Trevor Ng
Golf impact position is the most important part of the game. The impact occurs when the clubface makes contact with the ball, which is the only chance to tell the ball where you want it to go. A good impact position can help you hit straighter shots and play some of your best golf. To improve your impact position, you can work with a coach or try some drills. One drill is to use an impact bag, which helps promote a better shaft lean with the golf club. Another drill is to practice from downhill lies, which will help you instinctively chase the ball down the hill. For a good impact position, your hands should be ahead of the clubhead, and your hands and hips should rotate through the swing.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Hands | Should be ahead of the clubhead, with the club following the pace set by the hands |
| Clubface | Should be square to the target |
| Spine angle | Should be maintained from address through the backswing and downswing |
| Hips | Should be cleared to make way for the club at impact; the front hip should be pulling the back knee forward |
| Shoulder | The lead shoulder should be above the trail shoulder |
| Weight | Should be shifted to the front side |
| Foot | The front foot should remain flat, with the back foot rolling in |
| Drill | Hit hard stop quick drill, impact bag drill, downhill lies drill, alignment stick drill, divot drill, coin drill |
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What You'll Learn
Use an impact bag to practice the feeling of impact
The moment of impact is often called the "moment of truth" in a golf swing. The impact bag is a large, soft bag that can be placed on the ground instead of a golf ball. When you hit the bag, your club will stop, and you can evaluate your impact position.
The purpose of the impact bag drill is to help you transfer your weight to your lead leg early and get a feel for a good impact position. It helps you focus on the only point of the golf swing that matters—impact. It also helps you develop the proper sensations you should feel at impact and trains you to use the bigger muscles in your swing to strike the ball.
To use an impact bag, start with slow-motion swings, focusing on compressing the bag with your hands ahead of the clubhead. Gradually increase your speed. You can also use one of your short irons and take your stance as you would for a normal full swing. Instead of placing a golf ball on the ground, put the impact bag in its place. Use your normal takeaway to start this swing but only go back about halfway.
When you hit the bag, your focus should be on using your body to rotate into the bag, not your hands. This tendency to "flip" the club toward impact with the hands is a common error in golf, and the impact bag is good at correcting this. Once you've hit the bag, hold your position and evaluate your results. You want your weight to favour your left side, and your left arm and wrist should feel strong. Your left wrist should be mostly flat—if it's cupped, you're flipping the club toward impact and need to work on keeping your hands quiet while you rotate through the shot.
As you gain a better feel for a quality impact position, you will hopefully see better results with your full swing. You can also use your impact bag to improve your short game performance.
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Ensure your hands are ahead of the clubhead
To ensure your hands are ahead of the clubhead, you must master the "lag". This means that the club follows the pace set by your hands and therefore lags behind them in position.
To achieve this, you must first set up with the shaft leaning forward. This "hands leading the way" position should be maintained during the downswing.
There are a few drills that can help you get a feel for this. One is to simply practice pushing into an impact bag. Set up in your desired impact position and hold your body while swinging the club back two feet and returning it to the impact bag. Then push the bag to get a feel for your arms and body working through impact.
Another drill involves swinging your heaviest wedge (sand wedge or lob wedge) with your leading arm only. Swing it back and forth like a pendulum. The weight of the clubhead will create a force that keeps the arm swinging, and you will learn what it feels like to keep the clubhead swinging through the ball.
It is important to note that overdoing this can cause issues with controlling the distance of your approach shots. As with anything in golf, finding a happy medium that works for you is ideal.
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Keep your front foot flat and your back foot rolling in
Keeping your front foot flat and your back foot rolling in is a key part of achieving a perfect impact position in golf. This is a dynamic movement that requires a good setup, and it's important to practice and repeat the correct movements to achieve consistency.
The front foot should remain flat to provide leverage, allowing you to straighten your front leg and open your hips towards the target. This movement helps to keep the club to the inside for a powerful delivery. As the front foot braces, the back foot rolls in, and the weight shifts to the front foot, moving the swing's low point forward so that you can hit down on the ball.
Golfers who struggle with this movement may find that they get stuck on their back foot, causing them to spin open and their feet to twist in the turf. This results in weak contact with the ball, as the club cuts across it from the outside.
To practice this movement, place a ball against the heel of your back foot and the side of your front foot. This drill will help you to feel the correct movement and improve your impact position.
In addition to foot placement, there are several other factors that contribute to a perfect impact position. These include the position of the hands and clubhead, the spine angle, and the upper body movement. It's important to focus on these elements together with foot placement to achieve a powerful and consistent golf swing.
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Practice from downhill lies
Practising golf from downhill lies can be tricky, but with the right approach, you can master this challenging shot. Here are some detailed instructions to improve your impact position when practising from downhill lies:
Setup and Stance
The first step is to assess the lie and understand the slope you're dealing with. Adjust your stance to match the slope; this will help you make clean contact with the ball. Place the ball in the middle of your stance or slightly farther back than usual. This positioning ensures ball-first contact, which is critical in downhill lies. By playing the ball a little back in your stance, you avoid leaning too far forward, maintaining balance and stability.
Weight Distribution and Body Position
Shift your weight to your front foot, which is crucial in a downhill lie. This weight distribution encourages your body to move with the slope, preventing you from hanging back or losing balance. Additionally, adjust your shoulders to align with the downslope. This adjustment helps ensure that you don't hit behind the ball.
Swing and Impact
When swinging, focus on swinging with the slope, not against it. Allow your weight to transfer to your front foot as you make your downswing, and then step through the shot. This technique helps ensure ball-first contact with a descending blow. Extend your arms through impact, guiding the clubhead to travel as low to the slope as possible.
Practice Tips
When practising downhill lies, remember that it's best to do so on an actual course, as most practice facilities are flat. Take practice swings next to the ball to get a feel for the swing arc and adjust your aim accordingly. Remember, the ball will tend to go to the right for right-handers and to the left for left-handers, so adjust your aim to compensate for this tendency.
By following these instructions and practising regularly, you'll improve your impact position when playing from downhill lies, leading to more consistent and successful shots.
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Check your clubface angle, wrist angle, body rotation and shaft lean
The clubface angle is the direction the club face is pointing at impact. This angle is measured relative to the target line. A positive value means the club face is pointed to the right of the target, and a negative value means the opposite. The clubface angle is the biggest influence on the starting direction of the golf ball.
To practice this, focus on your grip, ball position, hand position at the top of the swing, and position of the hands at impact. You can also practice with an impact bag. Set up in your desired impact position and swing the club back and forth, pushing into the bag to get a feel for the impact.
The wrist angle at impact is also important. Professional golfers exhibit "bowed wrists", meaning that their wrists are bent away from the target as they lean the shaft forward. This gives more opportunity to hit the ball farther and more solidly, as well as providing better clubface and loft control. To practice this, focus on maintaining your wrist angle through impact and don't let your wrist swing through too quickly.
Body rotation is key to achieving a good impact position. Start with some lower body rotation, turning your hips towards the ball, and then transfer into lower body torque from your legs and hips as they turn. To practice, put a golf club perpendicular to your shoulders and make a turn with your upper body, simulating your back swing, and then swing down. Focus on turning your hips downrange, and the club face will trail behind your hips.
Finally, shaft lean at impact is important. The shaft should be pushed forward slightly at address and again at impact. You can practice this with a HackMotion device, which will give you data on your shaft lean.
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Frequently asked questions
Here are some ways to improve your golf impact position:
- Use an impact bag to practice pushing into it and get a feeling for your arms and body working through impact.
- Make sure your hands are ahead of the clubhead, a position referred to as "keeping the lag".
- Your hands should also reach a square position at impact, meaning that both the palm and back of the hands should be pointing towards the target.
Here are some drills to improve your golf impact position:
- Hit Hard Stop Quick Drill: Take a full swing with a 7 or 8 iron and then stop the club just after impact.
- Downhill Drill: Practice from downhill lies. Gravity will pull your body to your front foot as you instinctively "chase" the ball down the hill.
- Low Tee Drill: Tee up the golf ball on a low tee and hit shots, focusing on divots starting just in front of the tee.
Some signs of a good golf impact position include:
- Your hands are ahead of the clubhead.
- Your hands and clubhead are in a square position, pointing towards the target.
- Your front foot remains flat, with the back foot rolling in.
- Your hips and shoulders rotate through the swing.
