IMPACT is the moment of truth.
IMPACT is when the club head strikes the ball and within one half of 1,000th of one second the ball has gone.
IMPACT is the agony and ecstasy of the game. Will the ball go in the hole or out of bounds? Will the ball move ten yards when you want it to go 210 yards or will it move 50 yards when you want it to move five yards?
IMPACT is the culmination of everything that has gone on before.
IMPACT – by the time you feel it the ball has travelled at least 12" and by the time your brain has sent the order back to your hands in a vain attempt to change the direction of the clubface the ball will be 15 yards away.
This article will explain the facts and theories of what happens prior to, at and after impact.
Teaching golf is an acquired art and needs years of experience to enable the teacher to be able to explain to their pupils what is factual and what is not. Without these explanations many pupils carry on for many years with no improvement in their game.
Tiger Woods in one of his books says’ My position at address is a sneak preview of where I want to be at impact’ On the following page he says ‘Impact should look like address followed by ‘the purpose of addressing the ball correctly is so you can return to that position at impact’
Wrong Wrong Wrong.
At impact not one part of Tiger Woods body or the club he is using is in the same position that he was in at address. Many teachers convince their pupils that the address position and impact are the same and when Tiger Woods reiterates this my coaching skills are stretched to the limit.
To prove that the address position and impact are not the same I play Tiger Woods (or any top golfers swings) through my computer and compare the two positions. What is completely clear is that at impact Tiger Woods head is up to 12" lower than at address, his hips are up to 9" further to the left, his hands are up to 6" further to the left, his right heel is off the ground and the divot is taken up to 4" past the ball. Not too many similarities there then!
THE GOLF SECRET
Someone asked Tiger Woods at a press interview what his secret was. Tiger Woods said the answer was easy. He said that the secret for him was to never let the shaft move in front of the left arm until AFTER impact.
Dead right Tiger.
Here are a few more quotes from outstanding golfers that are factual.
Jack Nicklaus said the toe of the club head should not go past the heel until after impact.
Ben Hogan in his book Power Golf adds the following words to a photograph of himself when the club head is more than two feet beyond impact ‘ The hands have not started to pronate, or turn over, the face of the club is still square to the line of flight.
Bobby Jones in my opinion was a genius at playing golf and is one of the very few golfers to describe his own swing accurately. In the book The Masters of Golf, Bobby Jones describes the impact position as follows ‘To the casual observer, ‘ he said’ it appears that the club must be lashed forward by crossing the right hand over the left’ This is a grave mistake. It has been demonstrated beyond question that in most effective methods that this crossover does not occur until perceptively after the ball has been struck, until the club head has travelled over a foot beyond the ball ‘
Byron Nelson kept the club head parallel to the ground until well after impact producing a stroke average of 68.33 shots per round in 1945 and eleven tournament wins in succession. The only player in history to beat this average score was Tiger Woods who averaged 67.79 shots per round in the year 2000
Mo Norman, Tiger Woods second favourite golfer kept the club head square to the target for twenty-two inches after impact.
They are all saying exactly the same with different forms of words, as there can only be one correct impact position.
Photograph No1. shows my normal address position with the triangle formed by my arms and shoulders highlighted.
Photograph No 2. shows a simulated impact position with the address triangle where it was at address and where the ball was at address. Clearly the triangle has moved to the left and the body is turning so the entire body and club are not in the same place as they were at address.
One of my pupils who plays off +2 at the stunning Royal Westmorland Golf Club in Barbados in his last lesson pitched a six iron shot into a tree he was aiming at. This was a carry of 220 yards. An analysis of his swing showed his left hand six inches to the left of the ball with the club head three inches away from striking the ball.
Three golfers from the beautiful Brokenhurst Golf Club, with a combined handicap of + 4, have their hands are an average of four inches to the left of where they were at address before impact.
Another pupil who scored a gross 60 at Sherborne Golf Club (par 72) prior to impact has his hands six inches to the left of the address position.
Understanding what to do at and beyond impact is important but it is equally important to understand what not to do.
Your head at address is behind the ball but you should not attempt to stay behind the ball, as this will destroy the movement to the left
Rolling your wrist and releasing the club head will make it impossible to keep the face square after impact.
Attempting to lift the ball will stop you driving the ball forward and letting the loft of the club head lift the ball.
Any attempt at getting under the ball is doomed to failure. I have a wonderful shot of Tiger Woods hitting a ball with a seven iron off a tee peg and the divot starts a full four inches after impact.
This article is about the impact position and it is far easier to achieve this from a good backswing, which in turn will come from a good alignment. However we need to assume that all is well approaching impact so a few of the methods I use to achieve the all important impact position are as follows.
Henry Cotton used to hit a tyre with a driver and attempt to push the tyre forward (if you attempt this ensure the tyre is not still on your car) To replicate a tyre I use an impact bag that is hit with a driver to produce the feeling of the arms leading the shaft and the bag being hit towards the target.
I also have an elongated club called the rib cracker. This club has an extension of approximately three feet and the elongated section is positioned outside the left ribcage at address. As the club is swung through the hitting area it should stay clear of the ribcage but any flicking with the wrists will cause the elongated section to hit the ribs. This exercise should be done very slowly and very carefully.
Mirrors are extremely useful and will give you instant feedback. Stand facing the mirror and use some form of tape to produce the triangle in photograph No1. Then using a six iron and a ball in front of the club face make either a full backswing or half backswing depending on the space you have and then stay looking in the mirror whist you slowly move your arms and shoulders to the left of the triangle before the club head reaches the ball.
Tiger Woods has an image of hitting the ball with the knuckles of his left hand facing down to the ground.
A favourite idea of mine is to hit the ball forward rather than down, as the club is guaranteed to come down, as it follows Sir Isaac Newton’s law of gravity.
John Jacobs said the arms must lead the hands through impact and I agree 100% with that sentiment.
Every shot from a putter to a driver needs to be hit forward and the length of shaft and the loft angle will produce the desired flight. A putter, incidentally, has up to six degrees of loft so the ball is lifted slightly after impact, then it skids and then it rolls so there is absolutely no point in attempting to apply instant topspin.
Conclusion
After the ball has been hit with the club head the left arm and club should be in line or the left arm should be slightly ahead of the shaft. As Tiger Woods said this is his secret.
Whilst writing this article on impact Michael Jackson passed away. He certainly had an impact on me and many of his songs and dance sequences were mesmerising. Off the wall was one of my favourites and Billie Jean was fantastic. A truly talented performer.