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Guys and Gals,

Lately in the UK we have been having an unusually hot summer and most of our fairways are baked hard. I seem to be hitting some nice t-shot and often getting within wedge/9-iron distances. However i cannot begin to describe the number of these shots that i've ended up thinning over the green/at people beyond the green

During my round the other day i think i may have stumbled on the answer, it seems i was looking just behind the ball during the swing and i think this means i was striking the ground first by a hair causing the club to bounce off the hard turf and the resulting thinned shots. Tried adjusting my focus to the back portion of the ball and staying down on the shot and hey presto nice high shots with spin that atleast hit the green giving birdie/par potential. Try it if your having similar problems as i was. Any other suggestions to sort these problems?

Cheers.

Understand your problem as we experience firm conditions over here in summer. My number one concentration is to hit the golf ball first with the feeling that the club is penetrating the turf in a secondary motion. Creates a firm feeling and heaps of back spin. Good golfing, Graham

I hover the club just slightly at address to ensure ball first contact...also put the ball a bit back in the stance...

I've also had to adjust (in the UK as well). I just try and hit down on the ball, and not have as big a swing.

hit down on the ball, and stay down a little longer.

Make sure you are keeping your hands forward, ball back in your stance, and have a more upright swing plane. Then do not be afraid to accelerate through impact, which is hard for most people to trust and tend to decelerate causing all sorts of problems.

I went to this shot durring my tryouts and loved it...i was able to take my 56 100 yards(i had to take my 100 yard club out because i got a 3 wood) by driving it in low and spinning it to stop it and i really scored well because of it

my approach shots are working well with sand and pitch wedge by hitting down on ball with weight more on left foot,also keep my eyes on ball and let my body turn move my head and eyes naturally,also being in uk i have taken advantage of dry fairways and done some bump and runs with 9, 8, or 7 iron,if you shank these the punishment is not too bad as you are not swinging hard so ball doesnt go much further with shank as with proper shot.

When I have problems thinning the ball, I take a little shorter and slower swing. A few minutes on the practice tee gets things back in sync.

Moving the ball back just a bit in my stance has helped me with this.

Take a practive swing and pay attention to where your club hits the ground - this spot should line up with the middle of the ball not behind it.

I am a steep swinger anyway, but I have found the sweetspot more often this year and have gained considerable distance in my irons (5 iron now 195-200) without over-swinging.