Some golfers like to ground their club behind the ball before they swing. Others prefer to hover just off the ground. Personal preference can come into play here, but the determining factor should be how consistently you hit the ball. Fred Soobhany has found great success using the Peak Performance Golf Swing. He's been playing so well that his playing partners have dubbed him "Mr. Boring."
But, as well as Fred has been playing, he's concerned about an adjustment he's made to compensate for hitting the ground before the ball. Fred started hovering above the ball and has been seeing better results. However, Fred wanted to hear my take on this new approach.
Dear Surge,I am writing to say "thank you" for transforming my game. I stumbled upon your site and I am now an avid advocate of your approach. My playing partners now refer to me as "Mr. Boring" because I am always finding the fairways with my drive. I recommended your site to one of my playing partners and he is now also known as "Mr. Boring." Both our games have been transformed thanks to you.I have one small query and I would value your guidance on this. While my drive has vastly improved, my iron play is not as consistent as I have a tendency to hit the ground before the ball. In order to offset this, I have experimented with "not grounding" my clubs at address. This has proved to be very effective as I am finding the "sweet spot" on a regular basis.Can you please explain why this is? And, should I continue with this approach? I also think that your other "followers" may benefit from observation on this point. Once again, thank you very much.Regards,FredEngland, United Kingdom.
It is really fun hitting the ball down the middle and on the green. I've also had people call me "Mr. Boring" and I must say there's really no better nickname. That's because I feel the most important part of playing golf is hitting fairways and greens. So, I'm proud of Fred for obtaining this enviable moniker. But, why is Fred hitting his driver better than his irons when it's usually the other way around?
If you've got the ball teed up really high and ground the club, you would need an in course correction for everything to stand up so you could get your club to the right point to hit the ball. That's why when I hit the driver I will typically hover the club behind the ball where I want to hit it at impact. If you maintain your angles you can hit the ball all day, without even opening your eyes! (which I demonstrate in today's video)
I think most golfers run into trouble when they think they must hit down on the ball. That's why most golfers never want to hit off a mat like mine because it would hurt them too much. Rule number 4 says we swing up to the finish. If you've got a swing thought to swing down, your shoulders are almost always going to instictively move forward. That will cause you to come in really steep at the ball. Basically, more body movement is not the answer.
I think hitting off mats is great because you can really feel the ricochet and have the feeling of nipping the ball. Hovering is okay with the driver, but if you're hovering with the ball sitting on the ground that means you're going to have to go down at some point during the swing, which introduces the ground. If you're hitting the ball better that's one thing, but I'd rather have you maintain your angles and you'll probably hit it a lot more consistent. I like to have my club grounded at address where the ball is lined up on the center of the club, set my angles, and maintain those angles during the swing.
Give it a try and you'll most likely be better off in the long run.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Slightly different view
I have a slightly different view on this, Surge, and maybe you can comment on it. I know personally I have problems with bumping the ball if I try to ground my club too closely behind it, but if it's not nice and close, you're setting up with the club in a position to chunk the ball. So I tend to set up with the ball slightly off the ground behind the ball in about the location it should be coming in to impact. It sounds to me like this may be what Fred is doing as well.
What is in that glass
What looks to be a frosty glass.... What might that be?
In the glass
Murphy's stout. In a Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" glass. I like the dark side. ;-)
Welcome..... to the machine
While being a Floyd fan for 40 years I didn't see them until two years ago with Rodger Waters a the MGM Grand. Awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj2Wv0Yn5eE
Hope you're well Robert and adjusting to your new circumstances.
I think my shoulder is healing so perhaps we'll get to play golf together again sooner than later.
Grounding the Club at Address: Good or Bad?
Thankyou to Surge and Fred in England, UK for giving me a spark which may solve a problem with my driver. I will leave the irons alone and not hover them, but will give hovering at the ball with the driver off the tee! It may just help me in hitting the ball higher off a slightly higher tee than I am using at present. We will see what we will see. No golf for maybe a week or more. Civic duty calls and with the weather looking to be not too clever. Will do it on the mat like Surge.
Hit 'em long and straighter [and in my case a wee bit higher off the tee with the driver]. DH in VERY wet and VERY windy NZ
Thanks Surge!! I have been
Thanks Surge!! I have been playing all week, weather pretty good. Thanks to you I have been hitting well. Then yesterday, I did have two big chunks on #18, what I was doing, I do not know? Hitting down to much, I think?
Don't know why I did that? Just have to remember to swing like skipping the rock, that helps me so much.
Can't wait to get out there tomorrow again, there saying cool next week, :o((
Thanks,
TO HOVER OR NOT
BY JIM FLICK AND JACK NICKLAUS
April 2012
JACK NICKLAUS: Throughout my career, a lot has been said and written about my not resting the clubhead on the ground behind the ball. I often would sole it lightly, but there were times when I didn't ground it at all, mostly with an iron or fairway wood when I thought it might cause the ball to move. Or with my putter on windy days. You never want the ball to change position while addressing it--golf is hard enough without incurring penalty strokes.
Usually, especially with the driver, I would sole the club lightly and then un-weight it. Why? When I felt the club resting on the ground, my grip and arms were too relaxed. By un-weighting the club--hovering it off the ground as I'm doing above--I had to firm up my grip pressure just enough. Once I did that, everything seemed ready, and my hand and arm pressure felt uniform. I was then able to take the club back smoothly without fear of stubbing the club in the grass behind the ball.
Starting back with the clubhead on the ground forces you to apply too much tension to "unplug" it, resulting in a jerky takeaway and tightening your hands, forearms and body. Also, if you start with the club grounded, the natural tendency is for it to return to that spot at impact--in other words, you're pre-setting a fat shot. So un-weighting helps ensure solid contact.
This from a Golf Digest article that I found online .
After round report
10 fairways, 27 putts, 10 greens. 38, 37 .
I guess this not to bad for not practicing for 2 months and playing for the third time in a month and a half.
On a side note.
My favorite two teams are playing for a NC who do Rute for ?
My prediction is one team will win and one will lose.
Ground irons?
I also prefer to ground irons and then set and maintain angles established at address. I will lift the club up and make sure my grip and club face alignment are perpindicular to the feet, and shoulders, then as I once again lowering the club I make sure I've got the right forearm a bit under and lower in the "master set up" position. It's PLHR and back down (accordion down) to the ground and ball then fire while not looking up at the target again until finished.