Twelve Keys to Great Impact

How To Make Perfect Contact Everytime

The first four movements are the large, major motions through the hitting area. Each of these motions has its own unique function in helping to improve the strike of the ball. They help control the arc the club is traveling, the position of the clubface at impact and the speed at which the club is accelerating through the hitting area. These are the movements you want to become familiar with first because they are the ones upon which the others will be built.

Movements one through four

1. Right Knee: The right knee is driving aggressively toward the target. This is the key to shifting our weight to the left side and is a major factor in determining the arc of the club will traveling and where it will reach the bottom. It also helps to clear the left hip.

2. Left hip: the left hip has rotated/cleared to the left. This rotational motion is the main source of speed in the swing and is also a major influence on the path the club travels. Never shift your weight past the outside of the left shoe.

3. Back of Left Hand: The back of the left hand is flat and pointing directly at the target, slightly ahead of the ball and we are hitting down. This helps to compress the ball as well as control the position of the clubface.

4. Right Heel: The right heel begins to rise up. This helps our weight shift to the left. It's raised just slightly for shorter shots and more for the longer ones.

As we continue our growth as golfers and strive to raise our games to a higher level, we need to begin to increase our understanding and attention to the finer details of the golf swing. In fact, this is what makes golf such an amazing game. The better we get, the more detailed our knowledge must become. In the next four movements, we will add some more precise points to the four main movements that we have already discussed. Movements five through eight begin to enhance movements one through four and make them more correct and complete. Try to incorporate these motions into the ones we have already looked at.

Movements five through eight

5. Ball of Right Big Toe: There is a definite sensation of pressure being pushed through the ball of the right big toe and into the ground. This movement adds a lot of support to the overall movement. Feel the ground. This point is a critical leverage point for the rotation of the body through the shot.

6. Right Ankle: The right ankle needs to roll in and drive towards the left. The ankle leading effects how the hips work in the swing. Never spin the right ankle away from the target. This move will spin the right hip out which will throw the club out and over the top.

7. Left leg: The left leg is in the process of straightening at impact. It is still slightly flexed at impact and completely locked just after the ball is struck. This move adds a lot of speed to the rotation of the hips.

8. Left Arm At impact, the top of the left arm should be glued to the side of the chest. This is the one place in the swing where the term connection is definitely relevant.

Movements nine through twelve

The final four impact movements complete the process of a correct impact motion. These are the final pieces of the puzzle. If all these moves are executed correctly, and in the correct sequence, it improves not only impact but also how we approach impact and how we continue through to our finish. Like a great orchestra, the goal of each individual piece should be to help improve all the other individual pieces and enhance the beauty of the complete group. After you have studied and become familiar with movements one through eight, try to add in these final movements.

9. Right Elbow: At impact, the right elbow should be directly in front of the right hipbone. The right hip supports the right arm allowing the hips, arms and club to work together through impact.

10. Left side of face behind the ball: The head does not have to stay completely still throughout the entire swing, but it must stay behind the ball until the ball is hit. The head remaining back is critical in the releasing of the club.

11. Shoulders slightly open: As the hips are rotating aggressively through impact, the shoulders are being pulled. At impact they are just slightly open to the target line.

12. Left shoulder rotation: Just as the left hip rotates through the ball, the left shoulder is beginning to rotate back. This is another ingredient that increases club head speed and helps the club travel on a consistent arc.