Get your club shaft parallel toward target
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By Kim Jeong-kyoo
Point your club shaft toward your target at the top of your backswing. That puts you in position to swing your club down on the proper plane along the correct path. You will hit your ball far and straight, provided you grip your club properly.
To ensure you square your clubface through your shot, you need to grip your club correctly. With your clubface square to your target line, place your left hand on your club. Make sure you keep your left palm facing your right thigh. Then, complete your left-hand grip, keeping your thumb resting slightly to the right of the top-center of your handle. Let the V created by your thumb and forefinger point slightly below your right shoulder. Equally important is placing the handle in your fingers between your first knuckles and palm.
You need to fold your right palm over your left thumb. Make sure the lifeline fits securely into your left thumb. The V created between your right thumb and forefinger will point toward your chin or left ear. That will let your wrists correctly hinge straight up and down.
Normally, you’d better let your left hand rotate your club, your right hand looking after your wrist hinge.
Where you position your ball in your stance is critical to making successful shots. The popular theory dictates your ball position should change depending on the club you're using. For shorter irons, you need to play your ball in the middle of your stance. Hitting longer clubs, you need to position your ball more forward to the left in your stance. After all, each club shaft varies in length and will bottom out in a different spot. To produce solid strikes, you must adjust your ball position.
However, changing your ball position for every club, you’ll have difficulty playing your ball exactly where you should so you can strike the ball solidly. If you fail to produce solid strikes, you cannot control your distance. You might hit your 9-iron 120 yards on one swing, and hit it 90 yards on the next. When your ball position changes only slightly, you will have trouble controlling your distance and direction.
To hit your ball solidly and thus control your distance, you’d better play your ball in the same spot. No matter what club you're using, position your ball roughly off the logo of your shirt. Granted, you need to position your ball off the tip of your left shoulder, hitting your tee shots.
Picture an imaginary line drawn from your left shoulder joint to the ground. This represents the lowest point of your swing arc. You need to make ball-first contact and get your iron to bottom out just in front of your ball. To this end, you must play your ball just off the logo of your shirt or under your left pectoral muscle.
To adjust your address position to your club's length, just change the width of your stance. The longer club you hit, the wider stance you take. Your right shoulder will tilt gradually lower than your left shoulder as your stance widens.
Waggle your club a couple of times as if you’re making a long putt. That helps you swing your club back on the correct path. Once you’ve carried out your last waggle, swing your club back the way you’ve waggled. You need to take your club back on an identical path you’ve waggled.
Complete your backswing so your club shaft gets parallel to your target line and horizontal to the ground. That allows you to turn your body fully and hinge your wrists without your having to think about them. That will also encourage you to swing your club down on the correct inside path. You will hit your ball solidly and accurately every time you swing your club. Count ‘one’ as you complete your backswing.
If your club shaft points left of your target line, you are apt to come down from outside the target line. You will have straight pulls, pull-slices or pull-hooks thrust on you. Letting your club shaft point right of your target line, you’ll come down from too much inside the target line. You will incur straight pushes, push-slices or push-hooks
You’d better keep your left arm straight on the backswing to increase your swing arc and create more power. You don't need to keep your right arm glued against your side. You need to let your right elbow move away from your body. But make sure you keep your elbow pointing toward the ground.
Once you’ve completed your backswing, you need to shift your weight to your left to start your downswing. But forget about your weight shift. It will happen naturally as you turn your body or change your body position properly.
Instead, concentrate on swinging your club down from inside the target line. Then, pull the butt end of your club toward your left thigh as you turn your hips and shoulders. That ensures you will increase your clubhead lag, allowing you to hit longer shots.
Importantly, pulling your grip toward your left thigh, you’ll naturally rotate your left forearm, speeding up your club through the shot. That will also help you avoid too early a release of your club. You won't flip your hands through the ball. You will naturally release your club at a timely moment and whack your ball far and straight. Whack your ball as you count to ‘three’.
You can also picture you’re carrying out a slap shot as in ice hockey.
Incidentally, hitting your iron, you need to have roughly 80 percent of your weight on your left foot at impact.
Hitting your tee shots, however, you need to concentrate on keeping your weight back during the downswing. If you shift your weight prematurely to the left, turning your body, you can pull or pull-slice your shot. You will even top your ball. You need to let your weight shift and rotate your body just a touch later than when you hit an iron. Just let these movements take place naturally. Make sure your weight does not move off your right side until your hands come roughly halfway down. After all, this will happen if you let your body weight shift naturally as you turn your body.
When you practice hitting your drivers, hit them with your left heel up at address and your right heel down. Stay that way throughout your swing, at least until well after you hit your ball. When you’re swinging for real, try to re-create the feeling. Practice hitting your irons with your left heel down and your right heel up.
Finish with a slight bow or backward curve in your body. Make sure your right wrist remains flat at the finish. That means your club has rotated properly through your shot and you’ve squared your club at impact. That also shows you’ve swung your club freely and hit your ball with enough speed.
Don’t force yourself to finish high. Finish low and around your neck. Finishing low, you will hit your ball longer and straighter. This holds true especially when you hit your driver off the tee.