No Hit at the Ball

An ideal golf shot has no distinguishable change at the ball, meaning no “hit” at, or “chop” at, like an axe into a tree. There should be no change other that a predetermined* continued acceleration to the finish. Now, this does not mean you can’t hit the ball various distances with the same club. Absolutely you can, and vary the shape and results once it lands. You do this by visualizing a slower or faster body rotation speed. This would be something you practice at the range to see the different results you get based on different efforts, then apply it on the course.

A good way to practice this is to imagine an acceleration speed you want to use from the top of the backswing to the finish. This is not a quick start thing, rather, the swing gathers speed to the finish. This also does not mean you have to speed up a lot. It can be slow and subtle. The reason I say to always accelerate** to the finish is because, with my own experiences and teaching golfers over 30 years, if the swing decelerates, bad results almost always happen. Now, there are some touch shots, trick shots, that you can use where you slow down into or just past the ball, but those are rare. Accelerating to a complete finish almost always produces the best results and remember … “no hit at the ball”. The ball just gets in the way as you’re rotating through to a nice, balanced finish!

* Predetermined means: you imagined or recalled a body rotation speed or a pace, you practiced or used in the past to get the results you want … like a 50 yd distance.

** Accelerate: to smoothly speed up to the finish. This does not have to be much … from, not much at all, to an aggressive “really go after it”. They are both viable and used.