When you want to get a lot of distance in golf, you need to hit the golf ball high.
The more time the ball spends in the air, the further it is going to go.
However, if you are hitting your driver too high, you will find that you will miss out on some distance.
There is undoubtedly a perfect apex at which you can hit your golf ball in order to get the best combination of distance and roll.
Sometimes the driver being hit too high is a matter of your own golf swing, and other times, it could be your equipment.
Here are five causes for hitting your driver too high and five ways to fix it.
Hitting Driver Too High (5 Causes, Fixes)
1. Low Compression Ball
Golf balls come with different compressions.
The compression of a golf ball is going to determine how difficult it is for a slower swinging golfer to get the distance.
Low compression golf balls are built to give the slower swinging player more loft and more distance.
Golfers with slower swing speed have a hard time getting the ball up in the air.
When you compress a golf ball properly, the ball will travel higher and further.
Although these low compression golf balls have revolutionized what the slower swinging golfer can do with their game, they are not ideal for the faster swinging players.
Fast swinging golfers who generate a lot of clubhead speed will have a hard time getting the low compression ball to fly at the right angle.
The ball will be working hard to get higher in the air, and golfers are going to have to hold back on their shots a bit just to get the proper ball flight.
Faster swinging golfers need to play with a higher compression golf ball.
Although higher compression balls are still going to fly quite high, they are not necessarily going to fly further.
You will need to find a golf ball that matches your golf swing speed and power.
If you end up playing with a golf ball that is not a good match for your game, the ball will likely start flying much too high.
If you need to find the proper compression for your game, try to do the Bridgestone ball fitting.
Although you won’t have to purchase a Bridgestone golf ball, it will let you know which ball makes the most sense for your game.
2. Teeing Too Low
A golf ball that is teed too low could be going too high on the drives.
Most players will think that this is counterintuitive, but it is not.
A golf ball hit on the lower portion of the golf driver is actually missing the sweet spot.
When a golf ball hits the club’s sweet spot, it has all the information and features it needs to take to the air at the proper angle.
You will want an arc on your shot, and the apex of that shot is quite essential.
The apex will determine where the ball stops traveling up and when it starts heading toward the ground.
If you hit the golf ball with the lower portion of the driver, you can expect that the golf ball is going to launch too high into the air.
If the ball is teed too high, you may actually lose a bit of height in your ball’s flight.
The idea is that, in order to get the exact launch angle you need from your clubs, you will have to line the ball up with the center of the clubface on the driver.
If you have just purchased a new driver, it may take you a little while to find the exact tee height position.
If you are a person who struggles with finding the right golf tee height, look for golf tees with markings on them.
These markings will show the height of the ball and where it needs to be so that you can get something consistent for your game.
For the most part, with a larger-headed golf driver, you should tee it so that about half of the ball sticks out over the top of the driver’s head.
When half of the ball is above the top of the club, you will be able to make contact with the ball in the exact location you need.
Spend some time on the driving range working on golf tee height.
Although this seems like a simple and basic golf concept, you won’t want to waste a great swing on a golf ball that was not teed up to the right height.
The interesting thing about this cause for hitting the driver too high is that most amateur golfers make it much harder on themselves.
When golfers tend to hit one drive that goes too high, they start to lower their golf tee.
The more you lower it, the more difficult it will be to get the ball flight you are looking for.
3. Upright Golf Swing
The angle of your golf swing will impact the flight of the ball.
If your swing is too upright, chances are you will hit the golf ball too high in the air.
An upright golf swing usually means that, as the club goes back, it will be above the swing plane.
This upright backswing causes the angle of attack into the golf ball to be very steep.
When you have a steep angle, it often causes the ball to head up too high in the air.
There are a few things you can do to start to shallow out your swing and decrease the angle of attack in your swing.
When you shallow your golf swing out, you will want to take the club back a little lower and slower as well.
This low and slow backswing keeps the club slightly on or below the swing plane.
As long as a golfer can keep their arms connected to the body on the downswing, the club should stay on the proper plane.
When you take a more upright golf swing, chances are your hands and arms are going to be very involved.
Hands can pull a club up too quickly, and then it will be very hard to get the club on the proper plane.
Golfers who learn to use their larger muscles in their golf swing tend to have an easier time keeping the golf club on the proper plane.
If you are a player who needs to work on the swing plane, look for a local golf course that has a swing plane circle.
Usually, this is made of PVC, but it is essentially a large circle that is set at an angle.
The angle helps you to rest the club on the proper plane and complete your swing on this plane.
These are usually a bit large and expensive for at-home use, but many golf courses have one that players are allowed to use.
When you set up in this swing training device, you will probably be able to clearly see if the upright swing is what is causing your drives to be too high.
4. Shaft Weight Too Light
Another reason you may be hitting your driver too high is that the golf shaft is too light.
Lighter golf shafts are much easier to swing, and therefore, they are also easier to launch.
Golfers with faster swing speeds need to play with driver shafts that are heavier.
When you purchase a stock driver, you are going to notice that it is a mid-weight shaft.
The mid weight shafts are perfect for the average swing speed player.
If you are a golfer with a very fast swing speed, you may want to consider getting a custom fit for a golf shaft.
A custom fitting will let you determine the proper weight to get you the ball flight you need.
When getting fit for a custom shaft, you will also need to look at the kick point of the golf club.
The low kick point drivers tend to hit the ball quite a bit higher.
A high kick point driver will keep the ball flight down.
Whatever driver you decide to go with, you must make sure the golf club’s specifications are a good match for your golf swing.
If you don’t want to pay for a custom fitting, you must spend some time hitting golf clubs that you have not tried to play with in the past.
5. Wrong Loft on Driver
Last but certainly not least, you may be hitting the driver too high because you have a club with the wrong loft.
The average loft for a driver is around 10.5 degrees.
Sometimes you will find drivers with 9.5 while others will be offered at 11.5.
For average players, 10.5 degrees of loft seems to be a perfect fit.
For players who have very fast or slow swing speeds, the loft is going to make a significant impact when it comes to ball flight and the apex of the golf shot.
We highly recommend using something around 10.5 degrees of loft.
If that seems too high for you, then it may be a good idea to get a driver with an adjustable loft.
The great thing about a driver with an adjustable loft is that you can change the loft if your swing happens to change a little.
If your golf swing is a bit inconsistent, the adjustable driver will help you narrow down the proper loft for your golf game.
Driver adjustability can also allow players to adjust the overall ball flight as well.
You may be able to change your golf shots to more of a fade or draw bias.
This, in turn, could help you control the height of the drives you hit as well.
If you have a non-adjustable driver, but the loft is too high for you, this will be a difficult problem to fix without switching to a new club.
When you purchase a new driver, pay close attention to the price difference for something that is adjustable.
Chances are the difference in price will be well justified by having that flexibility.
Conclusion
Getting a good ball flight on your driver is a good thing.
You get much more distance when the ball travels up high in the sky.
If you want to get this kind of distance, however, you must make sure the ball is not flying too high.
Golf shots that travel too high in the sky are going to end up losing some distance.
Luckily, the fixes for hitting a driver too high are relatively simple and mostly equipment based.
Learning how to control what your equipment does and making sure your swing is on the plane will undoubtedly help you get your drives back to an appropriate angle.
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