Feelings

Feel vs Reality is always a hot topic on the lesson tee. “I didn’t know I was doing that!” is usually what I hear when a student views his/her swing on video, and not just the first time viewing it. We tend to unconsiously manipulate the clubhead to suit our instincts. This is true regarding the action of the club through the ball.

The act of the clubhead lagging behind the hands allows power to be built up from the core outwards to the clubhead. The arms stay in plane longer into the downswing, preventing wayward shots. A solid hit at impact is virtually assured if you lag the clubhead.

If you are confident that your through-the-ball move allows you to hit the ball fairly straight most of the time, and you want to increase distance and have more consistency, try this thought: The left arm/shaft structure at the top includes a 90º angle which must be held as far into the downswing as possible. To accomplish this, picture the entire left arm/shaft structure simply revolving around your neck and maintain this structure to impact. That is, the ball is struck with the same structure present at the top of the backswing.

You’ll gain more distance if you don’t try to accelerate the clubhead into the ball. The feeling you want is to push out and generate power after impact so wait until impact to push weight off the right leg. 1) Revolve the left arm/shaft structure to impact then, 2) push off the right leg.

Lagging the clubhead is not a block; the clubface must eventually rotate through the ball. Let rotation be your intention as the downswing begins.