Causes and Cures - Drives too High - Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Causes and Cures - Drives too High - Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

That can be fairly frustrating out in the golf course if you feel that you’re hitting the ball really nicely, hitting the ball really hard but it’s just not going far enough forward particularly with your tee shots. When it’s just sort of ballooning into the sky, and back spinning up into the air, and stalling on you.

We want to create a ball flight that’s nice and penetrating, the most efficient ball flight you can get. One of the main reasons for the ball flying too high is actually badly fitted equipment, the wrong equipment for the job, either a golf club that has too much loft, too much angle on the club face, or the wrong shaft for you.

If your golf swing is very quick and your swing speed is over 100 miles an hour, you’ve got 11 degrees with a regular flat shaft, the impact position, that club head will be hitting the ball and launching it with way too much dynamic launch and dynamic loft, flying the ball too high into the air. Not really getting the optimum trajectory.

So the best thing there, to make sure your clubs are fitted correctly, is go and see your local PGA professional or club fitter. Get yourself tested out on a launch monitor if there’s one available. Just make sure that it flies at the right level for you.

A couple of other things you’ve got to make sure you’re doing is try not to get too near to the golf ball. If you’re too close in your set-up position, you’re approaching the ball like you’ll tend to find your swing will get very steep, sometimes even outside the line.

If you’re outside the line and your club face is open when you’re hitting it, the open club face is adding loft. The ball would generally then cut from left to right. So it’s outside the line, chopping from left to right with an open club face, ball cuts up into the air, too much back spin, too much left to right. Again, the open face is actually adding loft to the golf club.

Whereas a drawing flight with a slightly flatter golf swing would generally lead to a lower flight and more penetrating trajectory. So setting up the golf ball from this angle, I want to make sure I’ve got my good distance away. Easiest way with your driver, take a good set up. Drop the club down. When it lands an inch or two inches above your knee, you know you’re at the right distance. That should allow you then to swing from the inside.

If you are too close, you might just get a bit choppy on the top of the ball, spinning it too high up into the air. I think the biggest issue with ballooning the ball too much has to be looking at the golf club. Make sure you’ve got the right golf club for yourself.

 2013-01-18

That can be fairly frustrating out in the golf course if you feel that you’re hitting the ball really nicely, hitting the ball really hard but it’s just not going far enough forward particularly with your tee shots. When it’s just sort of ballooning into the sky, and back spinning up into the air, and stalling on you.

We want to create a ball flight that’s nice and penetrating, the most efficient ball flight you can get. One of the main reasons for the ball flying too high is actually badly fitted equipment, the wrong equipment for the job, either a golf club that has too much loft, too much angle on the club face, or the wrong shaft for you.

If your golf swing is very quick and your swing speed is over 100 miles an hour, you’ve got 11 degrees with a regular flat shaft, the impact position, that club head will be hitting the ball and launching it with way too much dynamic launch and dynamic loft, flying the ball too high into the air. Not really getting the optimum trajectory.

So the best thing there, to make sure your clubs are fitted correctly, is go and see your local PGA professional or club fitter. Get yourself tested out on a launch monitor if there’s one available. Just make sure that it flies at the right level for you.

A couple of other things you’ve got to make sure you’re doing is try not to get too near to the golf ball. If you’re too close in your set-up position, you’re approaching the ball like you’ll tend to find your swing will get very steep, sometimes even outside the line.

If you’re outside the line and your club face is open when you’re hitting it, the open club face is adding loft. The ball would generally then cut from left to right. So it’s outside the line, chopping from left to right with an open club face, ball cuts up into the air, too much back spin, too much left to right. Again, the open face is actually adding loft to the golf club.

Whereas a drawing flight with a slightly flatter golf swing would generally lead to a lower flight and more penetrating trajectory. So setting up the golf ball from this angle, I want to make sure I’ve got my good distance away. Easiest way with your driver, take a good set up. Drop the club down. When it lands an inch or two inches above your knee, you know you’re at the right distance. That should allow you then to swing from the inside.

If you are too close, you might just get a bit choppy on the top of the ball, spinning it too high up into the air. I think the biggest issue with ballooning the ball too much has to be looking at the golf club. Make sure you’ve got the right golf club for yourself.