Golf Tips - Hands Ahead of the Ball

A couple of weeks ago, my golf swing went through a little rough patch where I was making poor ball contact with my longer irons. Having played this godforsaken sport for so long, I knew that it most likely had to do with something basic. Well it did. After double-checking all the basics, I discovered that my hand position had drifted from the ideal position. From a first-person perspective looking down at my club, my hands were just a little too far to the right (for a right-handed golfer). As a result, I was losing the critical hands ahead of the ball impact position to achieve proper ball contact.

Once I got my hands back to the proper setup position, good ball striking returned. Here's a good photo (except for the barrel distortion caused by the wide-angle lense) of the ideal positions for a 4-iron courtesy of Mr. Woods:



There are two positions from this photo that I try to replicate when I look down at my setup position:

1) Left hand covering the left knee - When I look down, I like to see my golf glove covering my left knee. This ensures that the hands are positioned slightly in front of the golf ball and not too far away from the body. The left foot and the golf grip should form a "V".

2) The golf shaft is angled back to the ball and the clubface is square to the target - This creates a bit of an angle between the shaft and clubface. Visually, think of a hockey stick. It is important to return to this position at impact. I like to imagine pulling the club into the ball as a simple swing thought to reinforce this crucial hands ahead of the ball impact position.

If ball-striking with your irons is poor, try this tip and see if it improves. Let me know if it does!