Whether you are putting, playing from sand, hitting an iron from the fairway or a wood from the tee, the one thing all shots have in common is the need to accelerate the clubhead through the hitting area.
And yet every day handicap golfers take too long a backswing, which means that they decelerate the clubhead into the ball and hit a poor shot. It's destructive and pervasive - before they know it they will be doing the same on every shot, even putts. Their brain knows that with that length of backswing, if they accelerate through the ball, as they should, it will go much too far, so without even being aware of it they slow down.
Much better though to simply take a shorter backswing. Next time you're on the practice ground, deliberately swing the club only halfway back but commit to the shot and try to have a bit of zip in the downswing. You will be surprised at how far you can hit the ball.
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 31 - JANUARY 2005 |
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Decelerating into the shot is one of the most destructive faults in the game