How to hit a great shot every time
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By Kim Jeong-kyoo
Grip your club with the “V” on your left hand pointing to the right of the right shoulder, and your right-hand V pointing vertically. This promotes draws, or prevents slices. Critically, you need to grip your club mostly with the last two or three fingers of your left hand. That promotes a full wrist hinge on the backswing.
A strong right-hand-powered grip allows your left hand to turn faster through your shot. You’ll hit straight shots or soft draws. The toe of your club will pass the heel when your club catches your ball. This allows you to impart a great right-to-left spin on your ball.
Your right-hand V pointing toward your left chin, eye or ear allows you to hinge your wrists correctly. You will swing your arms up as if you’re hammering a nail, creating more power and speed. The most natural and strongest way for your wrists to hinge is straight up and down. More importantly, this allows you to swing your club on plane. Experiment with whatever right-hand grip position helps you hinge your club as if you’re using a mini-hammer.
Once you’ve gripped your club properly and have set up correctly, you need to let your clubhead move first. Your clubhead travels farther than your arms, shoulders or hips to reach the top of your backswing. You need to let your club, arms and hips reach the top of your backswing at once. This helps you whack your ball solidly without adjusting your downswing. To this end, you’d better move your clubhead first as you start your backswing.
Waggle your club several times so you can hit your target. Fix your left eye on the back of your ball when you hit your driver shots off the tee. You need to look at the front of your ball when you hit the ball with your irons. Critically, you need to do the same during your entire swing. That way you can bang your driver with an upward blow, whacking your irons with a downward blow.
Also, you need to keep your wrists remaining relaxed during the waggle. That helps you hinge your wrists.
Also, you need to ensure that your head remains still.
Importantly, you need to try to create a pendulum force in your swing. To achieve this, swing your club back on plane and finish your backswing naturally.
Swing your club back the way you’ve waggled, starting to hinge your wrists at the end of the takeaway. The takeaway of your club from the ball ends when your left hand reaches in front of your right thigh. You need to hinge your wrists straight upward to swing your arms up as if you’re chopping down a tree. Make sure your left shoulder hits your chin or your back faces the target. This will show that you’ve turned your shoulders fully and created torque enough to hit your ball as far as you want.
Still, you don’t need to focus on your top-of-the-backswing position. You’ll start your downswing a split second before you complete your backswing. You’d better concentrate on your downswing. Your supreme goal is hitting your ball, not swinging your club back.
Avoid trying to shift your weight to the left side when you hit your driver shot off the tee. To stay behind your ball on impact, you need to keep your weight on your right side. All you have to do to whack your ball solidly is change your body positions. That way you can bang your ball with an upward blow.
Take care to keep your left eye fixed on the back of your ball as you start your downswing. This allows you to stay behind your ball until well after you complete your ball-strike.
To do this properly, practice hitting your drivers with your left heel up at address and your right heel down. Stay that way as you hit your ball. This will allow you to hit your driver on the ideal upward angle of approach.
However, when you hit an iron, you need to shift your weight to your left side, starting on your downswing. You need to place about 80 percent of your weight on your left foot when your club meets the ball.
Practice hitting your irons with your right heel up at address, your left heel planted on the ground. Keep them that way as you hit your ball. Look at the front of your ball.
To slot your club into a proper downswing path, you need to shift your weight correctly, keeping your head steady. Let your weight shift onto your right heel at the top of your backswing. Then, let your weight shift to your left toes and then into your left heel, your driver shots apart. You don’t need to strive to shift your weight left when you’re hitting your tee shots. You’d better feel your weight remaining on your right side when your driver meets the ball.
Shifting your weight toward your left toes allows your club to drop inside the target line. Shifting your weight onto your left heel allows you to rotate your body properly through the shot. This helps you deliver your clubface squarely through the shot and impart a right-to-left spin on your ball.
Incidentally, it is a good idea to complete your backswing by shifting your weight onto your right heel. That will allow you to rotate your body properly, swinging your club back on plane.
Once you’ve started your downswing, focus on unhinging and re-hinging your left wrist through your shot. This will help you speed up your club and hit your ball farther and straighter with less effort.
Or, just focus on turning your left hip vigorously behind you through your shot. That will allow you to rotate your body properly, ensuring you square your clubface when your club catches the ball.
You need to swing your left arm left after hitting your ball. Try to feel your left arm pulling your club left so your clubhead pulls your ball. Your left knee moving left will help you carry out this movement. Eventually, you’ll swing your club on an inside-to-inside path through the shot.
Critically, stay down, fixing your eyes on the spot where your ball was sitting during the first part of your follow-through. Standing up prematurely before you complete your ball-strike, you’ll have difficulty closing your clubface through your ball. Leaving the clubface open through your shot, you’ll have slices thrust on you.
Incidentally, if you’re incurring pushes, you’re hitting your ball from too much inside the target line. Hitting pulls and pull-slices, you’re hitting your ball from outside the target line.
Finish your swing with your right shoulder closer to the target than other parts of your body. Don’t leave you off balance. You need to stand comfortable, keeping your balance, with your weight on your left heel.
To this end, you need to swing your club with 70 to 75 percent of your full power. That enables you to control your swing, helping you rotate your forearms and clubface freely through your shot.
When you’re hammering a nail, you don’t do it as hard as you want. You hit the nail with your hammer as hard as you can do so while maintaining control. Failing to control your hammer, you cannot hit the nail on the middle of your hammer. The same happens when you swing your golf club. You need to steer clear of using your full power to hit your ball successfully with your golf club.