Best Ball Strikers

[DBeane]

What would you consider to be some of the most critical aspects of good ball striking? For example, Hogan and Trevino, are considered among the greatest ball strikers. Both of them (at least later in their careers) had fairly compact swings and were legendary for their amazing impact positions.

So, what would you consider to be some of your most critical points for good ball striking and what are some things you do maintain them?

My self, when my contact gets off, or I havent played in a while. I focus on firming up my wrists and hitting 3/4 shots to insure my hands are ahead at impact. This usually helps keep my ball striking under control.

Just curious if anyone else thought about this at all.

-Cheers

[MiniMoe]

Hogan and Moe Norman look very different, but their move into the ball was the same, it made them the two best ball strikers in the history of the game.

Here are a few fundamentals that I use to keep my ball striking under control.

1) stay balanced and fluid in the swing.

2) Stay connected throughout the swing. The connection between the club, your arms, and your chest and your hips should be connected and move together.. not independently. Your whole body works together to produce a swing. If you get, for instance, your hips moving too soon in the swing, you will lose accuracy.

3) Stay target oriented. If you are thinking about mechanics before a shot, you are not target oriented. Golf is a game where you fling a ball towards an intended target . Your swing does not have to be perfect to get the ball to the target, so trust your swing and focus on the target.

3)Take more club and swing 80%. Why hit a hard 8 iron when you can hit a smooth 7. Odds are you are going to hit more green by hitting the smooth 7.

4)Last, and the most important.... Stay in the moment. Each shot is it's own entity and only counts one. You hit it and move on without guilt for errant shots. The next one counts just the same, so give it just as much attention. You can't do that if you are looking in the past, or looking ahead to the future. You add the score when you get done, so don't worry about it till you are done.

[pweenie]

Its all about tempo and the club through impact. Trevino didn't have a classic swing, nor has Furyck, but through impact was always consistent.
I fully agree about staying in the moment. History is gone and can't be undone. The future is yet to come. You only have now and that is all you have control over.
Sounds a bit silly but I hope you know what I mean.

[deronsizemore]

3)Take more club and swing 80%. Why hit a hard 8 iron when you can hit a smooth 7. Odds are you are going to hit more green by hitting the smooth 7.

This is the one that really helped me to start becoming a better player a few years ago. Majority of people I know will take the club required to get them to the green with a perfect strike. I know a couple guys that always say "if I hit this one good, it is the right club." The problem is, the pros don't even hit it perfect every single time and your average amateur sure isn't going to. Once I realized that taking one (or even two) extra clubs and swinging under control and hitting it solid was much better than swinging out of control and mishitting and coming up short, my game improved pretty quickly.

[Gerardv]

This is the one that really helped me to start becoming a better player a few years ago. Majority of people I know will take the club required to get them to the green with a perfect strike. I know a couple guys that always say "if I hit this one good, it is the right club." The problem is, the pros don't even hit it perfect every single time and your average amateur sure isn't going to. Once I realized that taking one (or even two) extra clubs and swinging under control and hitting it solid was much better than swinging out of control and mishitting and coming up short, my game improved pretty quickly.

I will gladly let my opponents pull out a 7 iron from 155 while I pull my 6 iron. Yes, I know I don't hit the ball far, but due to medical problems I never will. It was quite liberating, actually, to not get caught up in the distance battle.

Once I started taking the club that will get the there, not the one I have to hit perfect, my score dropped - A LOT. I was watching some golf show last year and Arnold Palmer said you should take the club that will get you to the hole if you swing smoothly, not hard and before you know it, you will be flying that club over the green and that will tell you when to change clubs.

[deronsizemore]

I will gladly let my opponents pull out a 7 iron from 155 while I pull my 6 iron. Yes, I know I don't hit the ball far, but due to medical problems I never will. It was quite liberating, actually, to not get caught up in the distance battle.

Too many times too I see people choosing a club to hit on a par 3 or something based on what the others in their foursome are hitting. They always make it known that they're hitting one club less too. It's always funny to me that those people seem to come up a couple clubs short but they live for that one out of 20 shot where they catch it just perfect and actually get to the green so they can say "I hit 8i 180 yards." Jack Nicklaus always said that he used a 7 iron from 165. That's not to say he can't hit it 185, but 165 is the distance he was most comfortable and consistent at. I feel like I'm pretty much the same way. Most people I play with are longer than me with their irons although if I need to I can hit my irons farther, I just choose not too. I look at irons as accuracy clubs. The only club in the bag that is there for distance is your driver and even then I don't swing all out.

[DBeane]

To mini moes comments, thats all good medicine. Especially the notes on staying connected. When I think connected I think of guys like Elkington, Peter Lonard, Hogan. It is amazing to watch how (not simple) but tight and connected their swings are.

Good medicine.

-Beane

[Shorty]

Hogan, Snead, Nicklaus all say the same thing about this, and it's very simple:
"There is no substitute for the clubface being square at impact."

[ddalet]

Hogan, Snead, Nicklaus all say the same thing about this, and it's very simple:

This is a gem... and often overlooked.

I would add that the key to consistency is to have your weight on your left foot at the moment of impact.... whether you leave it on there the whole time is up to you. There is no single right way to swing the club... anyone who tells you there is doesn't know nearly as much as they think about golf.