” the ball (outside in swing).
My recommendation would be to work on outside in first. From what I can tell, you’re back arm seems to wrap behind your body during your backswing. Below are collages of Alex and you. While the photos of Alex do not show it, his front arm in the backswing is essentially where it is during his downswing (see top right photo). Notice the position of your front arm. Also, take a look at Alex’s front arm at the top of his backswing relative to his back ear and then review your position. Chapter 4 movements 2, 4, and 5 might be helpful.
Another thing you might consider, if you’re not already doing it, is squeezing your front triceps onto your lats as you surf to level. This video has several recommendations that may improve outcomes for you: http://legacy.tathatagolf.com/video-library/student-q-add-speed-safety-longer-clubs/
I see a couple of other things that I would recommend you reach out to Tathata about because, frankly, I don’t know how to fix them. But I’d work on the takeaway, etc. first.
Finally, I think your poster at setup looks pretty good but Bryan does make some intereting points in this video: http://legacy.tathatagolf.com/video-library/student-q-creating-equal-pressure-body-ground/. I think they also like to recommend a bit of a more head tuck at set up if memory serves correctly.
Post back and let us know how it goes!
Thanks for the suggestions. I know i am coming from outside in, but have had trouble fixing that. I also was beginning to understand I am hitting down on driver excessively. Not exactly sure what fixes that. Will work with your suggestions and see if it helps.
LOL. Nothing like someone pointing out what you already know. Another tip that I’ve heard the Tathata give for slices is to surf to level with the shoulders 5 to 10 degrees closed. I think having your front arm punch straight down your target line may help. My daughter’s ball flight with her wedge has really improved to the point that we had to square it up because closed was pulling everything left. Her predilection, like you, is to push the front arm back around rather than down the target line. Honestly, it doesn’t seem intuitive that this position would allow an inside-out swing but having pressure, starting with the correct sequence (feet/shins), and surfing to level at 5 – 10 degrees closed has down us a lot of good.
Not hitting down is a work in progress, although we seem to be getting closer.
Feel free to post another video once you’ve worked on those aspects.
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