Impact determines where and how the ball travels. Period. Do you know what a solid impact position looks like? Most rec players don’t. Here are three clues:
1) Your hands are ahead of the ball
2) Your weight is shooting down your lead leg
3) Your body is rotated open yet still in posture.
Try these on for size (above left). Hold for a few counts, then start your backswing. Your goal is to re-create the three positions when you reach impact again.
Give it a few tries, then see if you can do it when starting from your regular address, making sure that you begin with your weight spread evenly over both feet, your shoulders and hips square and your hands more in line with the ball (above right). Since you’ve just practiced the feel of a perfect impact position, you’ll be more likely to create it during your normal swing.
Dave Phillips is the cofounder of the Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, Calif.
