Hit if Farther

IMPROVE YOUR DISTANCE BY IMPROVING YOUR IMPACT POSITION

By: David E. Collins PGA Golf Professional

The most important fundamental to hit it farther is to be in the correct position prior to impact, through impact, and right after impact. All TOUR Players swings have their unique qualities but they all have a flat left wrist and a bent right wrist through the impact area.

So, how do you improve that position. I can tell you it is not by trying to hold your wrists in the correct position when you are taking your full swing. YOU WILL HOLD THE CLUB TO TIGHTLY AND YOU WILL NOT GET THE DESIRED RESULTS. How you achieve this position through impact is by doing the following drill.

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DRILL YOU CAN DO and it is really simple. Chip the ball between five and fifteen yards. That is it. What this does is give the sensation of having a flat left wrist and a bent right wrist through the impact zone at a speed at which you can feel it. After you are able to hit this little chip shot correctly, you will see immense improvement in your FULL SWING. You can also do this drill with wiffle balls or without hitting the ball, as long as you hold your finish and make sure you have done it correctly.

PLEASE NOTE- The wrists are quiet throughout the chip shot. You will know if you have done the drill correctly if when you are finished, the butt end of the club does not point at your body, and you have a flat left wrist and a bent right wrist.

WHY IS THIS THE MOST IMPORTANT DRILL?

1. When you take the club to the top of the back swing and start down correctly, there is a last bit of wrist cock at the top of the back swing (setting the club) that allows the club to lag behind the hands entering the impact zone. (The setting of the club happens automatically if you are relaxed.) Simultaneously, the torque built up by the rotation of your shoulders and hips is putting pressure on the shaft of the club to release. If you do the chipping drill correctly, the muscles in your hands and arms will be strong enough to hold the club from releasing too early in the down swing, which will allow you to keep the power stored. Ultimately, the force on the shaft wins out and the wrists release right after impact, which is exactly what you want. This is how the TOUR Players hit the ball so far and so straight. And the chipping drill also gives you the sensation of how to start the downswing correctly with your shoulders, hips, and feet.

IN SIMPLER TERMS: Everything in the last part of the back swing and downswing happens automatically. Do the chip shot drill religiously and the muscle memory will transfer into your full swing.

2. It teaches you how to have the club head approach the ball from inside the target line. All TOUR Players’ club heads approach the ball from inside the target line and most novices release the club too early and approach the ball from outside the target line. (Coming over the top) When the club approaches from outside the target line, the subconscious mind freezes the wrists so you won’t hit the ball dead left two feet in the air. The subconscious mind also has the arms slide away from the body which makes the ball slice.

3. It teaches you eye-hand coordination.

4. It teaches you how to compress the ball on the face of the club. When the club head first makes contact with the ball, it makes contact with the inside quadrant of the ball, the ball then compresses onto the clubface. At this time the clubface is not square to the target. As this is happening, the shoulder and hip rotation are squaring the clubface. The ball stays on the clubface for about 3/4 of an inch and much less than a second. After the ball is compressed as much as it can be, it ballistically leaves the club face at a right angle to where the clubface is pointing. It should feel like the ball is jumping off the clubface versus the clubface slapping the ball. Another way to think about it is, if you dropped a golf ball on pavement it would compress on the pavement and rebound up. If you dropped a golf ball on grass it would not rebound as far up as from the cement. The more you can keep the shaft leaning toward the target through the impact zone, the more the ball will compress on the face, which will make the ball go straighter and farther.

5. It will improve your short game.