Trying to lift the golf ball is the single most common instinct that holds golfers back, leading directly to the frustrating habit of scooping. It feels natural to help the ball get airborne, but this impulse is actually the root of thin shots, chunky hits, and a major loss of power. This guide will show you precisely why you scoop, how to replace that move with a powerful, crisp action, and provide clear, actionable drills to make solid contact a regular part of your game.
Scooping, at its core, comes from a misunderstanding of how a golf ball gets into the air. When you look down at a ball sitting on the grass, your brain’s non-golfing intuition kicks in and says, "To make that go up, I need to get under it and lift it." This simple, yet flawed, premise causes a series of cascading compensations in your swing.
Your hands and wrists become the star players, trying to do a job that the club itself was designed for. As you approach the ball, instead of letting your body rotate and pull the club through, your wrists flip or "flick" in an attempt to get the clubhead under and ahead of your hands. This motion, known as an early release or "casting," bottoms out the swing arc too early. What happens next? A collection of golf’s most dreaded shots:
In short, when you scoop, you are actively working against the physics that make a golf shot powerful and consistent. The club’s loft is what gets the ball airborne, your job is to deliver that loft correctly.
The antidote to scooping is a concept the pros call "compression." It sounds technical, but the idea is simple: you must hit the ball first, then the turf. This creates that beautiful, small divot that appears just in front of where your ball used to be. This downward strike is what allows the club to do its work properly.
Think posters of famous golfers at impact. What do they all have in common? Their hands are noticeably ahead of the clubhead. This position, called "forward shaft lean," effectively delofts the club slightly at impact, squeezes the ball against the clubface, and uses the club’s built-in loft to launch the ball high and with spin. This is the opposite of the scooping motion, where the clubhead has passed the hands before impact.
So, how do we achieve this powerful impact position? It’s not about hitting "down" with your arms and shoulders in a steep, chopping motion. It’s the result of a correct swing sequence:
Your goal is to stop being a "lifter" and become a "rotator." A rotator trusts the club. A rotator lets the body lead. And a rotator compresses the ball for pure, soaring shots.
Breaking the scoop habit means reprogramming your swing from the ground up. Let’s focus on the key checkpoints that encourage solid, downward contact.
A good swing is much easier to make from a good setup. If you start in a position that promotes scooping, you'll be fighting an uphill battle.
This is where muscle memory is built. The feeling of a proper downswing is very different from the feel of a scoop.
Understanding the theory is great, but ingraining the new feeling requires practice. These drills are designed to give you direct feedback and build the right habits.
This is one of the most effective drills ever invented to cure scooping. It gives you instant, undeniable feedback.
Why it works: If you hang back on your trail foot and scoop, your swing arc will bottom out early and you will hit the towel first. To miss the towel, you are forced to shift your weight forward and create a downward angle of attack, striking the ball and then the ground. It exaggerates the feel of compressing the ball.
An impact bag is a fantastic training aid because it allows you to rehearse the moment of truth over and over, building muscle memory without the pressure of a full swing.
Why it works: This drill physically trains you to achieve a pros-like impact position. You can’t scoop an impact bag effectively. You learn to lead with your lower body and deliver the club with a solid, flat left wrist (for right-handers), stopping the flip once and for all.
This is a drill you can do with a live ball that isolates the impact zone, removing the complexities of the full backswing and follow-through.
Why it works: By shrinking the swing, you have more mental bandwidth to focus on what really matters: your body sequence and the feeling of trapping the ball. Well-struck shots will come out low, with backspin, and feel incredibly solid. This is the feeling you want to scale up to your full swing.
Ultimately, stopping the scoop means fundamentally changing your swing concept from one of lifting to one of striking down and through. It's about letting your body lead the way and trusting that the club’s loft will do its job to send the ball flying high and true. Practice these drills, focus on the feeling of a forward weight shift and body rotation, and that solid, compressed contact will soon become second nature.
As you work on this, getting objective feedback is immensely helpful. When you find yourself in a tricky situation on the course - a tough lie in the rough or a hardpan fairway - it's easy to revert to old habits like scooping. With our app, Caddie AI, you can snap a photo of your ball's lie and get instant, pro-level advice on exactly how to play the shot. This helps you commit to the correct technique with confidence, building good habits even under pressure.
Thinking about hosting a golf tournament fundraiser is the first swing, executing it successfully is what gets the ball in the hole. This guide will walk you through the entire process, step-by-step, from laying the initial groundwork months in advance to watching your happy golfers tee off. We’ll cover everything from securing sponsors and setting your budget to planning the on-course fun that makes an event unforgettable.
A golf handicap does more than just give you bragging rights (or a reason to demand strokes from your friends) - it’s the game’s great equalizer and the single best way to track your improvement. This guide breaks down what a handicap is, how the supportive math behind a handicap index a is, and exactly how you can get one for yourself. We’ll look at everything from Course Rating to Adjusted Gross Score, helping you feel confident both on the course and in the clubhouse.
The compression of a Pinnacle Rush golf ball is one of its most defining features, engineered specifically to help a huge swath of golfers get more distance and enjoyment from their game. We'll break down exactly what its low compression means, who it's for, and how you can use that knowledge to shoot lower scores.
Figuring out which spikes go into your new (or old) pair of Puma golf shoes can feel like a puzzle, but it’s much simpler than you think. The key isn't the brand of the shoe, but the type of receptacle system they use. This guide will walk you through exactly how to identify your Puma's spike system, choose the perfect replacements for your game, and change them out like a pro.
The Golf Genius app is one of the best tools for managing and participating in competitive golf events, but figuring it out for the first time can feel like reading a new set of greens. This guide cuts through the confusion and shows you exactly how to use the app as a player. We’ll cover everything from logging into your tournament and entering scores to checking the live leaderboard so you can enjoy the competition without any tech headaches.
Walking onto the first tee with sweaty palms, worried you’ll be a good partner to paly wtih...or even asked back again ...We’ve all been there - trust me! The real trick of feeling confortable... is about how you handle you’re ready to plsy. THIS guide explains the simple rules of the rode to show you hnow t play golf while staying calm relaxed and focused... an having much morse fun while you,',re aat it? You'll also play with confidence a dn make fiendsa while you're at i
Just ask a question or share a photo and Caddie gives personalized guidance for every shot - anytime, anywhere.
