Q&A for How to Swing a Golf Club

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  • Question
    How do I stop hitting the ground behind the ball with my wedges?
    Community Answer
    There could be many reasons. Bending your knees as you approach impact; straightening your arms as you approach impact; the ball too far forward, or you the club head may be passing your hands too soon through impact. There are many possible reasons. The best thing to do is find a credible golf-instructor in your area to work with.
  • Question
    How do you know what club to use?
    Community Answer
    Go on the range, hit each club to each target 10 times. See how far you hit each one. Make note of the distances.
  • Question
    How do I keep my head down when swinging?
    Community Answer
    Focus on the ball. Do some training, hitting the ball without looking where it goes. Just focus on the impact, and you will be fine.
  • Question
    How do I hit a pitching wedge?
    Community Answer
    Watch a video of the legend Phil Mickelson explain his "hitch and hold." It is hard to explain without showing a video or picture, but rather than taking a traditional swing, you hitch and hold as you're swinging leaving you with a high arching shot which has great spin around the green. This technique can take at least 10-15 strokes off your score. You may think that it is impossible to take that many strokes off just by switching a chip swing, but this technique has made me more accurate and taken away 3 foot rollers.
  • Question
    If you are a right-handed golfer should your right hand make all the movement?
    Community Answer
    When you say "make all the movement" I'm not sure what you mean. But if you mean should your right hand be the dominant hand in a golf-swing, then the answer is no. Both hands have parts to play throughout the golf-swing. To really dissect and learn what those tasks are, it's best to find a credible golf-instructor in your area and have him/her walk through those with you.
  • Question
    How do I stop duck hooking?
    Community Answer
    A 'duck-hook' is generally a shot that curves drastically and quickly from right to left (for a right-handed golfer). There could be a multitude of causes. You could be stopping your body's rotation through impact. Your grip could be much too strong, you could be pushing drastically through impact with your trail hand. Without more information, it's impossible to give a clear diagnosis. The best thing to do is find a credible golf instructor in your area and have him/her film your swing to see exactly what is going on.
  • Question
    Should my back elbow be against my body during the downswing?
    Victor LoDato
    Community Answer
    No, it should be very close but not touching your side, keeping it tucked on the back and forth part is crucial for ball striking. It is important to practice this motion, preferably with short irons before moving to long irons and woods.
  • Question
    How do I line up to hit a ball with a 3 wood?
    Community Answer
    For a right-handed golfer, inside your left foot. For a lefty, place it inside your right foot.
  • Question
    I hit the ball, but I do not get it in the air. How do I correct this?
    Community Answer
    You are nipping the top of it. Try bending your knees and keeping your head down through your swing.
  • Question
    How do I hit a lob wedge?
    Community Answer
    It depends. If you need to get height and distance, a full short iron swing will work. For short flops up onto the green or over a bunker, for example, I use what I would call a brisk putting stroke. The lob wedge doesn't have much face to work with because of the angle, so keep your arm very straight or it's easy to blade the ball.
  • Question
    How do I avoid hitting behind the ball?
    Community Answer
    What causes a golfer to hit behind that ball with one club, many times causes a golfer to hit behind the ball with other clubs. See the explanation above regarding the question about hitting behind the ball with a wedge.
  • Question
    How do I read a green?
    Community Answer
    This is a difficult topic to summarize in a short answer. There have been complete books written on this topic. However, the basic rule is that you try and determine if and how much the ground between your ball and the hole is sloping one way or the other. As an example, if the ground to the right-side of the line between your ball and the hole is higher than the ground to the left side of the line, the ground is said to be 'sloping' from right to left and that will cause your ball not to travel on a straight line towards the hole, but rather curve (i.e. - "break") from right to left as it travels toward the hole. In this case you would need to aim more towards the right so that the break will make the ball go towards (or into) the hole.
  • Question
    How do I stop from topping the ball?
    Community Answer
    There could be a number of reasons causing you to top the ball. You could be lifting up with your torso through impact. You could be straightening your legs, or bending your arms through impact. The best thing to do is find a credible golf-instructor in your area and have him/her film you swing to see exactly what is going on in order to fix it.
  • Question
    I have straightened my driver shots from the tee and fairly consistent in distance, but I have a tendency to pop the ball high, which results in a loss of distance. How can I flatten my tee shots?
    Community Answer
    If by "flatten your tee shots" you mean, how can you stop hitting the ball on the top part of your clubhead, there could be a multitude of factors that might cause such a result. You might have the ball tee'd up too high. Or your driver clubhead might be traveling too much into/through the grass/ground through impact. Without more information, it is impossible to diagnose correctly. The best thing to do is find a credible golf-instructor in your area and have him/her film your swing so you can see what is going on.
  • Question
    I notice Tiger hits his drives teed up about a half inch off the ground. Is it better to tee it lower for better distance?
    Community Answer
    It depends on the wind. If the wind is high speed, you're going to want to tee the ball low to keep the drive low to the ground, so the ball stays out of the wind. But if there is no wind, you can tee it up as high as you feel is comfortable for your driver.
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