Stop Hitting Pop-Ups With the Driver - Golf (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles
Stop Hitting Pop-Ups With the Driver - Golf (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles

Now let's have a little look at the causes and cures of pop-up, or a skied tee shot. This is a ball that shoots straight up in the air, spends more time going upwards than forwards. A particularly embarrassing shot when you've used all these energy to smash the ball as hard as you can, and it just goes 50 yards in front of you and 50 yards straight up into the air.

Generally, the problem with that shot is it's hitting from too high up on the crown of the golf club. Too high up here might even leave a little mark, a little trace where you hit it from, so have a look on your driver, see it that's the cause. If the ball is too high up on the tee peg, stands to reason there's a risk that you can go underneath it, and that's the simple reason why you might be popping the ball above the top of the club. So check that the tee peg isn't too high up in the air.

One other reason might actually be that you've teed the ball down, but then you've actually got too steep on your swing, so you come crashing into the golf ball with a steep clubface. The handle is leading the way, therefore, the top of the golf club actually charges into the ball and it comes right off the crown of the golf club.

That could happen for a number of reasons. You might be too close to the golf ball. You might have the ball too far back in your stance. You might have your head too far ahead and you come down this way and jam the club at the back of the ball there on the tee peg and sky it and pop it up into the air.

As a general rule, you should consider sweeping your driver into the air a little bit more. Playing the ball nearer to your front foot, trying to shallow and flatten out your arc of swing a little bit. Make sure the tee-peg is not too high and not too low, about half a ball above the top of the club is fine, and then try and avoid hitting the turf. You shouldn't be taking a divot. If you are hitting the ball and it was on a tee, you should be clipping the top of the tee, but you shouldn't be knocking the tee peg out. If you're breaking tee pegs with your tee shots, and you're knocking them out to the floor, particularly by taking the roots of the tee peg with you, then we know we've got problems. So we want to be able to just sweep this ball off the surface, clip it off the top of the tee peg, and that should result in a more sweeping angle of attack better tee shots and less straight up in the air skied shots.

2012-08-10

Now let's have a little look at the causes and cures of pop-up, or a skied tee shot. This is a ball that shoots straight up in the air, spends more time going upwards than forwards. A particularly embarrassing shot when you've used all these energy to smash the ball as hard as you can, and it just goes 50 yards in front of you and 50 yards straight up into the air.

Generally, the problem with that shot is it's hitting from too high up on the crown of the golf club. Too high up here might even leave a little mark, a little trace where you hit it from, so have a look on your driver, see it that's the cause. If the ball is too high up on the tee peg, stands to reason there's a risk that you can go underneath it, and that's the simple reason why you might be popping the ball above the top of the club. So check that the tee peg isn't too high up in the air.

One other reason might actually be that you've teed the ball down, but then you've actually got too steep on your swing, so you come crashing into the golf ball with a steep clubface. The handle is leading the way, therefore, the top of the golf club actually charges into the ball and it comes right off the crown of the golf club.

That could happen for a number of reasons. You might be too close to the golf ball. You might have the ball too far back in your stance. You might have your head too far ahead and you come down this way and jam the club at the back of the ball there on the tee peg and sky it and pop it up into the air.

As a general rule, you should consider sweeping your driver into the air a little bit more. Playing the ball nearer to your front foot, trying to shallow and flatten out your arc of swing a little bit. Make sure the tee-peg is not too high and not too low, about half a ball above the top of the club is fine, and then try and avoid hitting the turf. You shouldn't be taking a divot. If you are hitting the ball and it was on a tee, you should be clipping the top of the tee, but you shouldn't be knocking the tee peg out. If you're breaking tee pegs with your tee shots, and you're knocking them out to the floor, particularly by taking the roots of the tee peg with you, then we know we've got problems. So we want to be able to just sweep this ball off the surface, clip it off the top of the tee peg, and that should result in a more sweeping angle of attack better tee shots and less straight up in the air skied shots.