Today, there was a pretty good head wind at the range. I have been working on my hitting stroke for the driver. Face impact tape revealed impact at the top of the face near the center of the club face. The ball was ballooning extremely high (somewhat less than a true pop-up, though there were some of those too.
For a hitter's drive how high should the ball be teed? Where in the stance relative to low point should the ball position be. In addition how can ball position change the ball flight? (Fade vs. Draw).
For a hitter: Ball further back to get more draw, ball further forward for a fade. There is a layback tendency in the hitters release that will tend to move the clubface from closed to open.
If you tee the ball too far forward and try to hit up on it, your hinge action can be ruined in the sense that the club face stays open throughout(that goes for swingers as well). That's a very common error for people who struggle with the driver but hits the 3 wood OK. Even if you want to strike the ball on the upstroke you have to drive the club down and out. That's all you can do. But if you get it down it will come up.
My normal max tee height for the driver is so that approx half of the ball is above the top edge at address. That gives plenty of room for a moderate upstroke and eliminates the risk of scooping the ball. For a lower ball flight, tee it lower (and strike it lower on the club face).
If the ball keeps going high when you hit maybe you should check if your shaft is stiff enough. A whippy shaft combined with solid drive loading will enter the ball with an open clubface and lagging club head. And you will not get the best out of your driveloading either. Hitters and soft shaft flexes are not a very good combination, IMO.
For a hitter: Ball further back to get more draw, ball further forward for a fade. There is a layback tendency in the hitters release that will tend to move the clubface from closed to open.
If you tee the ball too far forward and try to hit up on it, your hinge action can be ruined in the sense that the club face stays open throughout(that goes for swingers as well). That's a very common error for people who struggle with the driver but hits the 3 wood OK. Even if you want to strike the ball on the upstroke you have to drive the club down and out. That's all you can do. But if you get it down it will come up.
My normal max tee height for the driver is so that approx half of the ball is above the top edge at address. That gives plenty of room for a moderate upstroke and eliminates the risk of scooping the ball. For a lower ball flight, tee it lower (and strike it lower on the club face).
If the ball keeps going high when you hit maybe you should check if your shaft is stiff enough. A whippy shaft combined with solid drive loading will enter the ball with an open clubface and lagging club head. And you will not get the best out of your driveloading either. Hitters and soft shaft flexes are not a very good combination, IMO.
great stuff Bernt.. When I was swinging I would put the ball more up in my stance to draw it w/ horizontal closing only motion. Since angled hinge (hitting)never really truly closes, it would be better to play it more in the center to draw it. I will try this the next time I play.
I realized that my old shaft was way too whippy if I tried to "hit" it. Once I went to a stiff Fuji shaft, on a used Burner driver and absorbed all I could from "Alignment Golf" I added 40-50 yards to my drive...sh*t you not
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