It happens that golfers realize that their hands are far from their body at impact. If this is you, there are a few drills and training aids teaching professionals use to remedy this problem.
On the flipside they are futile as they typically do not focus on the main cause of the fault- a poor set up.
Key Take Aways
- Golfers keep their hands away from their body to iron out the club when it’s too steep at the downswing
- The main problems in swinging are linked to impact
- Your setup position should develop your swing
Common Problems
The biggest reason why players keep their hands away from their body, is to smooth out the club when it’s too steep at the downswing. We’ve listed a few things golfers do to put the club in a better position to hit the ball when faced with a steep transition:
- Lift the handle at impact
- Raise the swing center
- Shorten the length of the lead arm
- “Reverse Pivot”
Another fault we have noticed is that players swing their hands out and away from their body. This level movement with your hands will flatten your club, but you won’t be in a good position to hit the golf ball. Often, golfers use this move to correct a golf club that is too steep in transition.
Yes, there are drills we could tell you how to correct the hand path. However, attempting to keep your hands in closer to your body won’t fix the transition. You will also probably hit fat shots every time.
Let’s start with the most frequent outcome of sending the hands out: dreaded heel hits and shanks.
To avoid this, you can put some club face tape on your clubhead. If you see all your impact marks near the heel, that’s a sign that you are keep your hands farther from your body than you should.
A Drill
One drill you can use to start fixing the issue is by placing an empty water bottle in your right pocket (if you’re right-handed) or left if you’re left-handed. Make a few practice swings to crunch the bottle. You’ll hear it make the “plastic noise” while your arm hits the bottle.
Training Aid
The use of a training aid is a good tool for feeling motion.
Golfers have different golf swings because we repeat the motion until it is engraved in our memory.
To change and enhance your current swing you must use feedback to disregard older familiar movements and to ensure that what you want to achieve happens. Using a training aid will give you good feedback when you move your hands too far from your body.
Record Yourself
Whip out your phone or video recorder and start recording yourself. If you find that the hand path is out, you’re hitting the toe of your clubface. This means that you will have to learn a flatter downswing. Your golf club must be lowered in transition allowing it to swing on a more horizontal plane into the golf ball.
Basics of The Problem
The main cause of any swinging problem must be corrected. Knowing what to correct and when is the key. In golf, the biggest problems are almost always related to impact. From toe hits with hands way out from the body to heel hits with hands that are close to the body every day.
It all depends on the inclined plane the golf club is on as it swings into impact. Browse through a few articles associated with swinging problems. There seems to be a common trend that most of them follow.
Sometimes the club gets too steep in transition and the golfer reacts to that club being out of position. So, the body responds to the movement of the club, not vice versa. In retrospect many steep swings result in a shallow attack angle.
Great Golf Setup
Playing great golf means that your setup position should enhance your swing altogether- and avoid having your hands far away from your body. Pay careful attention to your setup position. The success of your swing depends heavily on this.
Concentrating on this vital pre-swing building block will advance your performance. Remember that a decent setup does not safeguard success, but it does heighten your chances enormously.
Getting Started
At address, your body should be placed in line with the target line.
When observed from behind, a right-handed golfer appears to aim marginally left of the target. This illusion is fashioned because the ball is on the target line and the body isn’t.
Let’s use an analogy for a moment; Think about a railway. Your body is on the inside rail and the ball will be on the outside rail. So, at 100 yards your body will appear aligned just about 3 to 5 yards left, at 150 yards approximately 8 to 10 yards left and at 200 yards 12 to 15 yards left.
When using middle irons, your feet should be shoulder-width from the middle irons. When using a short iron, your stance should be two inches narrower, while stances for long irons and woods must be 2 inches wider. Your target-side foot should spread near the target from 20 to 40 degrees.
Doing this will allow your body to rotate in the direction of your target on the downswing. Now check that your back foot is 90 degrees to the target line. This slightly open stance helps to create the appropriate hip turn on your backswing. Good flexibility and body rotation speed will indicate correct foot placement.
Proper Ball Placement
The ball placement in your setup position differs with the club you select.
Ball placement is where the ball is in your stance, in the middle of your feet. The position changes because your swing changes.
Short Irons
Use your short irons in the midpoint of your stance. Short irons, such as wedges, 9-irons, and 8-irons have the most vertical lie angles. You have your short irons at the sharpest angle and take a divot in front of the ball.
Middle Irons
Your middle irons, like your 5, 6, and 7 irons, must be played one ball toward the target-side foot from middle. Middle irons have a somewhat flatter lie angle. So, you must take a slightly shallower divot than short irons.
Long Irons
Proper ball positioning for long irons ( the 2,3 and 4 irons) and high-number woods is two balls toward the target-side foot from the middle. Using these clubs, you should strike the ball straight at the bottom of the swing arc with slight divot.
A Balanced golf stance
A player’s weight should be balanced on the balls of your feet,you’re your heels and toes. When you use short irons, your weight should be slightly more than half on the target-side foot. This would be the left foot for right-handers and right foot for left-handers. Shots with middle-irons should have an equal weight balance on each foot.
For the longest clubs, put a little more than half of your weight on the backside foot- right foot for right-handers and left for lefthanders. Now you can swing the club on the precise angle on the backswing.
Proper Posture
When it comes to good posture flex your knees slightly and directly over the balls of your feet. This will help you with balance. The midpoint of your upper spine, knees, and balls of the feet should be fixed when viewed from behind the ball on the target line.
Also, your back knee should be tilted a little inwardly toward the target. Now you can also support yourself on this leg throughout the backswing.
Bend your body at the hips and not the waist. Your spine serves as the alignment of rotation for the swing. Bend it towards the ball from the hips at roughly a 90-degree angle to the shaft of your club. This right-angle link amongst your spine and the shaft helps swinging your club, arms, and body in harmony on the right plane.
Your spine should be in a firm line with no twisting in the center of your spine. When you slouch your spine, you decrease your shoulder turn by 1.5 degrees.
Being able to rotate your chest and shoulders on the backswing evens your potential to swing energetically. Hold your spine in order to accomplish longer drives and steady ball-striking.
Correct Posture for Face-on View
In front of spectators, you will be seen face-on. Here your spine should tilt sideways. This means a little away from the target in the setup. Your target-side hip and shoulder should be somewhat higher than your back hip and shoulder.
Your whole pelvis should be placed an inch or two in the direction of the target. Now your hips will be in the lead and it counterweights your body, since your upper spine tilts away from the target.
Keep your chin up and out of your chest, this helps with improving your shoulder turn. Make sure that you tip your head at the same angle as your spine. Lastly, focus your eyes on the inside part of the back of the ball.
Arms and Hands
Let’s return to our main focus- not keeping your hands far from your body. At address, your hands should hang somewhat ahead of your pants zip fastener. Determining your hands-to-body distance differs on the club you use.
A good guideline is to keep your hands a palm width from your body for short and middle irons and a palm’s length.
In the case of using long irons, you can measure from the bottom of the wrist to the tip of your middle finger.
Setup Positions for Different Club Lengths
With different club lengths comes different setup positions. Let’s explore.
Short irons
When you use your short irons, the shaft will seem as if it is leaning slightly in the direction of the target. This is because the ball is placed in the middle of your stance.
Middle Irons
With your middle irons, the shaft of your club leans only slightly toward the target since the ball is forward of center.
Long Irons and Woods
When using long irons and woods, your hands and the shaft of the club seem to be in line. Yet again, as the ball position shifts forward, your hands remain in the same place, so the lean of the shaft fades.
Drivers
With drivers, the shaft tilts away from the target. Here, your arms and shoulders should create a triangle and your elbows have to point toward your hips.
Conclusion
The building blocks to a good swing rely on a solid set up position. Many golfers will stretch their arms out too far away from their body to reach the ball. This makes for a poor set up and worse swinging methods.
So, steer clear of this happening by making sure that your set up is on point. This is almost the literal foundation into what makes a decent golf swing.
