During the past few rounds of golf with my husband, we both start the round hitting the ball clean and crisp and then Barry begins to chunk down behind the ball.Next thing I hear are grumblings about how much grass he took, how short the ball went, how many inches he hit behind the ball...and the list goes on.
Naturally, this problem could not continue - Barry just wasn't having any fun during his rounds and his next step was to make an appointment with a qualified instructor for help and for golf tips on ways to stop hitting behind the ball. Here is what he learned about his swing:
- Probably the most important thing Barry learned was that he wasn't properly transferring his weight. He was keeping the weight on his back foot throughout the swing. A video from PGA Teaching pro Eric Hogge suggests a baseball drill, stepping into the swing from behind the ball.
- Another problem causing chunky shots was that Barry's golf swing was not beginning with his chest (shoulders) turning; instead, his swing was beginning with an arm movement. If this is happening when you swing the club, take a tip from Michael Breed on Golf Channel - use the Elephant Drill which also improves tempo. I also regularly place a golf club parallel to the ground up against my shoulders and turn back and through.
- Finally (and isn't that enough?) Barry was using the dreaded "death grip"; he was gripping too tightly, not allowing the golf club to swing freely.
Too much squeeze and everything in your swing gets affected from wrist hinge to a loss of power and control. A tip to improve your golf grip pressure comes from one of our early Golf for Beginners podcasts and from this visual at Golf Tips Magazine.
Hold the golf club in front of you with just enough pressure to stop it from falling down in front of you. Also, something that I always try to do is to think about holding a bird in my hands - you don't want to crush the little one so you want just enough pressure to keep her from flying away.
Do you have tips or drills to stop fat shots? If so, please share here on this golf blog and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.
photos: videojug.com, Golf Tips Magazine
