The "Impact Driven" Golf Swing

There are many ways to swing a golf club, but only one way to hit a golf ball correctly.

My philosophy regarding the golf swing is neatly summarized by the above statement. When looking at the top players of all time, there are no two golfers that swing the club the same way, yet they all manage to compress the ball in a similar fashion. 

How is it possible that Lee Trevino, Raymond Floyd and Nancy Lopez get the ball to the target the same way Ben Hogan, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods do? The only answer is impact: A position where the weight is well on the front foot. the handle leads the clubhead into the ball (with irons) and the head remains over or slightly behind the ball.

I will identify a few key factors that facilitate a sound impact position. Swing the club any way you want, but obey these few simple points, because the vast majority of the greatest golfers follow them. (Sounds like a good idea to me!)

Grip

Almost every champion golfer has a grip that favors the strong end of the spectrum. I can only find one legendary golfer that utilized a weak grip and that would be Ben Hogan - all the others were strong, with a few being neutral.  A strong grip encourages the hands to lead the clubhead into the strike - an integral part of a proper strike on the ball, and quiets the hand action through impact.

Set-Up

At address it is important for the head to be centered between the feet. This will leave the spine relatively vertical and the shoulders fairly level. Stance width should favor narrow over wide and the ball should never be too far forward. Keep in mind this set-up will allow the golfer to get into a proper impact position as simply as possible. Too much tilt or stance width makes it tough for a golfer to get onto the front foot through impact.

Body Motion

There are two important points to note with body motion: the plane upon which the shoulders pivot and whether or not the body stays within the 84 degree line (the red line in the photo). The better the shoulder pivot, the less likely the body is to move laterally and get across the 84 degree line.

During the pivot, the lead shoulder must move down and then across vs. simply turning across and behind the ball. It is vital for the lead shoulder to initiate the swing with a downward move.

As the body winds to the top prior to transition, the back side of the body should be flush up against the 84 degree line. This loads the energy in the backswing efficiently and prepares the body to glide effortlessly into a sound impact position. If you do happen to break the line with your hips or upper body here, you will be challenged to get to the proper impact position. There should be little to no lateral motion in the back swing.

Notice how all of the above factors are in place to facilitate the body being able to get to impact in an efficient manner. This is the secret to all of golf's greatest swings: they all had different swings, but everything they did allowed them to get into the proper position to deliver the club onto the ball correctly.  You would do well to incorporate a few of these elements into your swing.

Over the upcoming weeks I will address each of the three primary factors, namely grip, set-up and body motion, that influence a golfers ability to get into a sound impact position.

Andrew Rice teaches golf at Berkeley Hall in Bluffton, SC and Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton, NY. He recently completed his first instructional book “It’s All About Impact” which is available at www.itsallaboutimpact.com. To learn more about Andrew please visit his instructional website at www.andrewricegolf.com. Andrew may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or (843)247-4688.