"Floating" the driver head at address / setup

Hi All,

Just to seek some opinions on the above.

For the past 9 months, I have been addressing the ball with my driver with the driver resting on the green, with about the 1/2 the ball visible above the crown of the driver. I have been hiiting the ball high and losing distance. It happen to be because my left shoulder comes up very fast. I managed to "fix" it but I still lose distance.

On Friday i tried something different.

at address, with the ball height still the same, just before my back swing, I lift the driver head about 1/2 inch above the ground,( I achieve this by straightening my wrist, which results in the driver head lifting off the ground) waggle a bit, backswing and hit the ball. the flight of the ball seems more penetrating and carry alone seems further. Tried this will all my hybrids and wood and it seems to be better.

Anyone does the same as me?

I hover my clubhead at address when playing golf. All clubs.

I learnt it eons ago reading Greg Norman's book on how it will promote a smooth takeaway and prevent 'snatching' at the start.

Back then, persimmon woods were the hot choice of players but the habit has stuck with me all these years that I barely am aware of it anymore.

It wun do my ball flight or traj any different than when I ground my club. I have tried. All it helps is my tempo which isn't a bad thing to do.

Hi Winston, A flightmate of mine does that all the time. It seems to work for him. Like you, his ball flight is also low and penetrating. I tried it but do not seem to work as I think to push the ball.

I thot tis hovering was to ease off tension, relax the swing.....did not know there's such an effect.
Thanks for sharing

I do that...for driver and even for putting. At least for me, the whole idea is not to duff the driver and putter.....

Cool...will experiment this week.

S70B wrote:

I hover my clubhead at address when playing golf. All clubs.

I learnt it eons ago reading Greg Norman's book on how it will promote a smooth takeaway and prevent 'snatching' at the start.

Hi S708,

Thanks. Just to check, does your club head touch the ground just before the start of the back swing? I see many hover the club at address, and just before the back swing, the club head touches the ground for a split second before they start the back swing.

Winston wrote:

Hi All,

.... le a bit, backswing and hit the ball. the flight of the ball seems more penetrating and carry alone seems further. Tried this will all my hybrids and wood and it seems to be better.

Anyone does the same as me?

I do hover my driver and it does give me a sense of smooth tempo of takeaway ( fyi, my takeaway is very slow ) However, sometime when I got tired around the 16th holes, My hand shake when I hover my driver Heeee

I never try on my wood (without tee) as I already having problem hitting my wood solid .. If I am going hover it, it will give me a feeling that I am going "top" the ball for sure.

Some age old advice is timeless.

This is the article I was talking about. It has stayed with me for more than 15yrs.

http://www.shark.com/sharkwatch/instruction/lesson15.php

PS: Notice his driver is persimmon.

asahi wrote:

I thot tis hovering was to ease off tension, relax the swing.....did not know there's such an effect.
Thanks for sharing

Hi Asahi, just some additional info regarding ball position for driver,

Using the above method of hovering the club head of the driver, when I place the ball on the inside of my left foot, I tend to draw the ball, if I place the ball in between my left leg and centre of body, I get a "straight" flight.

I think my driver specs has something to do with it. I am using a 9.5* driver.

Please do bear in mind that I am no expert. just trying to get more feedback.

Oh yeah, one more thing, I feel more club weight on my right hand compared to my left hand.

S70B wrote:

Some age old advice is timeless.

This is the article I was talking about. It has stayed with me for more than 15yrs.

http://www.shark.com/sharkwatch/instruction/lesson15.php

PS: Notice his driver is persimmon.

Hi S708,

Thanks for the link. great reading!!!!!!!

Me.... No grounding means if I accidentally push the ball off the tee (which I did in numerous occasions), no penalty stroke incurred (I read it some times ago but can't recall where)

S70B wrote:

Some age old advice is timeless.

This is the article I was talking about. It has stayed with me for more than 15yrs.

http://www.shark.com/sharkwatch/instruction/lesson15.php

PS: Notice his driver is persimmon.

Thanks for sharing. And to think that this was 15 years ago...!

You r welcome.

Do check out the rest of his tips. I still practice and follow many of his advices and lessons till this day.

http://www.shark.com/sharkwatch/instruction/

Rex, thanks for sharing. I am trying get a consistent tempo, so far failed miserably. Will give this a try.