Hitting the Golf Ball More Solidly

When you are able to hit the golf ball solidly time after time, the whole game suddenly becomes much easier. Hitting the ball solid means that it should travel at least close to the distance you were planning on, and you will hopefully get a relatively straight flight out of it as well. Miss-hit shots are ones that typically fall short of the target, or fly wildly off line. When you watch the professionals play on TV, they are hitting the ball solid nearly every time they swing the club – one of the big keys to their amazing scores.


It’s All about Balance

To find yourself improving the quality of contact you make between the club face and the ball, the key is staying on balance during the whole swing. Many amateurs sway from side to side and lose their balance, making it nearly impossible to strike the ball solidly on a consistent basis. Shifting your weight back and forth during the swing doesn’t do anything to add power to your shots, but it does make them harder to hit cleanly.

Think of your golf swing as a rotational motion, rather than a lateral one. You want to coil up on the backswing, and unleash that coil on the downswing. While there will inevitably be some lateral movement during the swing, you want to keep it as minimal as possible. Especially early in the swing, focus on turning away from the target, rather than sliding onto your back foot. You might just be amazed at how much better your ball striking is simply by focusing on a turn instead of a slide in your backswing.


Hands in front of the Ball

With your balance sorted out, all that’s left to do is actually contact the ball. Another common cause of miss-hitting the golf ball is ‘casting’ the club head down toward the ball and letting the hands fall behind in the swing. Your hands should be leading the club head during the downswing, and should be slightly past the ball at impact. Try taking a video of yourself hitting a few balls and watch carefully for the moment of impact. Are your hands ahead of the ball, or behind it? If they are behind, this is a very likely cause of your less-than-solid shots. Work on making sure your hands accelerate through the shot and lead the way ahead of the club head to find more solid ball striking.