In this weeks golf lesson, I will be talking about the proper way to impact the golf ball - an extremely important topic that many amateur golfers aren't aware of OR don't spend enough time practicing!  Throughout my time as an instructor, so many of my students have asked me, "How do you hit your irons so far?!"  As a joke, I always respond, "Swing faster!!!"  Although this is slightly true, being that the quicker you swing the club (the more club speed you generate), the further you are likely to hit the ball.  BUT, you could swing the club 200 mph, if you aren't impacting the ball properly, you will not get the distance that you have the potential to get!

To begin, I think it's important for you as a golfer to visually see what proper impact looks like.  Below is a swing sequence of pro golfer, Sergio Garcia. For this portion of the lesson, specifically look at the second and third pictures.



As you can see in the third sequence, Sergio's hands are slightly in front of the ball when he makes his impact, and his hips have already cleared through the shot and his belt buckle is now pointing towards his target. THIS IS PROPER IMPACT POSITION! By doing so, Sergio is able to build tension in his club, and when properly impacted, can hit a pure and long iron shot!

Many amateur golfers have a hard time of finding this position because a lot of times they are "casting" or "flipping" the club on their downswing.  "Casting" the club is a term that is used to refer to an early release in the downswing which can prevent a player from getting the hands in front of the ball for a proper impact.  Below is an example of a golfer "casting" his club in his downswing:



As you can see, this golfers hands are way behind the ball when he impacts.  There is hardly any tension built up at impact and more importantly, this golfer has actually INCREASED the loft of his club face, which as we know promotes a higher, shorter shot and improper impact.

HOW DO WE FIX IT THIS AND GET TO OUR DESIRED IMPACT POSITION?

First of all, when practicing impact, don't get discouraged!  This concept is one of the most difficult things for amateur golfers to achieve and takes a lot of patience and a ton of practice! Work hard, be open to change, and as I always tell my students, if something you're practicing feels "weird" or "uncomfortable," there's a good chance you're doing it right, because what you were used to doing before probably wasn't!

So, one of my favorite and simplest ways to try and teach someone to get to the proper impact position is to imagine that your hands are in a race with the club face! YOUR HANDS MUST BEAT THE CLUB FACE TO THE BALL!  As you can see if the second picture of Sergio Garcia, his hands are significantly beating the club face to the ball - Sergio wins the race :)  He has created "lag" in his downswing and his club face is well behind his hands.  

A great drill for you to practice to help get you into the proper impact position is to take the club back half way, point the club upwards towards the sky, stop and check yourself, and keep the club face behind your hands, continually turning your hips through the swing.  Below is a video I put together to show this drill:

Do this drill, focusing on keeping the club face behind your hands, and it will help you to get an idea of the feeling you'll want to have to create that club lag.  Feel free to do it slow a few times, then pick up the speed once you get the hang of it, eventually moving to a full swing.

BE PATIENT, WORK HARD, ENJOY THE STRUGGLE, AND HAVE FUN!

Check back in for my future blog posts/lessons!

Good Luck!

P.S. A big thanks to Ron Manter at Golf Etc. in Rochester, MI for helping me video tape the impact drill!  If you live near the Golf Etc. store, stop in and check out all of the awesome golf equipment and apparel they have! Here is a link to the Golf Etc. Website: http://

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