Hit Down On The Golf Ball Issues (Video) - by Pete Styles
Hit Down On The Golf Ball Issues (Video) - by Pete Styles

So if we now look at the issues that would stop somebody hitting down on the golf ball correctly, we’ve got to consider why some people hit down on the golf ball correctly and why other people don’t and what those issues might be. The major issue happens at the point of impact and it relates to the concept that some people are trying to help the ball up into the air and scoop the ball up into the air. So the first thing I’d like to consider is where is your golf ball position and is it in the correct place, because if the golf ball position is too far forwards for a golfer, their body weight becomes too far back, the middle of their stance becomes too far back - sorry the middle of their body weight becomes too far back - therefore, the club will be rising as they hit through the ball and actually lifting the ball into the sky is not going to work.

You are going to thin, you are going to top of the ball or you are going to hit the ball flat with that problem. So make sure the ball position is appropriate for the desired club, so more towards the middle for the shorter irons, slightly ahead of center for the mid irons or more towards the left side for the long irons and ultimately the left leg for the driver. You can get away with having a forward ball position with the driver of course because you’ve got a tee peg so you can hit up into that ball, but if you’ve got an iron or a short iron particularly more towards the center of the stance, you are going to be much more preferred. Two other issues that whether we correct this issue of not hitting down on the golf ball: first one is going to be bending the arms too much so as we come down towards impact ideally the left arm would be straight for a right-handed golfer and the right hand and arm would be straightening, then at the point of impact both are straight through impact, the right hand stays really strong and straight, it really extends through the space here and round to a nice big finish. Golfers that are often deemed to be scooping the golf ball or lifting up through the golf ball or not hitting down on the golf ball will generally have issues with bending the arms this way, pulling the arms up, scooping the golf, scooping the golf ball through there, that’s going to cause some fairly serious problems. One last issue that kind of relates to that is when the body weight moves away from the ball or moves away from target as you come into impact. So coming into impact we should be moving the body weight towards the ball, towards the target, extending the arms down, impact and through. A golfer that’s moving away from the golf ball and target backwards this way and upwards lifting the hands and arms up, they are going to be hitting the ground first or hitting the top of the ball and clearly that indicates they are not hitting down on the golf ball as we would suggest. So working on those principles should definitely encourage you to hit down on the ball more. 2016-04-18

So if we now look at the issues that would stop somebody hitting down on the golf ball correctly, we’ve got to consider why some people hit down on the golf ball correctly and why other people don’t and what those issues might be. The major issue happens at the point of impact and it relates to the concept that some people are trying to help the ball up into the air and scoop the ball up into the air. So the first thing I’d like to consider is where is your golf ball position and is it in the correct place, because if the golf ball position is too far forwards for a golfer, their body weight becomes too far back, the middle of their stance becomes too far back – sorry the middle of their body weight becomes too far back – therefore, the club will be rising as they hit through the ball and actually lifting the ball into the sky is not going to work.

You are going to thin, you are going to top of the ball or you are going to hit the ball flat with that problem. So make sure the ball position is appropriate for the desired club, so more towards the middle for the shorter irons, slightly ahead of center for the mid irons or more towards the left side for the long irons and ultimately the left leg for the driver. You can get away with having a forward ball position with the driver of course because you’ve got a tee peg so you can hit up into that ball, but if you’ve got an iron or a short iron particularly more towards the center of the stance, you are going to be much more preferred.

Two other issues that whether we correct this issue of not hitting down on the golf ball: first one is going to be bending the arms too much so as we come down towards impact ideally the left arm would be straight for a right-handed golfer and the right hand and arm would be straightening, then at the point of impact both are straight through impact, the right hand stays really strong and straight, it really extends through the space here and round to a nice big finish. Golfers that are often deemed to be scooping the golf ball or lifting up through the golf ball or not hitting down on the golf ball will generally have issues with bending the arms this way, pulling the arms up, scooping the golf, scooping the golf ball through there, that’s going to cause some fairly serious problems.

One last issue that kind of relates to that is when the body weight moves away from the ball or moves away from target as you come into impact. So coming into impact we should be moving the body weight towards the ball, towards the target, extending the arms down, impact and through. A golfer that’s moving away from the golf ball and target backwards this way and upwards lifting the hands and arms up, they are going to be hitting the ground first or hitting the top of the ball and clearly that indicates they are not hitting down on the golf ball as we would suggest. So working on those principles should definitely encourage you to hit down on the ball more.