Golf Tips: Improving impact is key

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By JIM SUTTIE
Scripps Howard News Service
Thursday, May 31, 2007

Although there are many, many ways to swing a golf club, there is generally only one impact position that will create solid shots. That impact would have the weight 75 percent on the left side with the hands slightly ahead of the lagging club head. This hands-leading-club head position at impact will put the left wrist in a flat condition and the right wrist in a bent condition.

Most amateurs do just the opposite at impact: Their left wrists are bent and their right wrists are flat. This generally occurs because the average amateur releases the club early (a casting motion) as they try to scoop the ball up with their right hand. This scooping motion leaves the weight on the right side at impact. This scooping motion will cause hooks, weak hits to the right, thin shots, and fat shots. The best ball-strikers on the PGA Tour seem to have the hands well forward of their lagging club head at impact.

So how can I improve my impact position because it happens so fast? Correct impact is a result of proper sequential motion. This means that the feet, knees, and hips are the leaders on the downswing as the torso, shoulders, arms, and finally, the wrists and club head would follow in that order. This order of movement is simply called timing and is what creates the lagging club head and club head speed.

You can start working on your impact by hitting into a bean bag or buying an impact bag. Or, even an old tire that you can put in your backyard would work. Just hit into the bag and make sure your hands are ahead of the club head before the club head hits the bag.

Some things you could check at impact are: (1) Make sure your hips are slightly open; (2) Feel like your weight is 75 to 85 percent on your left side at impact; (3) Your head should be behind the ball; (4) Your right heel should be slightly off the ground; (5) Your shoulders should be square or only slightly open; and (6) The left wrist should be flat and your right wrist should be bent.

Keep hitting into the bag or the tire. Try to feel these fundamentals.

Another way to create a better impact is to practice a drill called the chip-pitch drill. Use a half of a backswing with minimum wrist cock. On the downswing you should feel like your wrists are cocking more and not un-cocking. You should only be trying to hit the ball 50 to 100 yards. On the downswing turn your body to the left out of the way of your swinging arms. Just after impact, stop your club low to the ground only about 20 inches past impact. Again, this should create a flat left wrist at impact with no excessive wrist action.

You will again achieve the hands-leading-club head position at impact. Both arms will be extended just past impact. The hands leading the club head and the lagging club head can never be achieved unless your grip pressure is very light.

It is also very important to have a hands-leading-club-head position if you are to improve your chipping and pitching. To do this, find an old 8-iron or an old sand wedge. Put a two-foot steel extension in the butt of the club.

Now, grip down where the grip is. If the steel extension hits the left side of the body on the follow-through, then you know you have flipped your wrists and right hand at the ball. If the steel extension stays away from the left side of the body on the downswing, then it is an indication that you have turned your body through the impact area and not broken down your wrists. Again, the correct position for a chip or a pitch would be a hands-ahead-of-club-head position at impact.

(Dr. Jim Suttie, the 2000 PGA Teacher of the Year, is director of instruction at The Club at TwinEagles in North Naples, Fla. and at Cog Hill Golf Club in Lemont, Ill. DrSuttie is a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and coaches the Florida Gulf Coast University men's golf team. E-mail him at jmsuttie@aol.com or go online to www.jimsuttie.com.)