Virginia Golfer Sep / Oct 2018 | Page 39

IMPACT Our hands have a tendency to return to the body’s center of gravity at impact. So if it’s not neutral at address, this will lead to possible inconsistent contact—mainly thin or heavy. The less manipulation the body does during the swing, the less the hands and wrist have to save the shot at impact. Simply by rotating the body appropriately at impact, we have created more time and space for the hands to return to neutral. When our hips and shoulders increase tilt at impact, we decrease rotation, forcing the hips and shoulders to move in opposite direc- tions, therefore giving the hands and wrists less time and space. Remember: If you’re tilted, you can’t be turning. FINISH CORRECT INCORRECT CORRECT INCORRECT IMPACT CORRECT INCORRECT FINISH The most balanced position at finish is when the shoulders, hips and left ankle are all aligned from top to bottom—also, when the shoulders and hips are parallel with the ground. Start to review your finish position by getting a general idea of where your hips and shoulders are facing when you finish your swing. We want them to finish at the target. The most common mistake is the body being under- or over-rotated at finish. So if the body finishes over-rotated (left of the target), then it was under-rotated at the top of the backswing. If the body finishes under-rotated (right of the target), then it was over-rotated at the top of the backswing. Every golfer has a certain amount of rotation throughout their golf swing, so start reviewing instead of reacting. Understand what your body’s ten- dencies are, and adjust accordingly. Scott Adland is the director of instruction at Farmington Country Club. He can be reached at [email protected] or (434) 245-7601. vsga.org “Being neutral will help minimize those inconsistent shots and help maximize shot efficiency.” S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 18 | V I R G I N I A G O L F E R 37