Tim Herron's Secret
Earlier this year PGA Tour player Tim Herron was struggling with his game. He had started swinging the club over the top on his downswing. This is a problem high handicappers are notorious for having. Because of this, he went back home to work with his pro for a couple of days.
What they worked on was nothing more than a simple drill of moving the ball back in the stance, to about the middle of his feet.
Normally, the rule in terms of ball position is to have it positioned around the inside of the left heel. It can go a little bit back in the stance for short irons, and a little forward for woods, but somewhere around the inside of the heel is standard.
By moving the ball back, Tim was teaching his body two things:
To keep the upper half still--or even have it fall back a little--on the downswing.
To square up the clubface sooner.
Point #1
Once your upper body starts moving laterally toward the target on the downswing, you are in trouble. Your shoulders will open, your clubface will open, and you will most likely hit a slice. By having the ball positioned a bit farther back in the stance than normal, it will force you to keep your shoulders square and your head behind the ball. Your mind will realize that if you move ahead of the ball with the ball set that far back in your stance, you are really, really in trouble. So it keeps the upper body as still and as square as possible. It essentially tricks itself into the proper position.
Point #2
By having the ball back in such a foreign position, your mind automatically knows that it has to do something different to make sure the clubface is square at impact. You have about 4 or 5 fewer inches worth of time to square the clubface, so naturally you will begin to rotate the clubface sooner and faster.
To get the feeling of this "ball-back-in-stance" drill before you go to the golf course, practice it at home. You don’t need a club or a golf ball; just set up as if you were going to hit a shot. But instead of looking to where the ball would normally be positioned, move that point back about five inches. Now make a couple of swings with your arms.On the downswing, you should feel your left shoulder stay high and your right knee kick in. At the same time, you should sense your clubface squaring, as if the toe of the club is closing. (swing the toe of the club, not the heel)
These two elements of "keeping the upper body back and square," and "squaring up the clubface sooner," are what you need to be concerned with in order to hit the ball better.
What they worked on was nothing more than a simple drill of moving the ball back in the stance, to about the middle of his feet.
Normally, the rule in terms of ball position is to have it positioned around the inside of the left heel. It can go a little bit back in the stance for short irons, and a little forward for woods, but somewhere around the inside of the heel is standard.
By moving the ball back, Tim was teaching his body two things:
To keep the upper half still--or even have it fall back a little--on the downswing.
To square up the clubface sooner.
Point #1
Once your upper body starts moving laterally toward the target on the downswing, you are in trouble. Your shoulders will open, your clubface will open, and you will most likely hit a slice. By having the ball positioned a bit farther back in the stance than normal, it will force you to keep your shoulders square and your head behind the ball. Your mind will realize that if you move ahead of the ball with the ball set that far back in your stance, you are really, really in trouble. So it keeps the upper body as still and as square as possible. It essentially tricks itself into the proper position.
Point #2
By having the ball back in such a foreign position, your mind automatically knows that it has to do something different to make sure the clubface is square at impact. You have about 4 or 5 fewer inches worth of time to square the clubface, so naturally you will begin to rotate the clubface sooner and faster.
To get the feeling of this "ball-back-in-stance" drill before you go to the golf course, practice it at home. You don’t need a club or a golf ball; just set up as if you were going to hit a shot. But instead of looking to where the ball would normally be positioned, move that point back about five inches. Now make a couple of swings with your arms.On the downswing, you should feel your left shoulder stay high and your right knee kick in. At the same time, you should sense your clubface squaring, as if the toe of the club is closing. (swing the toe of the club, not the heel)
These two elements of "keeping the upper body back and square," and "squaring up the clubface sooner," are what you need to be concerned with in order to hit the ball better.
posted by Best Golf Tips at
10:43 AM
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