Understanding Impact Position

I hope everyone is having a great summer.  For me, this is a busy time with junior golf camps, junior golf tournaments and many golf lessons.  One of the most popular topics is the Impact Position.  People are always striving to hit the ball further, straighter and more consistent.  Understanding the position of impact can dramatically improve your efforts.

The impact position is defined as the moment the golf ball is struck by the clubface, much like a hammer hitting a nail or a bat hitting a baseball.  They all require impact to change or promote an outcome.  In regards to impacting a golf ball, I would like to start off by giving you a simple formula.  The formula is this: Your hands will ALWAYS lead the club head into the back of the ball = impact position.  Whether you are putting, chipping, pitching, short irons, long irons, hybrids, fairway woods or driver, the hands will lead the club into impact position.

I would like for you to start thinking of the impact position as always being consistent with the hands in front of the ball at impact, no matter the club selection.  Another way to say that is your hands are located to the target side of the ball at impact. Depending on the length of the club, the more or less pronounced your hands are in front of the ball at impact position.  Think of the impact position as a triangle.  The top of the triangle is your grip and the placement of your hands on your grip.  From your hands visualize a straight line down to the ground to the target side of the ball, then from that point visualize a horizontal line through the ball to the club head and then back up the shaft of the club to your hands and grip.

Let’s break down the bag:

• Sand Wedge through 9 iron – Hands are more pronounced forward of the ball at impact.
• 8 iron through 6 iron – Hands are a little less pronounced than with the shorter clubs.
• 5 iron through 3 iron – Hands are just in front of the ball at impact.
• Hybrids, Fairway woods and Driver – Hands are just to the target side of the ball at impact.

The longer the club the more shallow the angle of approach is to the impact position.  The steeper the angle of approach, the more pronounced the hands are in front of the ball at impact.

My goal for you after reading this article is that you start to not only recognize correct impact position with your hands but you also benefit with more solid ball striking.

(Cover Photo Credit)