Hitting from the mat

I've only been playing a month or so, but my tee shots seem to be OK.

What I'm having trouble with is hitting straight from the mat (or straight from the grass on the course). I find it very hard to hit at the correct height. I'm either topping the ball or hitting it fat.

I was constantly topping the ball (sometimes swinging a few inches above the ball), but I have fixed this by making sure my right-leg stays flexed.

Even though I've fixed this, I don't seem to be able to do anything very constant. Are there any tips to make sure I arrive at the ball at a the correct height constantly?

One thing I was told to cure this,is at address if u were to rest the club on your leg, the top of the grip should be in the middle of your thigh, this should help that you are relexed before the take away. I hope this helps.

First, the disclaimer: I'm probably one of the worst golfers on this forum. But my problems are more about execution than lack of knowledge, so maybe I can help.

In my opinion, hitting off mats with irons isn't a good thing, especially for a beginner, because mats are elastic and turf isn't. With short irons, you should be taking a bit of a divot when you swing, and you can't do that on a mat. So if you practice your short irons on the mat you may be training yourself to hit the ball "thin." Even with longer irons, when you hit off the turf you should probably snip the grass a bit. When you do this from a mat, you may get some good shots, but the feedback is different, and as a beginner you need to acquire the feel of making shots from the turf. That's my opinion, based on spending time learning to hit irons off mats and then finding that the skill didn't transfer very well to the fairway. I think more experienced golfers can make the small adjustments to their swing that allow them to hit from the mat without it messing up their swing on the fairway.

The classic tip for ceasing to top the ball is to keep the head "still," i.e., at the same distance from the ground throughout the swing. Beginners have a tendency to "pull up" on the backswing, and then again at impact, in anticipation of the finish. Experienced golfers do it too, especially when they're overswinging.

I'm happy to say that I rarely top the ball these days, and when I do it's likely to be in a downhill lie situation, i.e., the ball is lower than my feet, requiring me to maintain more spine angle than I'm used to. But it was a big problem until fairly recently. In my case, the problem wasn't pulling up on the back swing; it was pulling up too early in the downswing, at or before impact. It's easy to *say* "keep your head down," but it's not so easy to do, especially for a beginner.

So, two suggestions. First, don't try to kill the ball. Doing so increases the likelihood of all sorts of random movements of the body, so that even if you manage not to top it, you'll probably do something else just as bad. My second suggestion is something that has worked well for me...When you swing, don't look up until you see your right heel come up (if you're righthanded). I don't mean to gaze at your right foot, but you can see it there in your field of vision, since it's not far from the ball. Even though your heel may start to come up a bit before impact, by the time it registers in your awareness, the ball is gone and it's safe to "come up" and watch the ball flight. I've also seen the suggestion to let your right shoulder push your head around, and I'm sure that will accomplish the same thing.

__________________
Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller