It is important to begin the backswing correctly because the path that the backswing takes will dictate how well the shot is executed.
To begin a smooth backswing, the first move should be a subtle kick of the right hip to the right. That motion should set off a chain reaction where a one piece take away follows with a weight shift.
Work on bumping the hip to the right (for right-handed players) to begin the backswing. Let the bump act as a trigger that occurs every time to build consistency.
Creating club head lag is what produces an effortless swing. You can choose to swing as hard as possible on every long distance shot or you can swing easier and use lag to your advantage and achieve quality distance and shot accuracy.
Club head lag is nothing more than the club following the hands and club handle through a shot. That creates leverage and produces additional club head speed to hit the ball maximum distances.
To create club head lag, on the downswing lead with the hands through the impact area and allow the club head to follow and then release into the back of the ball.
Practice creating lag by making half swings without a ball. Swing to half way back allowing the wrist to cock up. Maintain that wrist position for as long as possible in the downswing while leading into the impact area with the the club handle and hands. That is lag and will send the leverage created will send the ball a long way with little effort.
The one piece take away is the most important part of the golf swing and sets up everything else to follow. A proper take away leads to effective golf shots. An improper one leads to errant shots with questionable contact.
The one piece take away is easy. Start the backswing with a kick of the of the hip to the right and then move the club up and 1/4 of the way back using the body in 'one piece' to do so.
Shift the body weight to the rear foot while rotating the club back and up using the mid-section, arms and shoulders all as one piece.
Do not rush the take away and make it a smooth, fluid motion to begin the golf swing.
The take away represents control and the direction that the golf ball will travel. Practice it and get it right to improve your ball striking.
Understanding club bounce is easy. First of all, bounce is engineered into wedges to prevent them from digging into the ground. Bounce is most notably a part of greenside sand play to skim the club underneath the ball instead of digging deep into the sand. Playing the right bounce is also useful depending on fairway course conditions such as soft or hard.
In technical terms, clubhead bounce is the angle between the leading edge of clubhead and the trailing edge. Bounce is expressed in degrees. For instance, 8 degrees of bounce.
The bounce of a wedge can be pre-designed anywhere from 4 degrees to 14 degrees. Which bounce is suitable comes down to preference in most situations. However, a good rule of thumb to use when determining how much bounce a particular wedge needs depends on the playing conditions.
- Fairways and sand bunkers that are harder in texture will need less bounce. More bounce in these situations will cause more thinly hit shots as the club 'bounce' skims or bounces through the terrain into the ball with the leading edge.
- Fairways and sand bunkers that are softer in texture will require more bounce. Softer ground situations will cause wedges to dig or take deeper divots. You don't want to dig, you want to skim and clip the the ball off of the turf.
Golfpedia is a work in progress as many post have yet to be updated. Any comments or suggestions that you have regarding the blog are welcomed.
The start of the downswing should be a quiet kick of the front hip towards the target followed by a weight shift to the front foot. Doing this will allow the club to drop into the slot position and allow the body to properly unwind to complete the swing.
Avoid the common flaw of starting down with the hands and upper body. A downswing that starts down with the hands and upper body pushes the club outside the line -or over the top. An outside to inside swing path is the main cause of a slice. Other ball flight woes from coming over the top are shots that are pulled. It is difficult to hit consistent shots that are straight and on-line when the downswing is over the top.
Club head speed is the acceleration through the golf ball that is required to send the ball on its way. The more club head speed that is achieved, the further the ball will travel. Men tour players generate an average of 115 MPH of club head speed. The typical week end golfer produces about 90 MPH of club head speed.
Club head speed is measured in MPH. Club head speed is the speed in which the club travels during the downswing and should not be confused with ball speed. Ball speed is the speed in which the ball travels after it is hit. The average tour player (men) achieves ball speeds up to 180 MPH.
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