SOMETIMES IT PAYS TO FLIGHT your irons high, such as when the wind is behind you or you have a front or tucked
KEEP PACE WITH LOWER HALF • The most common mistake I see among amateurs is that they struggle to transfer their weight forward on the downswing. Their lower body moves towards the target, but their upper body stays back. As a result, the club bottoms out behind the ball and can’t compress it. When you toss a football or baseball, you automatically step forward and transfer your weight. That’s what must happen on the downswing. Another way to think about it is to feel your upper body moving in conjunction with your lower body. That can’t happen without proper weight shift. Have the upper body tag along on the downswing, and you’ll flush it every time.
pin location. In those instances, you need more speed and loft. Again, a simple adjustment to your setup will help you achieve both. This time, I widen my stance by moving my trail foot further from the target, which results in the ball being forward relative to my sternum. From this wider, stable base, l’m able to make a fuller back- swing ( below, left ) and follow through ( below, right ), generating more clubhead speed and spin for a higher, softer-landing shot. With the more forward ball position, I feel as if my upper body is further behind the ball so that I hit less down on it, creating a higher launch angle. I’m still compressing the ball, but my hands are not as far ahead of the ball at impact as they are for the lower shot. Be an artist out there. Visualise the trajectory of the shot you want to play and where you see the ball landing, and then let your body paint that picture. HIT IT HIGH
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 83
MARCH/APRIL 2024
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