Swing the Shaft, Not the Clubhead!

Most golfers who are suffering and struggling with their game suffer from trying to hit the ball with the club head. We have said frequently here on the Dewsweepers that low point of the swing happens in front of or past the ball. We need to learn to swing the shaft or the whole club through the ball and have the club reach its low point in the arc beyond the ball. The result is a correct impact position.

Here is a simple drill I have used to help people learn to control the shaft with their pivot, reach a better impact position and in return they will hit more solid crisp shots.

We know that when the club is moved and driven by our pivot and at a correct impact position the shaft is leaning forward, not backward. The result is that loft is taken off the club and the ball comes out lower. This timeless drill will help you achieve all of this.

Find a little park bench on your local driving range or in your back yard. Place the bench a few yards in front of your hitting station. Next, take a lofted wedge such as your sand or lob wedge and hit little chip shots trying to hit these chips under the park bench.

You will find that as you get better at accomplishing this your ball striking will improve!

Pick your Spots and Trajectory

I see so many players around the green just grab a wedge and look at the hole and chip or pitch the ball at the hole. The hole is not always the target when playing a short game shot. Lets learn to use the slope and terrain of the green as well as different trajectories to hit different shots and improve your short game.

Next time you are practicing your short game take three different shafts and insert them into the ground at the same spot on the green at different angles. Then go back and put some balls a few yards back away from the green and hit different clubs which make the balls come into the green at the angles in which the shafts are coming into the green. Notice how the ball rolls out different amounts. What you have just done through this drill is learn to hit different shots for different situations and learn to control your trajectory.

You are now on your way to better more creative short game shots.