Golf Impact Continued

Last week we introduced a video of PGA Tour Player John Sendon. Let's go back to that video for a moment and study the section from 1:35 to 1:39. Click Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbKyakBdMO0

Some of you are familiar with the term "angle of approach", or "arc of the swing" or "hit down on the ball", but few have ever really understood what it means to do this correctly. "hitting down on the ball" is very dangerous terminology. Most people who try to hit down on the ball do so with their upper body and create steep & inconsistent divots. The ideal angle of approach is to "hit down on the ball", but the downward strike is a very shallow strike. Let me explain further.

As you study the video you can probably make a rough estimate that the club is approximately 3 inches above the ground in the frame right before impact and approximately 2 inches off the ground in the frame after impact. With the impact zone right in the middle we can make an educated guess that the club was descending past the point of impact with the ball. However, with close observation you can see that the club descended gradually. It did not drop five or six inches through the impact zone. Now that we know the club must be descending at a gradual rate, next week we will discuss where the bottom point should be and how to achieve a "shallow" angle of approach.

Your Partner In Golf Success,

Scott Seifferlein