Htting in the dirt off the tee

[USMC2602]

The title says it all. For the past year I have been hitting the ball into the dirt off the tee box--with my driver and 3 wood. I have resorted to teeing off with a 5 iron. Just yesterday a friend stood to the side and said my takeaway is good but I am sliding my hips through and hitting down on the ball. Sounds reasonable but how do I stop doing it. Consequently I rarely hit it like this on the range and never hit it like this on the fairways when playing. I am destroying tee boxes all over Ventura County, CA.....

[gboldman23]

Do you have a question that needs to be answered? sorry i'm not understanding this

[PINGFREAK]

I was having the same issue for a bit. You need to concentrate on rotating your hips. Sounds like your just throwing your weight forward.

[USMC2602]

Sorry GB, yes, I do have a question. How do I keep myself from sliding through impact and hitting the ball into the dirt. I know that I need to sweep or hit up on the ball with the driver off of the tee but I just never do--I hit it into the dirt literally every time I use the driver/3 wood off of the tee. Any drills to help me get "out of the way" as opposed to sliding through impact?

[USMC2602]

Pingfreak--any drills to help me besides concentrating? Any thoughts on why I don't do it on the fairway with my irons? And my 3 woods off of the fairway are pretty darn good--they have to be to account for my 20 yard dribbles off of the tee. No joke, that is how hard I hit into the ground--it is horrible.

[hoganfan924]

Are you topping the ball off the tee? If not, then you are hitting it with a severely shut face which could be caused by either a very strong grip or aggressively rolling your forearms through the impact zone. If you're doing either one of those, the ball is diving to the left (for a righty). Is that what is happening?

 

Maybe I'm not understanding what you are saying. Are you hitting the ball fat? Or are you hitting the ball cleanly and then taking a divot after the ball? Or are you hitting the ball cleanly and it isn't getting airborne?

[dmitry]

I used to pound the dirt on the tee every time too. I fixed the problem by setting up with the ball directly in front of my left foot and teeing it up a little higher. Take a sweeping swing, making sure not to hit the ground, and try to hit the ball on the upswing. Don't focus on the ball so much as concentrating on getting past the low spot in your downswing without hitting the ground.

[USMC2602]

I don't hit it fat. I am making contact with the ball on the bottom edge of the club and driving it into the ground about 6-10 inches in front of the tee. It sounds "clean" but I know it isn't because I see the ball mark on the bottom edge of the driver face. And I don't take a divot either.

[USMC2602]

Going to the range today and will try the concentration thing. Anyone ever heard of hitting balls with your feet together to cure this swing fault? Or hitting balls barefoot? I have so many bad thoughts going on I am starting to think I need a check-up from the neck-up. I just can't put my finger on why I don't do this in the fairway with the woods and never with the irons. I'm starting to believe I need two different swings and that sounds wrong to me.

[hoganfan924]

You must check your ball position and tee height. I like to see driver ball position somewhere between the left heel and the left big toe and the ball teed up so that half of the ball is above the top of the driver. If you position the ball too far forward and tee it too low, you will be hitting it on the upswing, but in order not to hit the ground behind the ball first, you will end up topping it.

[USMC2602]

I got ya. I think I am good to go on t- height and ball placement. I have tried teeing it low, teeing it high, brush tees, moving it forward and back in my stance and still get the same result. Like I said, I have been doing this for a year and have probably totally messed up my muscle memory.

 

For the past 5 sessions on the range I have it teed up where 1/3 of the ball is above the center of the face and it is off of my left heel. Like I said I usually hit it well on the range but the course is a different story.

[USMC2602]

I will try your suggestion on tee height--1/2 of the ball above the TOP of the driver. I thought I was good but will see how it goes tonight with what you suggest.

[MKGolfer]

Try keeping your head behind the ball at impact. Works for me.

[USMC2602]

All, thanks for the tips. I saw drastic improvement at the range today. The tell tale signs were: 1. I have never hit the ball as high as I was hitting it today. 2. Out of approx 60 balls with my driver, I broke 45 of the tees. 3. The scuff marks that come off of synthetic mats was covering the entire bottom of my driver instead of just the front like it usually does. All good signs to me.

 

The key takeaways I got were: Concentrate on sweeping the ball and getting it up in the air. Also keeping my head behind the ball through impact. I'll try it again the next 4 days before playing on Saturday. Thanks to those that helped.

[hoganfan924]

All, thanks for the tips. I saw drastic improvement at the range today. The tell tale signs were: 1. I have never hit the ball as high as I was hitting it today. 2. Out of approx 60 balls with my driver, I broke 45 of the tees. 3. The scuff marks that come off of synthetic mats was covering the entire bottom of my driver instead of just the front like it usually does. All good signs to me.

 

The key takeaways I got were: Concentrate on sweeping the ball and getting it up in the air. Also keeping my head behind the ball through impact. I'll try it again the next 4 days before playing on Saturday. Thanks to those that helped.

 

Are you talking about the green plastic residue left on the bottom of the club? Because you should not be seeing any of that on the bottom of a driver from the hitting mat. Do you always practice from mats and never on grass? If you're scuffing the bottom of the driver you are either hitting it fat and skipping the clubhead into the ball or your angle of decent into the ball is very steep and you are hitting the mat after you hit the ball. Mats are extremely forgiving to fat shots, the clubhead will just skip off the mat into the ball and you can still get a very good resulting ballflight.

[USMC2602]

Hogan,

 

Admittedly I was teeing it up much lower than I should have been because sometimes when I practice I use my local range which has poor practice mats. They don't sit flat and I would need a 5 inch tee to get the ball at the proper ball heighth. I have felt fat shots bounce off of the mat and these were not like that--i was hitting the ball crisply on the sweep and sometimes on the up swing. I think the residue from the mats was just because I was teed too low.

 

I could be wrong but the shots just felt different. The true test will be when I play on the course.

 

I also hit about 10 drivers off of regular grass with the tee at the proper heighth and got the same result.

 

Honestly, I think I am on to something here.

[ApexGrind]

Someone said turn your hips instead of sliding. I think that's the problem. From your description you are hitting the ball and then hitting the ground a *foot*!! in front of the ball? There shouldn't be any way to do that unless you're moving your whole body forward that much or more. Someone else said look at the back of the ball. If you keep your head still and do that it should have much the same effect. Here's a drill, see if you can hit the ball with your feet together (try a half swing). Then move your feet about 6" to 8" apart (no more than a foot) and you should be able to do full swings. You won't be able to throw your body forward without falling over.

[againstthegrain]

Sounds like an OTT move in an attempt to get to the ball after your hips have slid way past the ball. I would imagine that you get very anxious on the tee and may be failing to make a full shoulder turn as well.

 

 

As a practice drill(for right hander) get into your golf stance w your left foot at the base of a wall, cross your arms in front of your chest, turn back, and then turn through making sure your hips touch the wall not your shoulders. Your head should be behind the ball at impact. Also get the Robert Baker O-factor cover article which was in a GOLF magazine this June I think...it gives your very clear instruction on what to do.

[tbarnby]

On the range, try to concentrate on keeping your weight on the insides of both feet throughout the entire swing. Really exaggerate it. This will help limit the side to side motion. Also, pay attention to your shoulder turn. You might be over-rotating and getting out of control.