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Golf Swing

Your golf swing makes or breaks your game. It doesn’t matter if you pick the right club every time if you can’t hit the ball straight with it in your hands. There are three main types of golf shots: the drive, the chip, and the putt.

The drive is almost always used when teeing off, and is also used when there is a sizable distance left to the green. It is a full swing; the club starts at the bottom, where it will contact the ball. You then wind up to the dominant shoulder, swing down to strike the ball, and follow through to the non-dominant shoulder. Your body should be perpendicular to the intended direction of travel and you should strike the ball squarely, rather than at an angle. If the club face is angled rather than perpendicular to the ball, the ball will hook or shank, veering to one side or the other.

When dealing with obstacles near the ball, such as trees, water hazards, or sand traps it is often best to use a chip shot. This shot is also used when you want to place the ball in a specific spot on the green and not have it roll away after landing. In a chip shot a higher iron is used and the golfer puts more of their weight forward.

The last shot you normally make is a putt. The putt’s purpose is to propel the ball along the green and into the hole. Rather than a fully wound up swing, a putt wind up is a few inches in most cases. They are the finesse portion of a golf game; the ball does not leave the ground on a successful putt.

 

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