Golf Master Tips, Hand Position for Best Golf Ball Impact - Ben Hogan, the great golfer from the 1940s and 1950s was an astute student of the game. Because he worked so hard developing his own craft he was able to pass down many of the swing techniques we use today.
One of those however is not really understood by many mid to high handicap golfers. That is the position of the hands and wrists at the moment of ball impact, which is a major reason why most amateur golfers lose much of the distance they could have.
Perfect Hand Position for Best Golf Ball Impact
The thing most professionals and low handicap players are able to do to create this additional power is often called the late hit, or club head lag. At ball impact both hands should be slightly ahead of the ball, but in order to do this without causing the glancing blow on the ball (and resulting slice), the wrist must be slightly bowed frontwards and the right wrist flexed slightly in order to get the club head in proper position. Obviously, here we are talking about the right-handed golf swing.
Novice golfers normally have an early release which will cause a scoop of the ball at impact. Rather than an outward bow to their left wrist, it is actually collapsed as their hands remain behind the ball. This will result is the loss of power and the greater chance to hit behind the ball or to hit it thin, which is basically topping the ball.
There is greater forgiveness with this swing if the ball is teed up, as there is more room to get the club under the ball. But even with this the club at impact is going to be on an upward arc, causing it to go upward and not outward for greater distance.
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| Image source: Golf Master Tips |
So how does the average golfer make this change? There are a couple of swing keys that might be helpful to anyone trying to lag with the club head. The first is the proper wrists hinge in the back swing.
To get this in proper position, imagine a hole in the butt end of your club with the shaft full of water. In the course of the backswing pour the water out of the shaft onto your back leg. By doing that you should hinge properly during the back swing.
The second swing key is to feel like you're driving the butt end of the shaft toward the ball in your down swing. Then allow the club to whip through the ball by getting your left wrist into the bowed position at impact. This will make it much easier for the club to lag when it comes into the hitting area, causing much better ball contact and helping to eliminate those frustrating fat or thin hits. (Sean_O'Kelly)
