"The Impact Zone" by Bobby Clampett

[Hammer 4]

I hate to say it, but it seems like some of these golf instruction video's are all about the $$$$. Seems like most, not all have some sort of a "gimmick" they use in their advertising, i.e. impact, how to fix your swing, ect. I dunno, call me a skeptic.

In my mind the 5 simple keys have a sound platform, i.e. things you need to do, to play well. I.e. if you move your head all over, how in the holy heck are you gonna make solid contact..? Basic keys, IMHO offer the best way to develop a good solid base for a good swing, if done properly.

Nothing against Bobby and other video instructors..but I'll stick to what works for me.

[boogielicious]

I hate to say it, but it seems like some of these golf instruction video's are all about the $$$$. Seems like most, not all have some sort of a "gimmick" they use in their advertising, i.e. impact, how to fix your swing, ect. I dunno, call me a skeptic.

In my mind the 5 simple keys have a sound platform, i.e. things you need to do, to play well. I.e. if you move your head all over, how in the holy heck are you gonna make solid contact..? Basic keys, IMHO offer the best way to develop a good solid base for a good swing, if done properly.

Nothing against Bobby and other video instructors..but I'll stick to what works for me.

Agree.  But I do think his book is worth reading.  It emphases the important of the low point.  He just doesn't do a great job of telling you how to get there other that a practice method.

[drifterdon]

I just checked it out from the local library.

Hopefully I can pick up something to help me along.

[Crazycanuck44]

Just started re reading it along with LSW. At my age (59) I'm hoping I can improve my game..

[hbyrd]

I can bow or flatten my left wrist without a club in my hand but while gripping the club I can't do it...no matter what grip I try...any ideas?

[JazzFatCat]

I'm in the middle of reading this book.

I don't really understand what he means to "aim your hands". I interpret that to mean that if you were to throw a ball with your right hand the ball would land 4 inches in front of the ball on the ground.

The chapter about lag is very pertinent to me. In the last couple of years I've been trying to compress the ball which has lead to me swinging hard, casting, and having an abbreviated follow through. Recently I've been focusing on lag and my swing bottom which is resulting in a smoother swing with a fuller follow through.

[Ernest Jones]

I'm in the middle of reading this book.  I don't really understand what he means to "aim your hands". I interpret that to mean that if you were to throw a ball with your right hand the ball would land 4 inches in front of the ball on the ground. The chapter about lag is very pertinent to me. In the last couple of years I've been trying to compress the ball which has lead to me swinging hard, casting, and having an abbreviated follow through. Recently I've been focusing more on lag and my swing bottom which is resulting in a smoother swing with a fuller follow through.

Pick out a spot 4" ahead of the ball. Try to strike that spot on the ground with your hands in a straight line from the top. Don't worry about anything else. This will help insure your hands are ahead of the ball at impact. YMMV.

[Slowcelica]

Here is a pretty old video by Martin Chuck but I think it pretty much sums up the book.

[iacas]

Pick out a spot 4" ahead of the ball. Try to strike that spot on the ground with your hands in a straight line from the top. Don't worry about anything else. This will help insure your hands are ahead of the ball at impact. YMMV.

That's the entire book right there. Reprint it 800 times and you have " The Impact Zone ".

[Ernest Jones]

That's the entire book right there. Reprint it 800 times and you have " The Impact Zone ".

Well, don't forget to throw in some stuff about path dictating start line, then you have the complete book. :-P

[JazzFatCat]

This book has really helped me so far. Just by concentrating on keeping my lag and where the club bottoms out I'm hitting it better than ever. I videoed my swing yesterday and I the chicken wing is gone - which is a huge relief.

[JazzFatCat]

Edit: nevermind - my chicken wing is alive and thriving.

[Rynrem]

I try to aim four inches in front of the ball and get my hands to that point....I just end up hitting 2 inches further behind the ball. So I don't even try anymore

[EMiller]

So I found looking four inches forward to really help with my iron shots and pitching. I'm Stoll having trouble with partial wedge shots and woods however. Thoughts?

[Crazycanuck44]

I do better when I try and aim my hands ahead of the ball I hit fat sometimes but when I hit good it feels and sounds great.

[Buckeyebowman]

Another oldie but goodie. I was completely unaware of this book's existence until about a month ago when a buddy e-mailed me a link to Clampett selling a set of instructional DVD's. Further research showed that they were based on this book. I found a used copy on Amazon for cheap, and bought it.

When I started reading it the first thing to pop into my head was, "Wait a minute, this is how I USED to hit the ball!" Admittedly, this was 40 years ago (I'm 63 now), life intervened, and the ability floated away. Plus, back then nobody was teaching "forward swing bottom", they taught "hit down on the ball".

Lately I've heard some instructors say that you absolutely DO NOT hit down on the ball. Then I see some super slo-mo footage from the Swing Vision camera where I see an iron clubhead moving forward and DOWNWARD, striking the ball first and continuing forward and downward to take a divot on the target side of the ball.

True, the book may seem simplistic to some, but I prefer that to over complicated. At the outset it's obvious that Clampett is something of a devotee of Homer Kelley, author of "The Golfing Machine". I've never read Kelley's book, but have read passages of it quoted in various places. Talk about complicated! I prefer Clampett's method. Stay on message and drive the point home! K.I.S.S.!

And the book does have it's faults, but they may not be all attributable to Clampett. There is a publisher and editors involved. Larger pics in color are always preferable, but are expensive to print. I have a book on morel mushrooms in which the author said he wanted to include a lot more color plates, but the publisher started griping about production cost, so they had to cut back.

Long story long, I think this book has a lot to offer all golfers. From relative beginners trying to learn how to strike a ball properly, to guys like me, who have just forgotten how.

[Strat-Pack Rick]

 All the stuff in "The Impact Zone" makes sense to me and is helpful except the part about hitting down with your driver. I know there are contradictions to just about everything in golf but i literally have never heard anyone but Bobby Clampett say that. Does anyone else find that odd ? I surely am no expert at all but it just seems odd. I know this is an old topic but im just getting going. If one of you teachers out there can explain this to me that would be great. Is he all by himself in that thinking or should i hit down with my driver a little ? Heck, ive been trying hard not to do that.

   The part on aiming point with your hands is super cool. It works for me too. Late as usual haha. Hit Em Good Yall

[MRR]

Another book that I find quite useful, but fails for lack of pictures.  More accurately, fails for an author who thinks he can explain things in words and does not need pictures, even though he uses the incorrect words.

Can anyone explain this drill from the book?

Quote

 

1) Grip a club with your left and alone, and extend your left arm and club so they form a straight line that's horizontal to the ground.

2) Now, cock your left wrist up, and the club with it, by using the muscles of the last three fingers of the left hand.  Do not move your arm as you cock your wrist, and stop when the club and your left arm form a right angle.

Result) You have just learned the backswing's left-wrist cock.

 

3) Now, lower the club along with the top of your wrist to form a straight and level line - meaning the club shaft is once again parallel to the ground.

Result) This is the flat-left-wrist alignment that we want to achieve at impact.

 

4) Relax your left wrist and allow the weight of the club head to drop the club toward the ground, below its straight alignment with the left arm.

Result) You have just learned to fully uncock the club.

 

Observations when I attempt this drill for the above steps.

1a) The proper grip with the left hand will NEVER form a straight line with the club unless you grip it like Moe Norman (a swing I hope to never use).

1b) In order for the club and arm to both be parallel to the ground, the hand would have to be pronated (palm facing the ground) or supinated (palm facing up)

2a) As a former fencer, I understand the difference between "using fingers" and "using the wrist".  Using the muscles of the last three fingers is NOT the same thing as cocking your wrist.  Perhaps he means that the three fingers are what holds the club steady.

2b) If the hand is supposed to be pronated or supinated, the club will never form a 90 degree angle by lifting it up.

2c) If the grip is with the Anatomical snuffbox up (which appears correct to me), this sort of gives what I believe is correct left wrist-cock.  But, again, "snuffbox up" is NOT what step 1 said.

3a) Lowering the club to horizontal again gives a Moe Normal grip that is far beyond the angle of the club and wrist at impact.  Unless all my reading is wrong, the arms should be pretty much hanging vertical from the shoulders towards the feet, while the club should angle from that line towards the ball placed some distance away from the feet.  If that is not the case,

3b) The wrist-cock appears to be on a completely separate plane from the flat-left-wrist we want to achieve at impact.  No less important, but this drill does not end with "the flat-left-wrist alignment we want to achieve at impact".

4) "Straight alignment with the left arm" is already uncocking the wrist far beyond where it needs to be at any time in the swing.

 

Am I misinterpreting something or missing something obvious?