There are a lot of things that need to happen at impact for the ball to come off the clubface pure, straight and with tons of speed. One of them is getting your swing arc to reach its low point slightly ahead of the ball. This is the secret to Tour-level contact and that feeling of Yeah, I caught that one good! The only way to do this is to shift your center of mass toward the target as you’re striking the ball.
Here’s how to visualize what you need to do. At address, picture a line running straight down to the ground just off your lead shoulder (below, left). Just as you reach the end of your backswing, your goal is to shift your body forward, getting your lead shoulder a good half foot in front of the imaginary line (below, right). Notice in the picture how everything — my head, torso, hips and lower body — have shifted toward the target.
When attempting this, a lot of rec players simply tilt their hips toward the target. That’ll only cause your upper body to hang back and move the bottom of your arc behind the ball. Not good!
Once you get it right, you’ll not only hear the sound of pure compression, you’ll feel it.
Brady Riggs is a GOLF Top 100 Teacher who teaches at Hansen Dam GC in Pacoima, Calif., and PGA WEST Golf Academy in La Quinta, Calif
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