With your hands in the correct position, you will stand a better
chance of striking the ball on the downward arc of the swing
A couple weeks ago I talked about hand and ball position, and why it’s important to have the hands placed slightly ahead of the ball with your irons. Today I will go into greater detail of why it’s important and how to make t happen.
With your hands in the correct position (in front of the ball), you will stand a better chance of striking the ball on the downward arc of the swing. This is the proper way to strike a ball. It causes you to hit the ball before you hit the turf, enabling you to put backspin on the ball, which lifts it off the turf. With your hands in front of the ball at impact, this has the club trail the hands slightly so the shaft angles slightly backwards.
If your clubhead leads your hands, you have to be taking an improper arc into the ball, which is an upward or scooping arc instead of a downward striking arc.
A good drill to learn this proper angle of attack is putting most of your weight on your front leg and keeping it there. Place the ball in the center of your stance and use a higher lofted club. Now, keeping your left arm and the shaft of your club in a straight line, take only a half swing, like a pitch shot. Don’t break your wrists. Try to hit the ball as the club is traveling downward, never upward, and never flip or break your wrists. Your follow-through should be short, and your left arm and the shaft of your club should remain in a straight line even after impact.
This one motion will improve your game more than you can imagine.
Don DeLorenzo is a PGA-certified instructor at Gilroy Golf Course. To schedule a lesson with Don, call Gilroy GC at (408) 848-0490.
