Low Ball Flight

I am a newbie making solid contact. I am seeing steady improvement as I shot a 90 on a difficult course (Robert Trent Jones). I have been playing about 7 months and have struggled with very low ball flight with every club including my driver. The shots get about three to four feet off the ground at best. This works well on drives but is disastrous on approach shots and I usually overshoot the greens by several yards unless I get lucky and land the shot well short of the green. At address before takeaway I do a forward press placing the shaft over the middle of my left thigh. Any idead for a higher ball flight or do I adjust my shots(especially aprroach shots) for the low flight with lots of roll?

Thanks

sounds as if your upper body is moving past the ball, which in turn delofts the club. go in a mirror and put up a piece of tape and align it with your nose. Now do your forward press, did your head move forward or back?

Now that you mention it I believe my upper body does move a few inches to the left (I'm right handed) when I forward press. I feel like my head is slightly ahead of the ball when I make contact. Maybe this is what is delofting my shots?

There's nothing wrong with a low flight, provided you've got the spin to stop the ball on greens.

A low flight doesn't deal with the wind nearly as much as a high flight.

You say you produce lots of roll. Are you trying to lift the ball or help the ball go up?

One thing is clear, whatever you are doing produces a low ball flight and lots of roll. If you don't want a low ball flight, don't do what you are doing. Do something different. First, try to produce a low ball flight with lots of roll.

Yes, you read correctly: Try to produce a low ball flight with lots roll, exactly what you don't want to produce.

This is what I think you will try: You will hit down on the ball thinking that the ball will fly much lower this way. You may think that it will roll quite a bit when it lands. Well, try it and see what happens.

Position the ball slightly back in your stance, not much, just a little.

Do you feel the shock of impact in your hands?

Yes Brian I do feel it in hands at impact but on mishits especially fat shots I feel pain in my upper back.

It is so hard to give you something specific that would help. If your are hitting the ball solid and straight it could be a matter of the angle of attack. Ball position would be something simple to try. The further back in your stance the ball, the steeper the angle of attack to the ball. You must hit down on the ball fairly steep with the high irons and wedges to take advantage of the loft of the club.

practice your forward press and impact position while keeping your head back. How you forward press is kind of like you telling your body where to be at impact.

In that case I would suggest you are contacting the ball around the equator creating a slightly thinned shot. I would imagine you are not creating a divot either.

Without seeing your swing I can only suggest some areas to look at: Make sure you are not creating a reverse pivot with your weight hanging on the back foot at impact.
Check you are not straightening up in the downswing, keep your knee flex and spine angle through the swing.
Keep a flat left wrist through impact so that you do not flip at the ball.

I hope this helps.

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Best Regards
Brian

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Funny o'l game!

You are right Brian I seldom take a divot at all. I can work on maintaining my knee flex and spine angle. How much knee flex should you have? Should it be like preparing to shoot a free throw or a tennis player awaiting a serve? Any drills to practice not keeping weight on back leg?

Thanks

Knee flex: when you are address and look down at your knees they should be positioned just over the balls of your feet.

Have a look at this video, it may help you understand better how to move back to impact.

http://www.golf.com/golf/video/artic...594271,00.html