A tendency by many beginners and by many experienced golfers is a desire to hit up at the ball to make the ball go up. It is amazing; with all that is written about the game of golf and all of the instruction available that the basic concept of hitting a ball on the downswing is not conveyed.
We all watch the pros hitting irons and taking divots. Are they trying to take the divots or not? They are. Realize these are the best golfers in the world. If they can't do what they want, we don't have much of a chance. Since they are consistently taking divots, we probably should be too.
Does the divot occur before the ball is hit or after the ball is hit? If the club hits the ground before it hits the ball, club head speed is greatly diminished. As a ball sits on the ground, there is no room to hit up at it. To hit up at the ball, the ground will have to be hit first. We want to hit the ball on the downswing because we have more club head speed on the downswing than on the upswing.
We all marvel at the Pros' shots that hit the greens with a lot of back spin. A downward motion at contact is needed to put the proper spin on the ball. If the golf swing is traveling up when it gets to the ball, the ball will have less than the desired amount of back spin. Additionally, back spin is needed to keep the ball airborne. If a field goal kicker kicks a ball with top spin, the ball may not clear the linemen's heads. The same principle holds true for a golf ball. A ball hit with top spin will not stay in the air for very long, it will not go very high and it will also roll for quite some distance. When hitting a ball into a green, we usually want it to go high and not roll very far. To create the proper back spin, the ball has to be hit with a descending blow. The divot should occur after striking the ball.
To work on hitting the ball with a descending blow, lay a tee down about 2" in front of the ball (target side). Your goal is to hit the ball then the tee. If you take a swing and hit the ball but the tee does not move, you probably did not hit the ball on the way down in the swing.
Golf Tip:
We often hear the term "releasing the club". It might better be described as hinging, unhinging and re-hinging. We hinge on the backswing and unhinge on the downswing. The confusion comes as to the proper time to re-hinge. If the re-hinging starts at the contact of the ball or before contact, body rotation will be impeded and manipulation of the club will occur. The re-hinging of the club does not take place until the shoulders are squared up to the target. When the release is done properly, it may feel as though you hang onto the swing longer and definitely your balance will improve.
Ron Hanson is the Director of Instruction at Interbay Golf Center in Seattle, Washington. Through countless hours of instruction, numerous appearances at exhibitions and published articles, he is one of the most highly regarded instructors in the Pacific Northwest. Ron received national exposure on the Golf Channel as a featured instructor for an episode of The Golf Channel's Golf Makeover Challenge. He recently completed the first in a series of instructional DVD's. "Golf in Balance, Volume I" is a simple, understandable overview of the golf swing appropriate for golfers of all levels. To see more about "Golf in Balance" visit http://www.ronhansongolf.com
Ron Hanson, PGA Professional
Director of Instruction - Interbay Golf Center
Seattle, Washington
For more help with your golf game, visit
http://www.ronhansongolf.com.
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