Do you sometimes hit the big ball before the little ball?
Hitting the earth before the golf ball results in a not-so-good feeling. Watching your golf go nowhere brings you down for sure. Tired of that contact, we adjust and start hitting the ball thin, where the leading edge smacks the middle of the ball and results in a low, unruly and uncontrollable ball flight. Misses like these produce an emotional rollercoaster of ups and downs.
If you watch a golfer’s swing and tracked only the head of the club, you notice the head travels in a circular shape throughout the swing. This shape is often referred to as the swing arc.
The bottom of the swing arc will determine how solidly you will strike the ball. The most solid strike with every club hit directly off the grass is the one where the club hits the ball first, continues to the bottom of the arc and then travels up and to the finish.
So, in essence, the bottom of the arc is actually below the level of the grass and a few inches in front of the ball, creating a divot.
How do you make a divot? Be sure the bottom of your swing arc is in front of the golf ball. By doing so, you’re ensuring that you deliver the club on a descending arc, allowing the club’s loft to get the ball in the air.
The most common ball-striking mistake for most of us is when the bottom of the arc happens before the club head reaches the ball. One cause is keeping weight on the trail foot and not shifting the center of mass over the lead foot during the downswing. This lack of a shift keeps the bottom of the arc behind the ball, and the result is a fat shot that goes nowhere.
When you’re tired of hitting these fat shots and you continue to stay on your trail foot on the downswing, you’ll make an adjustment with the bottom of your swing and begin delivering the club on the upward side of the arc. The upward arc is the side guaranteed to never to get the golf ball in the air and flying properly. This produces thin or skulled shots, with vibrations that will rattle your hands and drive you crazy as your ball skids quickly to nowhere.
The upward side of the arc is also cruel and can produce the whiff. You know this feeling: where you swing and miss the ball entirely because the club traveled up and passed over the ball. We don’t need to describe the whiff any further; the results are apparent.
So, in what direction is your game going? If your club is on the way up, then your game may be going down. Remember, to hit a golf ball correctly and solidly, make sure you’re moving toward your lead foot, ensuring the arc is traveling down and in the right direction.
Achieve that, and your game will go up for sure.
Peter Harris is the director of golf at the Fore-U Golf Center in West Lebanon. His column appears in the weekly Recreation page during the golf season.