The Credit Card Drill for Proper Impact & Better Contact
One of the most common complaints by golfers wanting to improve their game is the lack of pure ball striking they experience. In fact, almost 70% of golfers are the happiest on the golf course when they hit the ball well, regardless of their score. It certainly can be extremely frustrating when you don’t hit the ball well, especially if you don’t know which way the ball is headed from shot to shot.
So what causes inconsistency with how well you are striking the ball? It can all be boiled down to what we call the “Proper Impact Position.” Achieving the proper impact position greatly enhances the ability to hit crisp and solid golf shots, and while other elements in the swing can and often do play a role in the type of contact a player achieves, the point of impact is of crucial importance. Below are three characteristics of a swing at the correct impact position:
- Club head position is slightly behind the ball and square to the target
- The left wrist is very flat at impact
- Weight is transferring to the left side
Andy Hilts, Vice President of Instruction and Education at GolfTEC and a PGA Master Professional, explains the importance of producing a very consistent, repeatable impact position and offers the Credit Card Swing Drill to help you hit crisp iron shots by developing a better point of impact for your golf swing.
The benefits of swinging with a proper impact position go far beyond creating more solid contact. Additional benefits of achieving a consistent, repeatable impact position are:
- Increased distance
- Straighter shots
- Proper divots
- Better trajectory and ball flight
- More spin
- Overall more control!
We’ve seen proper impact position help golfers play better golf for years. GolfTEC client Chris W. was able to remove 5+ strokes from his game simply by working with his coach to improve the impact position and contact of his driver. And Chris isn’t alone – read about how GolfTEC has helped thousands of golfers improve their golf game and enjoy the sport through our Client Success Stories.
Don’t wait to start improving and enjoying your golf game. If you have a specific problem with your game that needs to be addressed, get in touch with a GolfTEC Certified Personal Coach today to determine the best approach for you and your golf game.
Video Transcript
“There have been a variety of unorthodox swings on tour that have been incredibly successful. Ray Floyd, Nancy Lopez, Lee Trevino, Jim Furyk, John Daly, Bubba Watson. All those swings, while unorthodox in their method, still produce a very consistent, repeatable impact position. And if you were to look at those swings side-by-side at impact, you’d see a lot more similarities than differences.
I want to talk a little bit more about that impact position that they achieve. The similarities at impact being a firm left side – everything down their left side is nice and extended. Not this scoopy or flippy type impact position we see with many of the amateurs at GolfTEC.
Let’s isolate a little bit more, and talk a little bit more directly about one of the key elements of that firm left sided impact where everything down that left side is nice and straight. That element is the left wrist. And keeping a very flat left wrist as you strike the golf ball is an absolute requirement to hitting quality, crisp shots. I want to show you an easy drill or training aid that you can use to help develop a better impact position.
We’ve got here a keycard from the last hotel I stayed at – thanks Marriott. What we’re going to do with that hotel keycard is actually slide it into my glove so about half of the keycard is in my glove and the other half is left remaining above the glove. From here we’re going to take our setup position where the card is actually gonna cuff to start with. We’re going to move from here to the top of the backswing and produce a keycard that is very flat at this point in time. From here work slowly into the impact position keeping that card in a flat position. And that’s really the whole key to this lead wrist being flat. That lead wrist being flat is gonna help ensure that the club face is square.
Developing a left wrist that’s flat as you strike the golf ball is vital to hitting crisp iron shots.”