You have heard many times that to hit a crisp iron or fairway
shot you must hit
”
down on the ball.
”
However, no matter how hard you try, you can’t hit down on the
ball without first correctly transferring your weight. Just like
you can’t shift your car into gear without starting it first.
You have heard many times that to hit a crisp iron or fairway shot you must hit “down on the ball.” However, no matter how hard you try, you can’t hit down on the ball without first correctly transferring your weight. Just like you can’t shift your car into gear without starting it first.
With your hands at the top of your backswing, you need to slide your hips laterally, keeping both knees bent. At this point in the swing you want to feel about 70 percent of your weight on your left leg. You will feel stress on the outside of the left thigh if you’re doing it correctly. You have now shifted your weight correctly so you can strike down on the back of the ball. You see, the bottom of the swing is going to be where your weight is. If you want to strike down on the ball you need your weight to be on your front leg.
Take some practice swings and test where you take a divot. If you take a divot in the front half of your stance then you have correctly slid your weight to the left side. If your divot is in the back half of your stance then you need to shift more weight to the left. Remember, if you are going to hit down on the ball a divot will occur and that’s good. Just make sure the divot is after impact and not before.
Don DeLorenzo is a PGA-certified instructor at Gilroy Golf Course. To schedule a lesson, call Gilroy GC at 848-0490.
