Drills for the Impact Position of the Golf Swing
The impact position in golf is where the magic happens. It is where you finally reap the benefits of all the good work you have done so far in your golf swing, from the setup to the takeaway, backswing and downswing. It is the moment your club finally makes contact with the ball. In this section you will learn to snap your left knee for a strong left side. You will learn the importance of a strong weight transfer and how keeping the hands ahead of the ball can help you generate more power.
Follow the drills in this section to make sure you get the most out of your golf shots.
Snap your Left Knee Drill
This drill will train you to strengthen your left side, resulting in more power in your golf shots.
It should improve your ball striking by giving you a nice pivot around which your hips can turn and provide room for your hands and club to travel.
Note that it involves rather violent movements at great speed so it is best to be avoided in case you have any knee, hips or other weaknesses or injuries in your body.
Take a few practice swings to warm up and as you begin to bring your hands and club down from the top of the golf swing try to go through the following sequence.- As you begin your downswing bump the hips a little forward so that it is sitting on top of your left leg.
- Continue on by straightening your left knee so that your left leg is firmly planted in the ground, fully extended.
- Finish your downswing by bringing your hands and club as you normally would through a nice hip and shoulder rotation.
Generate More Power Through Increase in Clubhead Speed
This drill will allow you to generate more power by hitting into a “strong left side”.
If you watch professional golfers on the television you will notice that most (if not all) do indeed lock their left knee during the downswing so that they can create a very powerful – and stable – impact with the golf ball.
Be Careful Not to Sway
While bumping your hips forward can help you get into a strong left side position you should be careful not to slide your hips too far forward. Doing so will invite the swaying golf swing error, which can lead to all sorts of inconsistency issues.
Impact Bag Drill
This second drill will require the use of a golf impact bag.
These specially-purposed bags are made of strong exterior fabric and are filled with weighted granular material. These features make them strong enough to hit into, and heavy enough to strengthen the muscles solicited by your golf swing.
If you don’t have access to such a bag you can move on to the static press drill below, which is similar but only requires a heavy object such as your golf bag.
- Position the impact bag just in front of where you would place your golf ball.
- Perform your golf swing as you normally would but end your swing at the impact position, when your club strikes the impact bag.
- Take note of the position of your hips, left leg, wrists and see how these can be improved for a stronger strike still.
- Replace the bag in its original position after each strike or move over to its new location. Try to strike it with the most stable, powerful impact position, sending the bag further forward.
Careful Not to Flick Your Wrists
You might notice that when you strike the bag after flicking your wrists it will result in a soft impact, one that doesn’t send the bag forward much. Indeed, for a powerful impact position you are much better off keeping the lag in your wrists for as long as you can.
If you are unable to do so you may be fighting the scooping the ball swing error which robs you of consistency and shot distance.
Don’t Leave Your Weight on the Back Font
Another thing you should focus on is transferring your weight onto your front font at impact. Leaving your weight on the back foot – such as in a reverse pivot – will result in much less power at impact.
Static Press Drill
This drill is similar to the one above but doesn’t require the use of an impact bag, which you may not readily have at your disposal.
Instead, it uses a heavy object – such as a golf bag – to help strengthen the muscles needed for a powerful impact with the ball. Or simply, it can be used to take note of the position where you are most strong and try to recreate it with a live ball.
- Position the bottom end of your golf bag where the golf ball would be, with the bag aligned so that it is heaviest.
- Don’t hit into the bag like you would in the drill above but instead try to assume an impact position that would allow you to press the clubhead against the bag and slide it forward (if at all possible).
- You should notice that you are most powerful when your weight is on your left foot, when your arms are fully extended and when your wrists are forward, ahead of the ball.
- Much like in the previous exercise you will notice a reduction of power if your weight stays on the back (right) foot or if your wrists are behind the bottom of the bag.
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