The Dreaded Pop-Up

Still bitter about Coastal Carolina knocking out my TCU Horned Frogs out of the College World Series a few years back...

Good analogy. As a former baseball player I'm definitely more tense in "the box."

That can help. Make your arms tension free, like a rag doll. It is not like hitting a baseball that is coming at you fast. The golf ball doesn’t move. The limper my arms the better my shot. Obviously you maintain proper straightness of lead arm but let it bend a bit at top of swing. Once you get it it’s like oh my god I have been trying way too hard for years.

A few comments. Don’t overthink this. Do exactly what Tom says with regard to bringing lead arm directly across chest and allow trail arm to bend loosely. Lose all tension in your body before you start. Think quiet, soft arms and hands. Really no tension. Don’t grip it and rip it. My backswing starts slowly and gentle. You can develop a bit of a rhythm as you accelerate the club head on the downswing but no tension please. Almost like it’s a casual stroke and you don’t really care. No backward weight transfer. Focus on the ball. Think being flexible and loose. Seriously this is important. Like Tom says, this same stroke does work with all the clubs. Discovering the magic of losing the tension, really ridding your body of it, is a eureka moment! I struggled like Hell for years until I discovered this.

I've marked the DEATH ZONE. Now, with a low ceiling follow throughs are rough. Already administered a few scuffs on the drop tiles. That's ok, because it works well with the cheese wedge drills. 🧀

Common Swing Fault PROBLEM #2-FIX #2: Turning Too Much Too Soon ...Drill is a great check on the takeaway with correct tilt. By Tom describing how our shoulders can change the angle with relationship to the ball pointing away from target or right of target, etc.. Not only causes the low club takeaway but its also the too much in to out swing path. This could explain my heel strikes on the driver and long irons provided set up is correct. I always do a check up with set-up (grip, stance, ball position, weight distribution, etc.) and takeaway FIRST! everytime I run into a swing fault issue. Am I trying to be perfect? You betcha! I don't want to have to think about it on the course.

Ok, for some of these drills where I am actively at my practice station in the basement, I am unable to put an alignment stick into the concrete floor. However, I'm going to improvise, adapt, adjust, and overcome by hanging a towel from the ceiling in the DEATH ZONE. If I hit into the DEATH ZONE, I would hit the towel. Got to try it. (I wished I had my Jolly Roger tapestry. Perfect for the DZ.)

A maddening game but it keeps bringing me back! :)

Thank Brian. I will hit the range and give this a try.

I can attest to this. I'm fairly new into my S&T journey, but was putting in some time at the range this weekend. Definitely found that as the clubs get longer, I needed to accentuate the lateral hit bump toward the target. Helps to shallow out the attack angle and keep the ball flight where its supposed to be.

@kelton4 - You are likely correct about being too steep (or swinging across the ball) as a cause for the pop-ups, but widening your stance is likely not the solution unless it really is too narrow. Check out the exchange with @johnpfistnerjr near the bottom of this thread about the stance being too wide. Your feet - more specifically, the insides of your heels - should be no more than shoulder-width apart for the driver.

First, check out the Driver section in the school to ensure that you've got the basics correct. If that's all good, then the Downswing chapter of Fixing Common Swing Problems would be a good place to visit. The lessons specific to Downswing Problem #1 (Steep/Over the Top) would likely be applicable to your issue. I'd start with the drill titled You Need More Lateral Hip Motion as this is oftentimes the deficiency when we are hitting everything well except for the driver.