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Been rising up out of the shot while hitting my irons lately. Usually happens on fairway lies. When I'm in the rough with a pretty good lie, I don't have a problem because I am able to keep that down and through sensation. I've had a lot of good approach opportunities lately that I've either caught thin or just hit worm burners. Anyone have any good tips on staying down for iron shots?

I am not a low scoring golfer but I usually am a pretty good ball striker. Not doing either equals misery on the golf course.

just stay down on the ball

you stay down on the ball, the ball will do the opposite and come back up.

There could be numerous reason for this. The one that comes to mind in my case is not relaxing my elbows at full extension after impact, particularly my left at or near hip high on target line. My cure is to work backwards from a full follow through to a full back swing rehearsing the feel of a complete swing. I then think about my finish position as a swing thought and try to hold it for a few seconds after the shot. This usually fixes me up pretty quick because working backwards, I naturally relax my elbows.

Could be mental. Try to focus on the reward of that feeling when you know the ball is on target without even looking at it. Any time a problem develops in one area such as you describe, a certain anxiety slips in every time you are in that position, which usually causes the muscles to tighten up. So instead of trying to prevent the mistake, think of the positive, even if you have to "trick" your mind by pretending you are in the rough.

Someone told me Golf is a lot like prayer, most people do it much better with their head down. When I'm having problems looking up I tell myself "Pray David Pray" and let my playing partner watch where it goes. It may not go exactly where I want it to but at least its not topped or something else disasterous(sp?)

Dr. D

Lot of good points in this thread...some of it may be that you don't mind taking a gouge out of the rough but you just cringe at the thought of taking a huge gouge out of such a nice manicured fairway.

Shade's mantra for beginners: Clubs are meant to be played first, admired second. Fairways are meant to be played first, admired second. Rounds are meant to be played first, admired second. Golf is fun...moreso when you get good at it. But even though golf is a pastoral stroll (sometimes a march ) it's no game for the timid if you want to excel and be able to relax and have even more fun. Take your fair gouge out of the short grass, roots and all, and enjoy the game.

Shade

Try to keep your head up! Head up at address might help. Not the torso, just the head, so you are looking down a little more.

Are you afraid of hitting fat? That could cause it.

Straightening the back can sometimes steady the impact position, or a straighter left arm as well.

Could be simply that you are too quick with the body and the arms can't keep up. You could try a downswing in which the body pauses in the impact position while the arms go through. The body should slow a little anyway because the arms slow down coming into impact.

Keeping the head up is solid advice Steve, but contradictory to what we all have heard repeatedly, "Keep your head down!", so what gives? The OP suggested this is an intermitent issue, so I didn't get into the mechanics, but since you brought it up, seems to be a worthy discussion which desreves expansion.

Considering the spine from a downrange view, it is desirable to have it in as straight a line as possible (not vertical, but straight as in as few curves as possible), which serves to facilitate shoulder, or upper toso rotation. Holding the head up at address helps reduce the ammount of forward curvature in the upper spine. Keeping the head down increases that curvature. But the other end of the spine is important too, because the lower portion has an inward curve if the hips are extended out to the rear. In order to complete the straight spine at address position, roll the pelvis under and forward (tucking the tush) so that the pelvis is more under the spine than behind it. This setup adjustment relieves all pressure from the lower back and engages the quads and hams in providing a solid brace of the lower body, which in turn helps to prevent the rising body during the down swing.

"Keeping the head down" is one of the worst bits of golf advice out there IMO. The objective is to keep the head the same distance from the ground throughout the swing, or level.

Here is an excellent link which gets into more detail about the causes of body raising during the swing:

My TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) - Your Source for Golf Fitness, Exercises and Health

I've always heard that rising up was a balance issue...you lose your balance on the downswing for whatever reason (dipping your left shoulder in the backswing, standing too far from the ball and reaching) and the standing up is actually a catching of the balance...try placing your feet a little wider apart and focusing on putting your weight evenly distributed on the inside soles of your feet from heel to toe...then swing in control...it should help...

I think that this is spot on. I seem to have this problem when I "forget" to just rotate right and left. When I am best is when there is no slide, no up-and-down -- just pure rotation. When there is unwanted up-and-down motion -- like from dipping my front shoulder -- that's when I get the fats/thins sometimes caused by this rising up.

I think that while the above is a large part of the issue, a root cause could be an unconscious desire to "help" the ball in the air. Your subconscious desperately knows that you really, really want to get the ball up in the air. And, almost always when you want something to go in a certain direction, you hit in that direction. But, you have to remember that the club is designed to hit things up in the air when being struck down. You have to unlearn the hit up impulse and learn that the physics of the club design do indeed work. That you can (and should) hit down and through.

Some very good replies. I was hitting the ball beautifully for a while until last round which was horrible. One of those rounds that make you want to quit, complete with club throwing and all (I was alone so I didn't make a spectacle in front of everyone).

Balance is and always has been my number one problem. I always back out of the shot. Even if I hit a good shot - I usually wind up taking one or two steps backward. I do so many drills to help me stay balanced and just can't seem to get it. It's not from a lack of athleticism (I play ice hockey). It's gotta be a flaw which has evaded me since I started playing. Every few weeks I feel like I swing the club totally in control; able to hold my finish position and watch the ball flight after an effortless swing. But I usually can only maintain it for about a week and it's gone as fast as it arrived.

Took some lessons earlier in the season and the pro adjusted my ball position as he said it was way too far back and I was hitting off my back foot. He also had me strengthen my grip. This made a lot of sense and it did work but balance issues still creep in from time to time, even with the ball position forward in my stance.

The pro also showed me that I was casting from the top and as most people know, regrooving a swing from the inside is not easy. However, I did it and was striking the ball great but last round I was pulling and hooking everything which makes me think I am coming over the top again.

The post that mentions the body out racing the arms is interesting too. Tempo is also a problem for me as I feel I can never lock in a specific tempo and when my swing goes south I feel that everything is rushed.

Ususally, when I swing in balnce everything else falls into place. I just can't figure out how to do it on a consistent basis.

Athletic people have it worse especially you're a Hockey player. We tend to throw our body to get a powerful swing. In any case, if you can't fix your temp to slow it down ( I've been working on it for 25 years and fixed it many times but it always comes back ) I can suggest (2) method below. It could salvage your worst round or help you eventually to fix it.

1. Natural Golf : Mo knows something somehow you can swing as hard as you can and still shoot it straight. You'd sacrifice some distance but hey, it could save a round.

2. Stack&Tilt - there is a extensive discussion and instruction material in this forum. It could save you from rising up and to prevent reverse pivot.

Cheers!

Rising before impact often has something to do with wanting to know where the ball has gone before you've actually hit it. It happens with putting too. I worked with one player who had this problem and by getting him to TRUST himself he went out and equalled the course record. I got him to find his still center and then trust his execution of the stroke. He had shot an 80 the previous day.
Balance can be improved by working with a personal trainer with a qualification in golf fitness. I knew someone here who really knew his stuff.