• Welcome To ShotTalk.com!

    We are one of the oldest and largest Golf forums on the internet with golfers from around the world sharing tips, photos and planning golf outings.

    Registering is free and easy! Hope to see you on the forums soon!

Hand Position.

Greydawg

King Of All Hackers!!!
Dec 15, 2006
243
0
It's the "Rookie" again,
looking for more free instruction.:laugh:

When watching the Pros' on TV,
sometimes I notice that their hand position is ahead, (forward?), of the ball.
I was wondering if there is a 'Rule of Thumb' when to do this?
What clubs/shots would you want this particular hand position?

When I was taking lessons last year my coach had me do this with my hybrid.
But I failed to ask him more on this subject.
What's your opinion?
Thanks.;)
 

ezra76

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2006
12,412
16
Hands first then clubhead will increase your ballstriking a ton. I start off with hands a head and a little "forward press" triggers my swing. I'm also working on maintaining what they call a "reverse K" postion throughout my swing. That would be where the left side basically stays lined up through the swing, maintaining spine angle.

I recommend grabbing a wedge and practicing little half shots, like 20-50 yarders, maintaining that wrist hinge though impact, then let it turn over. The only time I don't do this is when I hit a wristy shot from sand or rough.
 
OP
Greydawg

Greydawg

King Of All Hackers!!!
Dec 15, 2006
243
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
Hands first then clubhead will increase your ballstriking a ton. I start off with hands a head and a little "forward press" triggers my swing. I'm also working on maintaining what they call a "reverse K" postion throughout my swing. That would be where the left side basically stays lined up through the swing, maintaining spine angle.

I recommend grabbing a wedge and practicing little half shots, like 20-50 yarders, maintaining that wrist hinge though impact, then let it turn over. The only time I don't do this is when I hit a wristy shot from sand or rough.

I knew I could count on a reply from you,
and I appreciate it, but...
Being a "rookie" I'm not exactly sure what these terms mean.
Guess I'm still a little "ignant" when it comes to golf talk.
Could you help me out here my friend???
 

ezra76

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2006
12,412
16
Let's see if this works....


faceon.gif


See the backwards "K" formed by the straight left side at adress. The "forward press" gets the hands/wrists set ahead of the clubhead for the swing. Now, VJ does a rather funky little move with his right hand where he actually only has like 2 fingers of the right hand on the club at impact. To "hinge" is to hold the clubhead back, let the hands lead by not breaking the wrists before striking the ball.

A great "drill" I used to show this to my dad and few other friends was to put a tee into the ground a few inches ahead of the ball. Had him hit the ball and take the tee out of the ground. A do not lie when I tell you that right after I showed him this he shot an 88. First time he's broke 90 since I've been playing with him. He used to try to flip a the ball too much, breaking his wrist hinge too early, trying to help the ball into the air instead of striking down and through, letting the loft of the club do the work.

BTW- that is not my captioning edited in there, just found this on Google.
 
OP
Greydawg

Greydawg

King Of All Hackers!!!
Dec 15, 2006
243
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
Thanks, Ezra!
That makes sense!
I have offically put my clubs back in the pick-up and have to drive directly past the range on my way home from work.
I can see a lot of practicing in my near future!!!!:laugh:
 

cypressperch

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2006
681
3
Toledo Bend Lake, Louisiana
Country
United States United States
Golf clubs are designed to sit a certain

way behind the ball. A person starting out will do well to place the clubface behind the ball with the ball positioned at the center of the club face and the club face square to the target line. Now, let the clubhead sit naturally on the sole of the clubhead. You will find that with a short club like a wedge, the shaft leans quite a bit to the left. Just stand to the club without changing this natural position of the club. Your hands will be ahead of the ball at address. You want your hands to return to this same position for impact. As the club you use gets longer, that lean to the left becomes less and less. With the driver, your hands are no longer ahead of the ball. This is good. You actually would do well to catch a drive slightly on the upswing which would mean your hands would have to be just a tad behind the ball at impact with your driver. With a three wood off the fairway, your hands are just a tiny bit ahead of the ball at impact. This means the clubhead will be coming to the ball at a very shallow angle making no divot but just brushing through the grass a bit AHEAD OF THE BALL. I emphasize ahead of the ball, because that is what having the hands ahead of the ball is all about. Clubhead hits ball first, then the grass ahead of the ball. With a short iron, at impact, the hands are more ahead of the ball and the angle of attack is greater (hitting down more on the ball rather than sweeping the ball as with a three-wood.) so it is normal to have a divot with a short iron. The longer the club, the shallower the angle of attack, and therefore, the less divot.

Best of luck to you with your game. Sincerely, Cypressperch
 

halifax_golfer

Well-Known Member
Jun 26, 2006
472
0
I really liked those tips... I hope I can remember them and try to make sure on my backswing that my clubhead doesn't get ahead of my hands. And I really liked what you guys added to all this. :)... It's warming up here a bit again now, although there was ice rain last night and the roads are bad, I think it's going up to about 4 or 5 degree's C.

Have a good one.

fr.
Chris
 
OP
Greydawg

Greydawg

King Of All Hackers!!!
Dec 15, 2006
243
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #8
Excellent advice!!!
Thank you gentlemen!!!!!!!!:thumbs up:
 

JasonMacIsaac

Titleist and Cleveland
Feb 23, 2005
467
1
I have my hands about 2 or 3 inches ahead of the clubhead, Harvey Penick believes you should use a forward press with every club in the bag except for the driver where it should be neutral.
 

Fastback

Well-Known Member
Nov 13, 2006
326
0
way behind the ball. A person starting out will do well to place the clubface behind the ball with the ball positioned at the center of the club face and the club face square to the target line. Now, let the clubhead sit naturally on the sole of the clubhead. You will find that with a short club like a wedge, the shaft leans quite a bit to the left. Just stand to the club without changing this natural position of the club. Your hands will be ahead of the ball at address. You want your hands to return to this same position for impact. As the club you use gets longer, that lean to the left becomes less and less. With the driver, your hands are no longer ahead of the ball. This is good. You actually would do well to catch a drive slightly on the upswing which would mean your hands would have to be just a tad behind the ball at impact with your driver. With a three wood off the fairway, your hands are just a tiny bit ahead of the ball at impact. This means the clubhead will be coming to the ball at a very shallow angle making no divot but just brushing through the grass a bit AHEAD OF THE BALL. I emphasize ahead of the ball, because that is what having the hands ahead of the ball is all about. Clubhead hits ball first, then the grass ahead of the ball. With a short iron, at impact, the hands are more ahead of the ball and the angle of attack is greater (hitting down more on the ball rather than sweeping the ball as with a three-wood.) so it is normal to have a divot with a short iron. The longer the club, the shallower the angle of attack, and therefore, the less divot.

Best of luck to you with your game. Sincerely, Cypressperch

this is a great post..

one thing i suppose i can add to it is that divots are largest with wedges and should become progressively smaller the longer the stick.. this is due to the low point of the arc being located around yoiur left hip/shoulder..

for example, since your natural club lean dictates that a wedge, and invariably the ball position is located around the center, then the follow through to the low point of the swing for a wedge is effectively under the ground, hence a large divot. A 3 iron, due to its lean and ball position means its much closer to the low point of the arc, hence relatively no divot
 

🔥 Latest posts

Top