hitting too upright

Question
QUESTION: I have a problem with hitting too upright, so that the toe of my club head always hit the ground first. People tell me I tend to stand up a little on the down swing. I am of average height. Can you tell me what my problems may be?

ANSWER: Hello Gary:

Basically your problem is an incorrect release or use of your hands.  If all of your shots are toe heavy, then you are flipping your hands (and wrists) down at the ball in an attempt to try to just hit it or scoop it or lift it up or get under it.  All those I just mentioned are not good and are misconceptions.  You need to learn how your forearms and your hands work through the impact area then you need to go have your clubs loft and lied for you so they work in conjunction with that to produce a solid and straight shot.  But here is a little eye opening drill for you to see how your left arm and hand should work as they swing through impact.  Hold your left arm out in front of you at shoulder height.  Make a fist, then extend your thumb out.  Start with the palm of your hand facing the ground, your left thumb stuck out pointing to the right.  Now, simply roll your hand and forearm over to the left until your palm is skyward.  Do it a few times and notice how nothing is working by itself.  Notice how the rotation of the forearm, back of left hand (wrist) and the hand itself all rotate together.  What happens when you hit the ball is your hands will unhinge downward so that your fingers go below your wrists.  If that happens, you shove the toe of the club into the ground.  Now, do your drill again.  Hold your arm out in front of you, make your fist, extend your thumb and make some real slow swings like a golf swing.  And as the arm is swinging forward, let it rotate down and over, just like you did with your arm extended.  Can you picture how the back of the left hand is flat and turning over towards the ground?  Can you feel and see how your left forearm is rotating down and over.  Can you imagine the clubface doing the same thing.  But if you take your hands and unhinge them incorretly, can you see how you would slam the toe of the club into the ground?  Practice, practice and practice some more........all without a club.  Then, go hit some balls starting out with wedges and building your way back up through the bag.  Pretty soon, you'll be getting the face of the club on the ball and your contact will improve dramatically.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Eddie! I worked on your tip for two days and it turned out well. I am hitting my irons better than ever! But, with my new swing I pulled and/or delofted my driver shots alot. Even when the shot was straight and high, I lost alot of distance. Before I changed my swing, I had no problem hitting toe heavy shots on a driver because the ball is on a tee. What would your advice be?

Answer
Hi Gary:

Way to go.  My advice now is go practice more.  DO NOT keep trying things.  Stick with a simple fundamental tip like I gave you and go practice it.  For the driver, you now need to round off your swing so it's not so steep.  The hand and arm rotation is the same, that won't change.  So the next step is to make some swings like you have a baseball bat in your hand.  Pretend there is a ball waist high on a tee.  If you were to make some swings at that, you would have to swing the club more around your body on a much more level path backwards and forwards so you could strike the ball solidly.  The same is true with drivers when you catch toe heavy drivers with a steep, descending swing.  Because of the length of the driver, it must move more around your body instead of up and down and across the line.  Good rule of thumb to follow is to make some swings and check to make sure at the top of your backswing, your hands are swinging over (or towards) your right shoulder.  Again, make some swings around your body.  This is called "rounding off" your swing.  A driver on a tee is designed to sweep it off the tee, not crash down into it.  Round off your swing, and continue to blend in the rotation we spoke off earlier.  Together, you'll start hitting your driver farther than ever.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member