Instruction
A simple backswing technique to hit better partial shots
The author, Scott Hamilton has created a four-lesson video course with his keys to achieving consistent, solid contact. The Solid Contact Series is available for free on his website OnTourGolf.com.
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The PGA Tour players I’m coaching are really detail-oriented guys. They can tell the difference between a wedge that has a little too much bounce or a putter that has a degree too much loft. They can detect these subtle changes because they perform consistently enough to see it in the way the bounce interacts with the turf or the way the ball rolls along the green.
Tour players can get wrapped up in what can seem like small things to the average guy. Over the years, I’ve learned that the better a golfer gets and the higher the level of competition, the more the small things can add up to be the difference between good and great. One of those small things is the ability to hit shots close from distances that fall between their full swing yardages.
As Tour players get closer to the green, hitting it close becomes a bigger priority. PGA Tour stats indicate that the No. 1 influence on a player’s chances of making a putt is how long or short it is. The 10-to-15 yard gap that exists between most player’s irons and wedges represents a 30-foot range in the distance an approach may be from the hole when it lands. Combining how far offline a shot is with how long or short it travels increases the distance from the hole and decreases the chances for making the putt.
With this in mind, I want all my players to be great at controlling their distance and direction, especially when they’re hitting shorter clubs into the green. They need to hit accurate shots to distances that fall between their full-swing yardages. In order to do that, they often have to take less than a full swing. I’ve found that a simple backswing technique allows my guys to maintain their accuracy when they are playing “off speed,” as I call it.
In the video, I show you the backswing technique I coach my guys to use to hit it close to the hole when they need to hit a partial shot.
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Instruction
Clement: Laid-off or perfect fade? Across-the-line or perfect draw?
Some call the image on the left laid off, but if you are hitting a fade, this could be a perfect backswing for it! Same for across the line for a draw! Stop racking your brain with perceived mistakes and simply match backswing to shot shape!
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Instruction
The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic
My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.
As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.
The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.
Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:
Mis-aligned hands
By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.
The position of the grip in the upper/left hand
I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.
To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.
Too much lower (right) hand on the club
It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.
Gripping too tightly
Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.
So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.
More from the Wedge Guy
- The Wedge Guy: Golf mastery begins with your wedge game
- The Wedge Guy: Why golf is 20 times harder than brain surgery
- The Wedge Guy: Musings on the golf ball rollback
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Instruction
Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!
Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?
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RoGar
Mar 30, 2016 at 12:44 am
Thumbs up!!!
Corey
Mar 27, 2016 at 10:14 am
Scott, what brand of 5 pocket pants are you wearing in that video?
Scott Hamilton
Apr 6, 2016 at 10:33 pm
Not sure. Got a bunch of em. Got them at my wife’s store Blue Sky.
HANK HANEY
Mar 24, 2016 at 10:36 am
Pure brilliance!!
mhendon
Mar 23, 2016 at 7:20 pm
I’ve been playing golf for over 20 years so I’ve seen or heard virtually every tip imaginable. So this was a breath of fresh air and it seams like a good tip to.
jamesnames
Mar 23, 2016 at 6:37 pm
Good stuff. Thanks.
Though, if you’re teaching it you might want to use the term centripetal force instead of centrifugal. Centrifugal force is a fictitious force.
Scott Hamilton
Mar 25, 2016 at 11:37 am
Man- I’m country. I’m lucky I even got that close.
David Leadbetter
Mar 23, 2016 at 5:56 pm
I have a light saber for this
Shallowface
Mar 23, 2016 at 4:25 pm
This is good stuff! Looking forward to more from Scott Hamilton.
Other Paul
Mar 23, 2016 at 4:16 pm
i dont understand what all the shank votes are about.
Michael Breed
Mar 23, 2016 at 12:59 pm
WHAT I TEACH!!!!!!!!! IS TOO TAKE CLUB BACK & FORM L!!!!!! THAN SAY YABBA DABBA DOO &SWING FORWARD THIS SHOULD PRODUCE A SHOT THAT IS THE CORRECT DISTANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Adam Scott
Mar 23, 2016 at 6:26 pm
Never knew that Michael Breed was also a Class A Dunce in addition to a Class A PGA pro.
Jon
Mar 25, 2016 at 1:00 am
Trust me that is not the Michael Breed.
DatSliceDoe
Mar 25, 2016 at 9:36 am
That’s the joke.jpg
4pillars
Mar 23, 2016 at 12:42 pm
That’s quite clever.
I’ll get the flashlights when I am doing my Easter DIY shopping.