First, I've made the fascinating observation that when I do what Tom tells me to do in the videos I hit the ball better, scores get lower, enjoy the game more... who knew?! (Eight pars and one birdie today!)
Now on to the driver, which I have usually hit pretty well. Suddenly I'm getting lots of loft and losing distance. Any suggestions on getting the height down and getting a lower trajectory? (I tee the ball 1/2 ball higher than the club head resting on the ground.)
My playing companion pointed out that my stance was too wide; I couldn't turn or set my weight forward correctly. Made a huge difference. If it hadn't been for two botched holes I'd have been close to 80.
Working PT at my local course cutting the fairways 2x/week...free golf for the summer! This is the year!
@billp2000 - That's some fantastic playing!!
Oftentimes when golfers are hitting everything well except for the longer clubs (and particularly the driver) it can be attributed to one of the following:
1) They don't start with - or maintain - enough weight on the front side. In general with the longer clubs we should add a little more front weight load at address - more like 60/40 instead of the 55/45 prescribed for the other clubs. This forward weight should gradually increase to the top of the backswing (70/30) and build further on the downswing - approximately 80/20 halfway down, 90/10 impact, and 95/5 finish. The 90% Weight Forward/Arms Straight Drill can help with this. It's not an easy drill, but it is very effective, so be sure to spend sufficient time to properly learn, execute, and master it. You'll know you're doing it properly when impact is consistently crispy and ball flight is a repeatable little push-draw.
2) Their hips are not continuing their lateral slide through impact. This is common with the longer clubs as the wider stance means that the hips have a greater distance to travel. If the hips stop moving laterally towards the target on the downswing then their rotation takes over, changing the low point and rerouting the club. This can produce a variety of undesirable results including fat and thin contact, topped shots and popups, straight pulls, and “banana” slices. Here is a drill for increasing lateral hips slide.
3) They are not allowing the length of the club to dictate the backswing path and are getting too steep as a result. The shaft length of the longer clubs encourages more of an around the body backswing as established by the shaft plane at address. It may "feel" flat as you take it back along the shaft plane for the first few feet, but as long as you maintain the "weight forward, shoulder down, and hands in" components while allowing the club to work around you, it should put you in the proper position at the top so you can attack the ball from the inside.
This is a common issue that I am regularly asked to fix, so if yours doesn't relate to any of the above causes - or if it does and you are experiencing difficulty resolving it - we can always arrange for an online lesson or a V1 swing video analysis to pinpoint the culprit and offer an appropriate solution.
Let me know if this helps, and keep up the great work!!
Tom