Golf Smart Academy Forum — Hitting up on driver the right way

Hello,

I've been looking to improve consistency with my driver, recently I've been fighting hooks. When I looked at my trackman data I realized that in my quest to hit up on the ball (usually around 4-5 degrees up) I've gotten pretty extreme in my path (4-6 degrees in to out). Looking at the swing video, it also seems like I'm using a ton of axis tilt to get that attack angle. So my questions are:

1. Is there a "better" way for me to hit up on the ball that would not have such an impact on my path? Or some way for me to counteract its impact?
2. Should I be trying to hit up on the ball at all? I've seen a few of your videos on creating a 'flat spot' with the driver, which totally makes sense. But does that mean giving up on hitting up on the ball for more distance?

My swing speed is around 105 if it matters.

Hi Ryan,

It's a little hard to tell ball position in the video since it's cut off at the bottom. But that's something you can check. That's one of the big factors for hitting up vs down. Having the ball far enough past your left shoulder (Jon Rahm's posted trackman numbers showed he hit up on his driver around 5 degrees.
But yes, creating an overly in-to-out path can cause a new problem. I'd check the DTL view to see if you're losing your spine angle too much or if you're lacking in pelvis rotation. I'm unsure about the loss of posture. I think that could've part of the issue, but it's hard to see for sure from the face on video. Aside from the body position, the thing that makes me wonder is the height of the clubhead after impact.

As far as the flat spot, I think it's desireable for all golfers. It's not really flat as in zero angle of attack, but flat in a sense that you're decreasing the curvature of the ball. You're in luck, I have a video on that very topic coming out this week! I hope it helps connect some dots for you.

Happy golfing,
Tyler

Hitting up on driver the right way

Hitting up on driver the right way ¶

Re: Hitting up on driver the right way ¶