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| Kim Jeong-kyoo |
Golf is a game in which you hit a small ball with a clubhead. However, if you try to hit the ball with the clubhead when focused on the movement of your hands, you will rarely enjoy solid, powerful shots.
That undesirable move can cause your wrists to flip too early, mistakenly letting your clubhead reach the ball before your hands. This prevents you from hitting the ball successfully, inflicting diverse poor shots including fat or thin shots.
In a good golf swing, the hands do nothing but just hold the club throughout the swing. You need to stay clear of holding the club too tightly in a false effort to hit the ball hard. Gripping the club tightly forces you to use your hands incorrectly, leading to inconsistency and a loss of power.
After all, you can hardly control the moving clubhead with your hands and wrists. Striving to do so will compel you to throw your club off track, preventing you from squaring the clubface through the shot. You will slow down the club, losing your power and distance.
To enjoy solid, powerful shots, you need to abstain from focusing too much on your hands. Instead, you need to let your forearms play a dominant role in swinging the golf club. And gripping your club softly, you will naturally swing more fluidly.
Equally important is hitting the ball with your focus on the club handle. You will eventually hit the ball with the clubhead but need to have full control of the club handle. This is the key to great ball-striking and secret of enjoying successful shots.
"I swing the whole golf stick. Swing the clubhead? That's crap. You have to learn to swing the handle first. If you can't control the handle, how can you swing the clubhead?" said Moe Norman, one of the greatest ball-strikers.
As Norman stressed, you need to control the handle of your club to control the clubhead and hit satisfying shots. That is, you need to swing the handle, or rather hit with the club handle. This will let your hands come first before your clubhead strikes the ball.
Put the clubhead out of your mind. Forget the club shaft, too. Stay obsessed with your club handle. Immerse yourself in swinging the handle of your club, hitting the ball with your focus on the handle. This will let your clubhead lag correctly behind your hands every time you swing.
In other words, you will preserve your wrist hinge on the downswing, creating a surge of power through the shot. You will feel as if you're cracking a whip. Eventually, you will hit your ball far in the direction you intended.
If you still have trouble hitting shots satisfying to you, chances are you are setting up incorrectly. You need to fine-tune your pre-swing preparations. You will hardly hit the ball successfully unless you get ready correctly before you start.
Grip your club properly, and relax your hands, wrists and shoulders. Keeping your arms loose allows your wrists to hinge freely on the backswing, helping you preserve the wrist hinge on the downswing.
Fix your mind's eye on the target, which helps you swing your club on the proper path and plane.
Similarly, cock your knees toward the target so you can swing toward your target and enjoy accurate shots.
Make sure your club and left arm form a straight line. Feel your golf club as a mere extension of your left arm. You need to feel your left arm and club form a single unit.
Also, extend or straighten your left side and set your left arm higher than your right arm to promote straight shots or soft draws.
If you set up correctly, your hands will obstruct the view of your left foot.
Most importantly, remember you need to feel comfortable and ready to swing your club toward the target every time before you start your swing. If you feel uncomfortable or awkward in the slightest, step back and start over, going through the same pre-shot routine.
