The only swing thought you should have in the downswing is to make sure the right arm begins to unfold as soon as you start the downswing. If you do not unfold the right arm you will risk turning into the shot with your right shoulder. When you turn your right shoulder first the golf club will have a tendency to swing from the outside and you will either pull or hit the shot fat.
Pitching – Downswing
If the golf club arrives at the top of the backswing in the correct position it will be much easier to swing the golf club back down into the back of the golf ball. The angle of the downswing has to be on the steep side. If the golf club swings inside too much in the backswing the clubhead will not return on a steep angle.
The steeper the angle of the downswing the easier it is for the leading edge of the golf club to make contact with the turf. As the clubhead reaches the bottom of the arc, the leading edge slides under the golf ball cutting into the turf and the club face makes contact with the golf ball simultaneously.
Pitching Instruction – Impact
The only possible way for this impact to take place is for you to have the correct set-up, swing the arms away from the golf ball in the backswing and swing the arms down in the downswing.
Of course there are a number of things that can happen along the way however if you can get into the correct position at the top it makes life a whole lot easier. The 8 and 9 o’clock backswings are not nearly as difficult as the 11 o’clock backswing. It seems the longer the backswing the more we want to help the golf ball get into the air. Another phenomenon is the more loft the golf club has the more we feel we have to lift UP in the downswing to get the correct amount of loft on the ball.
If you swing the golf club too far inside in the backswing the golf club will not go up enough and when the clubhead returns to the bottom of the arc it will be too shallow at impact. If the golf club returns too shallow the clubhead will not go under the golf ball and the leading edge will strike the center or top of the golf ball. On the other hand if you swing the golf club too far outside in the backswing the golf club will swing go up too much and when the clubhead returns to the bottom of the arc it will be too steep at impact. If the golf club returns too steep the clubhead will dig too much into the turf or you might hit the top of the golf ball.
During the set-up the ball position, weight position and handle position play a huge roll in swinging the golf club back on the correct path which in turn will insure the clubhead swinging back down on the correct path with the correct angle. As the clubhead swings away from the golf ball if your weight moves back with the golf club the clubhead will not swing up enough and you will not have a steep angle in the downswing. This mistake is a very common one amongst higher handicap golfers. If you can train yourself to keep 70% of your weight on your left side during the backswing you are half way home.
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