DROP-KICKING WOODS
BLADING IRON SHOTS
FOREVER FIX ■ The hang-back can be a nasty habit, so it will take some reps on the practice tee to retrain your body to go forward. One great way to force the issue is the step-through drill: Take your normal setup, swing to the top, and as you swing down step towards the target with your trail foot. This exaggerates the forward shift through the ball. Gary Player famously used to swing like this in competitive rounds, getting his whole body through the ball to maximise his power. One more technique to check that you’re moving forward is to key on the lower body. Set up with a soccer ball against the instep of your trail foot and make swings applying pressure to that ball on the downswing ( below ). Feel that your chest is “covering” the golf ball at impact, and to do that, you have to get your lower body driving forward and clearing the way.
FAST FIX
■ Many golfers have a misconception about how to hit a solid, high-flying iron shot. They think the club and body should return to their address positions at impact. That’s a recipe for skulling. Your body should be shifting and turning forward when you hit the ball, with 70 to 80 percent of your weight on your front foot. Also, the club should be leaning towards the target much more than it was in the setup. Those are the keys to making crisp contact. When you play, take every opportunity to mimic the feel of proper impact. As you’re setting up with an iron, shift your weight and the club forward, pressuring the back of the shaft with your trail side. Then go back to your normal setup, and swing. It’s also a good idea to cheat your ball position back, in line with your shirt buttons ( left ). Remember, the club should touch down after striking the ball. Instead of trying to clip the ball off the grass, think of trapping the ball against the ground.
FAST FIX ■ Modern fairway woods and hybrids, with their head shape and low centre of gravity, do a great job of helping the ball launch high and carry far. But a lot of golfers still have the instinct to try to help the ball into the air with these lower-lofted clubs. On the downswing, they hang back on the trail foot and flip the club at the ball. The clubhead bottoms out too far back and bounces off the ground and into the middle of the ball. Hence the term “drop-kick.” No fun, as we all know. The best way to fix this fault is to focus on moving your chest forward as you start down ( above ). I like players to make slow-motion practice swings to really feel whatever they’re trying to do. If you can’t do it slow, you can’t do it fast. So use time between shots, when you’re waiting to hit or walking down the fairway, to simulate that forward shift on the downswing.
FOREVER FIX ■ Hitting the ground after the ball is a feeling that a lot of players have to get used to, but it’s what all great ball- strikers do. One drill I use with players almost every day is setting up with a middle iron, then lifting the clubhead so the leading edge is level with the top of the ball ( right ). To catch the ball solid from that starting position, you have to hit down and through, or else you’ll thin it or even whiff it. This is strong medicine for skullers. One question I get a lot is, how can you make the ball go higher by hitting down more? The answer is, hitting down creates solid contact. Every iron in your bag has enough loft to send the ball way up in the air. If you hit it pure, with the shaft and your weight forward, your iron shots will soar.
48 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 49
NOVEMBER 2023
NOVEMBER 2023
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