Low ball flight can be an advantage when hitting shots into the wind. On a dry course, it can also help you get extra roll. However, if you’re always hitting it low, you generally lose carry distance and control. Whether it’s your irons or your driver, you should be able to adjust your ball flight and make key changes to maximize distance and accuracy. Here’s why your ball flight is so low and the adjustments you can make to fix it.
Check your spin rates and go for a club fitting
Sometimes, the issues you have with ball flight are not directly related to your swing or setup but have more to do with your equipment. Too little spin results in shots that stay low and fall short quickly.
Go for a club fitting or use a launch monitor to determine if an equipment issue potentially causes your spin rates to be too low. This table gives you some ideal spin rates for a driver. Use this as a guideline when you are testing your current equipment.
| Swing Speed Category | Spin Rate (rpm) | Peak Height (feet) |
|---|---|---|
| Very Fast (105+ mph) | 1750-2300 | 100-120 |
| Fast (97-104 mph) | 2000-2500 | 87-100 |
| Average (84-96 mph) | 2400-2700 | 70-86 |
| Slow (72-83 mph) | 2600-2900 | 58-70 |
| Ladies (<72 mph) | 2600-2900 | 45-58 |
Correct your ball position
Ball position has a big impact on your ball flight.
Placing the ball too far back in your stance can create a de-lofted angle of attack, making it difficult to get the ball high enough.
For most irons, place the ball slightly forward of center. With the driver, the ball moves further forward of the center, off the front heel. If you want more information on the proper ball placement for iron shots check out our complete guide.
Minimize forward shaft lean
Hitting a golf shot with your hands ahead of the ball is correct.
If you exaggerate this position it will keep your shots lower. Have you seen golfers on the range with their hands so far forward that they look like they are going to hit a slap shot?
At address, make sure your hands are in line with the golf ball. You don’t have to push them so far ahead that they deloft your clubface. Practice some half-swing shots where you work on hands leading but not forcing this position.
Aim for a more neutral grip
A grip is considered strong when the lead hand (for a right-handed golfer) is twisted more to the right and the trail hand ends up more on the underside of the club. This gives the trail hand more control of the face. Strong grips can create lower ball flights.
Aim for a neutral grip in which you see two knuckles on your top hand when looking down at the ball.
Also, make sure your clubs’ grips are in good condition and don’t slide in your hands when you swing. If your hands slide on the grip, you may unintentionally shift to a strong grip in the backswing.
Adjust your strike point
If you hit shots low on the face of your clubs (both irons and driver), your launch angle will be lower and you’ll have a hard time getting the correct peak height.
Start by identifying if this is an issue in your game.
Use impact tape or foot spray on the clubface to see where you’re making contact. While you don’t need to add this as a swing thought to hit great iron shots, the ideal strike location is about four or five grooves up on the face of an iron.
With the driver, the best contact point is slightly above the center.
To fix low strikes, try these adjustments:
- Tee it higher with your driver.
- Feel a slight upward attack angle for better height with the longer clubs.
- Shift a little more pressure onto your front foot at impact to ensure a cleaner, higher strike.
- Check your swing plane to make sure the club is not coming in too shallow
Improve body movement and weight shift
At impact, if your body moves too far ahead of the golf ball, you’ll reduce the loft in the clubhead and hit lower shots. You may have heard the concept of hitting against a firm lead side.
To hit into the lead side correctly, make sure you are loading your trail side properly on the backswing.
On the downswing, don’t lunge forward.
To avoid that exaggerated slide through the ball, gradually shift your weight to the lead side. Keep your head behind the ball.
My favorite way to practice this is by swinging with my feet together. It trains balance and prevents excessive forward movement. You could also place an alignment stick in the ground against your lead side and ensure you don’t bump it on the way down.
Final thoughts
Addressing low ball flight typically involves making small adjustments rather than major swing overhauls. Use technology to identify issues and then work things out with simple drills like hitting shots with your feet together.
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