Problem with staying down at impact..

[mumuland]

I have a tendency to rise up on my downswing. My body position at impact is much more upright than my body at setup. Does anyone have any suggestions or drills I can use to help me stay down on impact?? Thanks.

[DoubleAA]

Set up as normal.

Place 2 balls on the ground.

Place 1 ball in it's normal address spot.

Place the second, 2 inches away from the 1st ball. (farther from you)

Set up at the nearest ball, when you swing, DO NOT hit the first ball in it's normal spot, make yourself reach for the 2nd ball and swing at that ball.

This will force you to stay down and reach for the second ball that is farther from you. Do this for 5 strokes in this fashion, then go back to your normal address and ball position and see if you can maintain that feeling up STAYING DOWN!

If that does not work, try practicing your down swing.

Place the club at the "top" of your swing and then go through the process of striking at a ball, try and figure out what in your downward motion could be causing you to rise up. Swing at normal speed from this spot.

Rising up is caused if you try and swing too hard, swing relaxed.

Tension in any form is your "ENEMY"

Are you trying to muscle the club?

Are you coming over the top?

Are you trying to help the ball in the air?

Are you not applying the correct TEMPO?

Good luck.

[FAQ]

This may or may not help you, but it is something that I check with myself to fix that. I make sure my head does not come up when I swing. Simple as that. When my head bobs a little it affects my whole attack.

[hue]

First check your address and where your weight is make sure it is on the balls of the feet but slightly towards the heel. You may have pivot problems that are making you come off your Tush line . This link will be of help

http://redgoat.smugmug.com/Redgoat%20fundamentals

For the Pivot read

http://d4358519.s74.snitz.net/forum/topic....sp?TOPIC_ID=542

http://d4358519.s74.snitz.net/forum/topic....sp?TOPIC_ID=614

[Srice24]

DoubleAA has some great advice. However, I would like to throw one more thought your way. Spine angle retention. You must maintain the spine angle you created at address, throughout the entire golf swing. Any straightening up of that spine will cause your arms to raise, which causes your hands to raise, which causes your club to raise.

[kpcw]

I agree with the gentleman above who simply states, "I try not to let my head come up." Agreed. Another fellow offered a drill using balls. Drills work sometimes...other times it is visuals that work. Like when your left writst cups in the top of the backswing and your pro tells you to pretend you are a waiter, holding a tray...let the right wrist fold etc etc.

With rising on the downswing try three things. I am 6' tall, in golf set-up I might be 5'9", correct? I pretended during my swing that I am in a room and the ceiling is 5'9". Second visual, pretend there are razor blades pointing downwards from that ceiling. If your head as so much rises, you will cut yourself to shreds. The third thing I'd do is videotape myself (camera on ground in front of your chest shot). Tape ten swings your way, tape ten using the two visuals and then go home and play the tape. Watch your golf cap, does it rise? Put a piece of masking tape on the tv screen at the top of your head at address, does the head rise and fall? If so, the tape will tell. Laslty, you are rising oout of your swing. A videotape from a different angle (from behind) ought to show if your knees are straightening or if it is from your spine.

[ikester]

Your body does exactly what your brain tells it to. You are rising up because your current perception of the golfswing is such.

You need to trust and internalize the fact that good ball striking is a result of hitting down and through the ball, with the bend in the right wrist being retained and the divot starting after the ball is gone.

I am thinking your concept is to flick the hands up to get the ball in the air, which causes you to hang back on your right side, possibly reverse weight shift, and raise up to create the force required to get the clubhead moving up quickly at the bottom of the swing.

To summarize change your perception. Take a SW and take our stance placing a second ball 3" farther from the target on the same line as the original ball. Now hit down and through hitting the normal position ball and missing the other ball. This is not an easy change to make but stick with it every time you practice. In time you will be able to take it to the course with the longer clubs.

Happy Golfing.

[kpcw]

I am confused with your 'Two-ball' drill.

If you place ball 'A' down, then ball 'B' three inches behind ball 'A'...take your stance using ball 'A' as the real ball to strike and do so while trying to avoid ball 'B'....is this your drill?

If so, this would only make him swing steeper, IMO. If he is an up/down flipper who rises at impact, then the drill above would make him worse. Flipping is created by an inabilityto maintain true wrist cock during the first move of the downswing.

I could see if you place a nickel or dime 3-5" IN FRONT of the ball to strike and ask him to make the nickel move after impact. That's a good drill but meaningless unless he addresses the root cause: casting from the top, losing wrist cock.

The flaw he mentions is that he rises upwards at impact...he's actually/probably rising before impact. There is the true 2 ball drill to create a more shallow swing, where you place on an 45* angle inches from the striking ball (but not right behind it).

We may never know why he rises at impact but looking at swing plane/casting, although on the list of flaws, would be further down from simply adising him to not pick up is head one iota (as one fellow offered). That's enough cough syrup, as Harvey Penick might say. The visuals I offered (above) work too! Good luck.

[sflaspprentice]

I think you should realize what you are doing before you try to cure it. What I mean is that you are most likely bobbing up and down with your upper body during your swing.

I have had trouble pulling the frederik jakobsen. If you have seen him swing you see that on his backswing his left shoulder bobs down and his spine angle bends more towards the golf ball. Conversely, the opposite happens on your downswing which would explain why you are topping the ball.

I take a club and cross my arms with it tucked into my chest and do shoulder turns while holding my posture. It keeps my spine angle consistent.

As for some practical drills I would get onto a video tape or have a friend watch you hit balls. Develop a smoother tempo as this usually is a symptom of a very quick snatch back.

I hope this helps

[kpcw]

Indeed, his left shoulder falls downward, it is a fake shoulder turn.

It feels like a shoulder turn but you are correct, on video you will see that the axis of the shoulder has not turned away from the ball at all(for a right handed golfer, his left shoulder should be over his right knee or beyond at the completion of the backswing). Many years ago my pro simply told me, "Get your left shoulder over your right knee." Bam, done. It felt weird but it is correct.

With a fake shoulder turn (drop)...on the downswing you are forced to lift upwards or else you hit a fat shot. There is also a lifting to create space for the hands as well as to create inertia/club head speed too. Teachers stand in front of you and they hold the butt end of a club on your forehead while you swing, a good drill. Another great tool is the swing mirror. Put it in front of you while you swing.

Watch Olympic Sprinters...when they run (the best ones who finish first) their eyes are on the same level and plane, no up and down movement at all, head's still, just legs pumping all out. If they can do it at full-human speed, you can with an 8 iron too!

[theswingfixer]

The easiest golf swing is one that is void of compensation. Why would anyone tell you to 'reach out' and practice from a bad position????

Your problem is your spine angle. It is changing during the course of your swing. Establish good posture and stay there during your back and forward swings. Your spine is the "axis" that your body rotates around during the backswing and the forward swing. By the way.....It is NOT called a "downswing!"

A drill that will allow the feeling of maintaining the 'axis' would be for you to assume your posture with your tail bone (your ass) up against a wall. Take tiny swings and allow the club to bottom out while your ass remains against the wall.

Note: prove it to yourself.......while taking these tiny swings, pull your tail bone away from the wall and you'll notice that the club no longer bottoms out.

g-luck. jpw

[kre8ivetl]

keep that spine angle straight. I was hitting the ball and realized that i was losing the ball right becuase of this. I don't really have any drills to help this but I just make it feel like my back is always arched, I also let my arms move more in front of my body (usually becuase when i lose my spine angle i start atteckinbg from inside, hitting a high right push) guess I am just saying that I agree with the other guys, watch the spine.