STANCE/IMPACT Despite what some people think, the setup position and impact position aren’t the same thing. At setup, your weight is evenly distributed, and your entire body is facing the golf ball. At impact however, your body position changes dramatically. Yours hips have opened, as has most of the upper body. As evident by the right knee bent in toward the target, the weight has shifted redominantly to your left side at impact. That said, there are a few hings that actually do mirror my setup position. The first is the head. It’s in the same general area relative to the golf ball that you was in at address. Secondly, look at the hands. Although there’s a bit more shaft lean toward the target at impact, the hands are in close to the same position they were in at address. So what you ask? Practice your setup and impact position in a mirror, until you can mirror the head and hands positions in both. If you can do this in your actual swing, you’ll see a lot more consistency.
Stance
Impact
BALL POSITION AND SHAFT LEAN
When it comes to the correct ball position, there’s one answer, but that doesn’t mean there’s one ball position. The correct way to assess your golf ball position is to always position the hands above the lowest point in the swing arc. As you can see here, the lowest point in the swing is indicated by the tee in the ground. As the clubs get shorter, the ball position moves farther back, and more shaft lean is added. Longer irons require less forward shaft lean (because they’re longer and more upright), but still, the hands should be in the same place just above the low point of the swing arc.
CONTROL THE FACE
When it comes to the golf swing, both hands are forced to work together and in unison as they swing the clubhead through the impact zone. But what are the roles of each hand? To start, let’s look at the left. The left hand’s responsibility is to control the clubface. As the left hand rotates through the shot, so should the clubhead. Practice a few swings with only your left hand and concentrate on the rotation of the clubface through impact. This will help you get a better feel for the role of the left hand in the swing.
BODY ROTATION
Making a solid rotation through the ball is important, no matter what. But to do so, there are a few things you must accomplish. First, you need to make a weight shift from side to side. Doing that doesn’t require so much of a lateral shift, but a complete rotation. In the photos here, you can see as move through the hitting area on the downswing, both the body and the right knee are rotating through. This means you have made a weight shift by turning, not sliding. Second, as you rotate, it’s important you maintain your spine angle, i.e., your for- ward upper-body lean. If you pop up or slouch, your swing will leak all sorts of power and consistency. But if you maintain your spine angle through and through, you’ll also retain flex in the lower body and speed in the upper body. The end result will be better shots.
CONTROL THE HINGE
If the left hand is controlling the clubface, does that mean the right hand is just along for the ride? Not quite. While the left hand may be the dominant hand in the swing, the right hand also serves a critical function. Its primary job is to control the hinge and release of the hands through the hitting area. So, as the hands rotate, with the left leading the rotation, the right hand initiates the hinging motion. Practice the hinge with just your right hand. Then, after working with each hand individually, align them together and hit a few balls, keeping in mind the specific yet complementary roles each hand should play in the swing. This will help you hit straighter and longer iron shots.
IMPACT BAG
The most important component to better iron play is clubface control. Most amateurs struggle with misses to the right and left, thinking it’s their swing that’s causing the problem. In reality, 85 percent of the direction of your shots has to do with where the clubface is facing at impact. In this photo, notice how the back of my hand is facing the target? The left hand controls the face, and a square face is critical if you want to hit straighter shots on a more consistent basis.
STRONG v/s WEAK
Now that you know that the left hand controls the face, how should the left hand look at the proper impact position? Well, if the left hand is too strong at impact, the clubface will be open, and that’s a sure fire way to hit it to the right. In fact, this is among the most common positions. On the other hand, for those who hit a lot of low, snap hooks, it’s generally the result of an overactive rotation and a weak left-hand position at impact. The correct left-hand position is with the back of the hand facing the target, and you want this at both the setup and impact position.
Short
Middle
Long
ADJUST YOUR SWING PLANE The biggest determinant of swing plane is the length of your club. The longer the club, the flatter your swing plane needs to be. The same goes for the differences in your irons. Typically, shorter irons require a more upright plane; middle irons are somewhere in the mid to upright area; and longer irons tend to have a mid to flat swing plane. The key to hitting better shots is to allow the club to dictate the plane and not try to force a flat swing with a short iron, or an upright swing with a long iron. Give your swing plane some “float room” and let it adjust as needed. The only constant ought to be your spine angle. Try to keep that consistent with all your iron shots.
MAINTAIN WIDTH
Typically, when you hear “maintain width” or “make a full extension,” you think of driver swings, but in reality, maintaining width and making a full extension also apply to full-swing iron shots. Like a driver swing, a full extension of the arms through impact is an indicator of how well your body has rotated. In the photos you see here, at the top of the swing, you have good separation of the club, and yo arms are away from my body. Through the hit and into the fin- ish, yours hands are, again, away from your body, which has rotated through the hit. Through the shot, as seen by the bottom photo, the arms are fully extended and directly in front of the chest. Double-check your arm extension through the swing and make sure you finish the swing with your arms straight out in front of you. If you work on that, you’ll see that the rest of your swing will naturally come together.
コメント