Swing Tip: How to Hit the Golf Ball Higher

Have you ever watched in envy as a PGA Tour player launched an iron shot way up into the sky, allowing the ball to drop gently onto the green and stop within a few feet of where it landed?

Most golf fans are amazed at how high Tour players are able to hit their shots, and they don’t just do it for show. Hitting the ball high is an extremely valuable skill which permits the player to stop the ball quickly even on firm courses.

If you are tired of hitting low shots that seem to bounce and roll forever, we hope the advice in this article will help you raise your trajectory.

With the Driver, It’s Simple

Before we get into the discussion of how to hit high iron shots, let’s first start with a quick mention of the driver.

Hitting your driver high might not be as important as hitting your irons way up in the sky, since you don’t need to stop your driver shots quickly after they land (usually). Still, it’s nice to produce a high trajectory with this club, as doing so will help you maximize distance and carry hazards.

To bring your ball flight up, make sure to tee the ball plenty high and stay behind it as you swing. Those who struggle to get the driver up in the air usually are sliding past the ball to the left (for a right-handed golfer) during the downswing.

Remember that golf is a rotational game and you want to do your best to just turn back and through to produce each shot.

With the ball teed high and no slide to the left in the downswing, you should see a nice trajectory that allows your ball to carry well down the fairway.

With Irons, Up Starts with Down

Golf can be a confusing game, and one of the tricky components is the fact that you need to hit down on the ball with your irons to get the ball to fly high.

This seems counter-intuitive, of course, but it’s how the game works. Swinging the club aggressively down through the ball will add backspin, and backspin is going to help the shot climb high in the air as it flies. Also, the ball should stop quickly when it lands thanks to all that backspin, so it’s really a win-win situation.

Have you ever noticed how professional golfers seem to take a nice divot after each of their iron shots? That’s because they are hitting down through impact.

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But here’s the thing – it’s possible to go too far in this direction. If you start thinking that it’s good to hit down – so you hit down as hard and as steep as possible – you won’t like the results.

For one thing, the ball will come out with a really low launch angle, and no amount of backspin will allow it to climb as high as you would like. Also, you may wind up hurting your hands, wrists, or arms as a result of this steep swing, since you’ll be slamming the club into the ground with significant force.

Ideally, you’ll be able to swing through impact on a path that takes the club down through the ball, but only moderately. The right swing path will lead to a long and shallow divot, rather than a short and deep one.

Make a Great Turn

Another important element in hitting the ball high is producing plenty of speed. More speed in your swing means an increased ability to produce spin, and we’ve already talked about how that spin can move the ball higher into the sky.

To work toward a more powerful swing, pay attention to your backswing turn. This is where power starts, so give yourself the time necessary to turn fully away from the target before starting your downswing.

The importance of a good turn doesn’t stop at the top of your backswing, but the point of emphasis does change.

Going back, you should be focused on your shoulders doing the work of turning away from the target. Then, as the backswing transitions to the downswing, you’ll want to move that focus down into your hips.

As you swing down toward the ball, it should be your hips that are leading the way, turning hard to the left (again, for a right-handed golfer). It’s the combination of shoulder turn in the backswing and hip turn in the downswing that can lead to powerful results.

Don’t Force It

Yes – high iron shots are great, and you should work toward moving your trajectory a little higher up into the air. But don’t go so far as to ruin the golf swing mechanics you have in place while chasing a higher flight.

It’s certainly possible to play good golf – and have plenty of fun – while hitting the ball lower. In fact, there are even professional golfers who don’t hit the ball all that high, and they have plenty of under-par scores to their names.

The key is to execute proper mechanics and go from there. If good swing mechanics mean you hit a high ball, that’s great – but don’t worry too much if your shots are still a bit lower than your playing partners. As long as you are executing your swing consistently and doing the many other important things you need to do on the course to play well, a low ball flight shouldn’t hold you back too much.

Higher shots won’t automatically lead to lower scores, but they are nice to have on your side. Not only should you be able to stop the ball quicker with high iron shots, but you can also carry hazards, get the ball over trees, etc.

There are a number of benefits to enjoy, but only after you do the work on the range to successfully create a higher flight. During your next practice session, experiment with some of the ideas included in this article to see if you can find your way to a higher trajectory.