I did go out to the range the other day and took a small video.  Although I was hitting the ball fairly good, my impact position was too sqaure.

Here’s my impact position compared to Ben Crane and Adam Baddeley:

If you look carefully, both of these guys have their shoulder slightly open.

Now, what I’ve found out is that, I tend to get my lower body too close to the ball near the impact, causing me to hold on to my release, thereby causing an open shoulders and also annoying hooks once in a while since I have to “flip” my wrists slightly after impact.

But the most interesting thing I found was in my practice swing.  As you can see, this is a snapshot of my practice swing impact position.  The shoulders are slightly open and the hands are exactly where I want them.

Next time, I will try to stand a little taller during the swing and that should help me fix the kink.

Darn, if I could only swing like my practice swings…

baddeley, ben crane, faults, hooks, practice swing, practice swings, shoulders, snapshot baddeley, ben crane, faults, hooks, practice swing, practice swings, shoulders, snapshot If you like this post, please subscribe to the ProGolferDigest via RSS or via E-Mail to receive updates.

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Justin Leonard

After impact positions of various different pro tour players will look very similar.  On this post, I will simply let you guess what they did right by looking at them.

The answer (or the secret) is in the pictures.  It’s been there for last 100 years or so.

Mickey Wright

Ben Hogan

Adam Baddeley

Phil Mickelson

Sergio Garcia

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Today, I had a chance to video tape the person behind me accidently. Here’s how he could be hitting the ball better.

As you can see in the above picture, his left arm and left hand breaks down after impact. This is a very no-no if you want to hit the ball straight and long.

Now the reason behind that a lot of golfer break down their arms after impact is because they are trying to hit the ball.

How to fix the problem?

It’s easy. Don’t try to hit the ball, try to swing through the ball at your target.

I actually try to hit the target with both of my arms, imagining the target in my mind, never the ball. The ball always comes in the way of the swing.

As you can see, my after impact position shows that both of my arms are fully extended after impact. This is the position you want to strive to.

Also note the yellow line and see how straight the point between my right elbow and the club? (That’s the secret. A full release means that even your wrists straighten out near and after impact. The wrists release upwards, not toward the target, this is something a lot of teachers and players do not tell you.)

Mind you, my swing isn’t perfect my any means but I am only pointing out the good parts. (and yes this 2-iron did go straight about 230 yards so I can’t complain)

Today’s Swing Thoughts

I really felt that my hands were soft throughout my swing, meaning I felt like swinging real easy.

To get this feeling, try to maintain the same amount of grip pressure during your whole swing, whether you grip it at level 2 or level 5.

I also really felt like really swinging through the “after-impact” position shown above. That’s actually my swing thought, the image of both of my arms fully extended and released after impact. The lower body must support your upper body so don’t forget the lower body action either.

Now here’s the video in action.

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

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One of the most important part of the golf swing is your takeaway and how you come into the ball through impact.

Unless you have a super-strong or super-weak grip, you will want to rotate your arms, hands, and the clubface so that the clubface points away from your body and shown here. (The blade of your clubface should be pointing straight up at the sky)

Why is this so important?

The correct takeaway allows the golfer to come into the ball without manipulating the hands. It also lets the golfer to unleash the rotated power.

Think of it this way.

Golf is not a game of vertical or horizontal, it’s a game of rotating naturally around your body.

In order for you to swing the club, you must turn your body sorta like you are shaking hands with the person on the right. Now, you wouldn’t shake hands with the back of your hand facing up or down, would ya?

The second most important position in golf is probably right after impact. You want to feel as though the triangle formed by your shoulders, arms, hands and the club are one, pounding into the center of the golf ball.

Here, I am only hitting a 30 yard pitch shot. Still, you can see that I’ve extended my whole upper body.

This impact position will only be possible to achieve if you have a correct takeaway.

It’s feels almost like a 2-handed basketball pass. But when you do it right, you will feel that both of your arms and hands are hitting the ball with “equal” force.

Try the takeaway and the impact position the next time you are on the range, you will hit the ball more consistently.

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