Solid Contact

• Posted on Grant
• in Golf Fundamentals, Swing
• on January 5, 2012
• 1 Comment.

Me practicing under the watchful eye of my son, Nathan.

Clank! Shank! Thud! Are you missing the amazing  sound of solid contact? In golf, nothing gives you confidence quite like a well struck shot.

Does it sometimes seem like you will never hit the ball solid again, no matter how hard you try? Or, do you feel you have been hitting it so poorly that your swing must be a million miles off? Most golfers think these thoughts from time to time, and figuring out why those ugly misses keep happening can be overwhelming. However, if you implement a method based on true fundamentals, you will be back to hitting it solid in no time.

Here are 3 steps to correct those ugly mishits and get you back to enjoyable ball striking.

1. Steady head: The first step involves checking your head movement during the back-swing and down-swing. The easiest way to do this is to video your swing from a “face on” position. Simply use the camera on a cell phone and make sure to hold the camera completely steady while videoing.

When reviewing your swing on video, check to see if your head moves up, down, or side to side from the viewpoint of the camera. During the back-swing, the head should stay completely steady. It can rotate but should not move up, down or side to side. During the down-swing the head should not move up, or side to side, but can lower on the way to impact. After impact the head comes up until a full finish is achieved.

2. Set up for success: Check your posture. Posture plays a huge role in solid ball striking. Setting up with incorrect or rounded posture, makes it difficult to turn away from the ball without lifting your head on the back-swing. Correct posture involves good balance and a straight spine angle. To check your posture, have someone take your picture from the “down the line” position while you address the ball. Then, compare the picture to other touring pro’s pictures to see if you look the same. Compare your knee flex, spine angle, balance, and where your arms hang in relation to your body.

3. Complete the finish: Finish your swing with your belt buckle facing the target, and the heel of your trailing foot off of the ground in a straight up and down position. Also, you should be standing tall, with your chest out toward the target and your body in a straight line over your lead foot.

Focusing on the lower body is the key to making a full finish. Turning your belt buckle all of the way through to the target allows your club-head to accelerate through impact.

Please let me know if these fundamentals improve your ball-striking!

GB