More Golf Impact, Part Two

There are a lot of good golfers who get into a position on the backswing that would cause their downswing to look like an excavation company. But they make a comeback (compensation) to reposition themselves for a shallow angle of approach. This "shallow" angle of approach term comes up a lot. It is defined as the gradual descending angle of the swing path through the impact zone. And it is one of the most important aspects of the golf swing.

We discussed in a previous tip that the approach must be descending beyond the point of impact. But how far beyond? Most high speed video of professional golfers shows the club head reaching the bottom point approximately an inch to two inches past the "target side" of the golf ball. Think about that for a moment. A full inch or two in front of the "target side". Not at the back of the ball, not at the middle of the ball. And not on the front side of the ball but a full one to two inches beyond the front of the ball. Incredible!

Take another look at this video at the 1:35 second mark to see how the club descends past the ball.

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

The bottom point is important but just as important is the fact that the golfer in this video is reaching the bottom point with a shallow angle of approach. No excavation taxes levied.

So how does one reach the lowest point of their swing a full one to two inches beyond the ball? And how do they do it without creating a steep angle of approach? That is the secret in golf that is rarely taught by other golf instructors. Most don't want to teach it. Most know that it is simply easier to teach you alignment, or posture. Most have a tournament to run or staff to manage and they simply don't have time to get into all the important impact stuff. But not here. Here you will learn the deepest darkest secrets of the professional golfer. Impact secrets that is.

Next week we will talk about how the body movement creates a steep or shallow angle of approach.

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