Golf Tips and Instruction-May 3, 2006
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How To Break 80 Newsletter
May 3, 2006
“The Web’s Most Popular Golf Improvement Newsletter”
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In this issue we’ll discuss…
1) Making Better Contact with the Ball
2) The Proper Follow-Through Position
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1) Making Better Contact with the Ball
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Making better contact, as I often point out in my golf lessons, isn’t a matter of swinging the club harder or faster, but of developing a balanced, free-flowing swing that produces tremendous clubhead speed through impact. Making contact often pays off in the form of lower scores.
One key to better contact is swinging through the ball, not to the ball, which even tour players sometimes forget to do. Below are 4 additional keys to improving your ball-striking capability:
• Create good angles
• Hover the clubhead at address
• Keep head up, away from chest
• Shift weight properly
Making better impact starts at address. Adopting a stance with good body angles at address—flexed knees, comfortably bent spine, and loose hanging arms— promotes a good shape to your golf swing, while hovering your clubhead above the ground encourages a smooth one-piece takeaway.
Lifting your head off your chest at address enables you to rotate your right shoulder under your chin through impact while extending your arms fully. Having a straight left arm at impact re-establishes the radius of your swing, enabling the clubhead to be returned to the ball squarely, with power, and at the right angle of attack.
One other thing that will help in making better contact is a proper weight shift. Take a loot at this drill to work on it:
Address the ball normally but choke down on the club. Take the club back with a good turn, making an effort to transfer your weight to the right side. Then shift the weight to the left side as you swing through impact. Make sure you keep your head behind the ball, which enhances your sense of being “over the ball” at impact. Continue forward and walk through the shot.
These keys will help you improve your ball-striking capability. Do so and you’ll soon cut that golf handicap down to size.
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2) The Proper Follow-Through Position
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A poor follow-through often results from an inhibited body motion coupled with a decelerating clubhead. This position is a result of a player’s tendency to guide the clubhead through impact instead of freely releasing the club in the downswing.
While you can’t influence the ball’s flight after hitting it, keying on certain post-impact “factors” during the swing often helps improve the swing itself. Try keying on these 4 factors for a better follow-through:
• Fire the right shoulder
• Maintain balance through impact
• Rotate all the way through
• Finish with spine straight
Getting good extension with your arms through impact not only generates distance but often results in a good follow through as well. To generate extension, drive your right shoulder (for right-handers) past your chin toward the target. Try staying with the ball as long as you comfortably can while maintaining your balance through impact.
To finish your swing properly, you must encourage the right side of your body to rotate all the way through the shot, so that you end up with the majority of your weight on your left side, with your right foot up on its toes.
You should finish with the spine straight, the right shoulder over the left foot, and in balance. Finishing out of balance is a sign of swinging too hard or too fast.
The following drill produces a more effective, rotary motion and transfer of weight:
Start by sticking a golf umbrella in the ground, about 6 inches to the side of the left hip, then:
• Setup as normal and swing back with your weight on your right knee.
• As you start your downswing, the left hip starts to move away in the hitting zone
• Follow-through without sliding into or disturbing the umbrella
• Finish in perfect balance, leaving the umbrella undisturbed.
The trick is to get a good rotation while not sliding the hips too much. A great visual is to picture yourself “turning in a barrel”. Try these tips and you’ll be sure to have more success with accuracy and distance of your shots.
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If you want to truly discover the secrets of shooting like the Pros
and creating a more reliable and consistent swing,
check out: http://www.HowToBreak80.com
Also, for past issues of this newsletter and some of my most
recent articles, visit our blog at www.HowToBreak80.com/blog
Until next time, Go Low!
Jack
P.S. Feel free to share this newsletter with family and friends. If you
would like to subscribe to this newsletter, send a blank email to
break80ezine@aweber.com
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About the Author
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Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 and Shoot Like the Pros!“. He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicaps quickly. His free weekly newsletter goes out to thousands of golfers worldwide and provides the latest golf tips, strategies, techniques and instruction on how to improve your golf game.
