Skying the Ball

by Louis
(golfswingfeeling.com)

I am skying the driver off the tee? What is causing this?

My Answer:

Hitting skied shots is actually the opposite of the top shot.

A skied shot happens when your club head strikes below the ball with the top of the driver face causing a skied shot! Has this ever happen to you?

Most annoying, because the ball goes nowhere except straight up in the air.

The reason for this shot is a forward lunge of the body, which causes a chop action at impact with the club.

A chop action is executed when the club has been lifted up too early and steeply in the back swing and most of your weight is on the right side (or remains on the left side.)

Then on the down swing the body lunges together with the weight transfer back to the left and the hands are ahead of the club head at impact.

This action brings the club head down to impact at a very steep angle with the ball, making contact with the top of the wood head face.

Evidence of skied shots can be found when the top of a wood has marks or scratches on it from the golf ball.

The Fix

Practice some back swings with the club staying as low as possible to the ground in your takeaway. The left arm and club should still be in a relatively straight line in this first phase of the back swing.

Make sure your shoulders get pulled along in this action by turning as much as possible towards your chin. This will help to get a wider arc on the back swing and the downswing with the club head. The result will then bring the club head into impact on a shallower angle and striking the ball with a sweep like action.

A false belief about skying is teeing the ball too high. This is not true, as it is the club head path that determines what trajectory the ball flies in. Skying is the result of a steep trajectory of the club head into impact.