Struggling with crisp contact and drop-kicking? Try these 2 quick fixes

If you’ve ever struggled with drop-kicking — the act of hitting the ground before the ball, and then bouncing the clubface into the ball instead of striking it cleanly — you know that it’s among golf’s most frustrating maladies. But how can you fix it?

I asked instructor Stefanie Shaw, a teaching professional at Ocean Reef Golf Club in Key Largo, Fla., for her advice.

“Many players, and especially women, tend to not swing fast enough,” she said. “And if your swing is slowing down as you get close to the ball, you have a better chance of hitting the ground first.”

Luckily, there’s a solution. Ready to rid yourself of those drop-kicks? Try these two quick fixes.

Put the ball farther back in your stance

Positioning the ball farther back in your stance will reduce your chances of hitting the ground before the ball, Shaw said.

Tee the ball up higher

Teeing the ball up higher can help you force yourself to swing a bit more up on the ball, avoiding the dreaded drop-kick.

Give these simple tips a try, and bid those drop-kicks farewell for good.

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Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.