If you find that you are hitting your drives too high and you are losing distance on your tee shots, you need to lower the angle that you are launching the golf ball from the club face.

One of the most common reasons for really high, short tee shots, is that you are making an over the top downswing. This means that as you are swinging the golf club down towards the golf ball, the club head is travelling over the top of your hands and it will travel to the far side of the target line. This means that the club head will drop very steeply towards the golf ball before impact and as a result of this action the club head will strike downwards towards the golf ball and underneath it which will pop the golf ball up very high and with very little distance.

To correct this, place a range basket about one inch to the right of the golf ball (for right handed golfers) and about two inches on the outside of the target line. Make your backswing and return the club head back down to the golf ball on the inside of the basket, without hitting it. Do this slowly at first and then as your confidence grows, increase your swing speed and you should see that you are striking the golf ball at a much better launch angle.

You could also be hitting your drives too high if you are leaning back with the club shaft at impact. If the club shaft leans back so that the handle of the golf club is more to the right than the club head is at impact, you will effectively put more loft, or face angle on to the golf club and as a result, you will hit a tee shot that flies too high. Work on correcting this by hitting with a more vertical shaft position and you could use an impact bag to help you improve this.

Your tee shots will also fly very high if you are opening the club face through impact. To open the club face, the face will be rotated more right of the target and when this happens it places more loft on the club and you will hit a drive that flies too high. To work on correcting this, ensure that your club face is square to the target through impact and this will present the correct amount of loft to the golf ball and produce a lower flighted golf shot. Work on rotating your right hand over your left more as you swing the club head through impact, so that your right palm faces more towards the ground than it does towards the sky as you strike through the golf ball.

You may also be hitting your tee shots too high if you are teeing the golf ball up too high. Check that your tee peg is as high as the second groove down from the top of your club face and this will set the tee height more correctly and help you achieve a more appropriate launch angle for your driver to achieve maximum shot distance.

To improve a drive that flies too high, ensure that you have a stance that is shoulder width apart, that the ball is positioned inside your left heel and that your weight is even. Place the club head next to the golf ball and position your hands over the crown of the driver, with your head positioned just to the right of your hands.

This will set your weight slightly on your right side and you can rotate your upper body on a rounded, slightly flatter swing plane so that the club head returns back to the golf ball at a shallow angle of attack, with the club face square to the target, producing a lower flighted tee shot, that achieves a much greater distance.