The golf swing punch shot has always impressed me out on the golf course when it has been executed properly. It has been one of the most interesting golf shots that I learned to play and have watched others perform. It requires the art of timing and touch to master the art of a soft landing punch shot or a bump and run. This type of shot saves golfers a number of strokes from time to time, and is quite effective in a tough situation.

The punch shot is pretty much the only golf shot that you must quit on the follow through. Feeling the club head is very important in executing a good punch shot. The golf shot is lead by the left forearm (right-handed golfers) and requires little arm movement and more wrist action. To visualize this shot, imagine throwing your forearm wrist and club head at the ball and quitting the follow through at impact.

Depending on the distance of the shot needed determines the golf club selection and how far to take the club back, mainly with the wrists. Both wrists and forearm control the distance of the club going back and through as the club picks up speed coming down towards the ball with your knees and hip starting the down swing, and only to quit the golf swing punch shot after impact.

I have seen players perform and play this shot using a driver right through to a pitching wedge. The loftier clubs are needed to get the ball up quickly. The club selection is very important on accuracy on how far and how high the ball will come off of the clubface.

There are a number of reasons to quit on the follow through on this type of golf shot. One situation would be a restricted golf swing because of a tree stump ahead of your swing path and or a branch where the golfer has to keep it low for a certain distance. Another reason would be to simply control the distance of a particular golf shot. One may want to use a 3 iron for a more restricted golf swing and keeping the golf ball closer to the ground to clear the branches before it starts to rise. The 7 iron would help pick the ball up right away to go over a tree stump or clear a branch, but one would have to use the power of the forearm and wrist for distance when using loftier clubs.

Another golf swing punch shot to practice would be an uphill mound facing you with a green sloping away from you and the pin tucked closely to the front with no green to work with. Take out a 7 iron and close the clubface a little and punch the golf ball off of and against the slope face of the mound to make it fly straight up and land softly onto the green. The mound in front of you must have a considerable amount of slope for this golf shot to work, but it is a very impressing punch shot to perform.

Practicing and mastering this golf swing punch shot will save you strokes and help lower you handicap. There are good golf swing instruction manuals on the Internet that will help you master this punch golf shot when needed in a pinch.

There are a variety of approach shots, all of which are used in different situations depending on where your initial shot lands on the course. However, your intention with these shots is always to land on the green.

The pitch shot is an approach shot that is played from farther away than the other shots. Using a wedge, the ideal pitch shot is the perfect combination of enough swing momentum to carry your shot through, but not enough to send it sailing over the green. Trajectory will be low to average depending on how far you are from the cup and you want to make sure the ball doesn’t roll too far.

You must start off with a slightly open stance, positioning your right foot directly across from the ball. When following through on a pitch shot, always make sure to keep your backswing as short as you possibly can. Failure to keep your backswing in check will usually cause you to instinctively put the brakes on your shot while accelerating, which is a definite no-no.

You want to have enough confidence in your wedge to let the club do the work for you: don’t think you have to assist the ball through the air.

Another approach shot is known as the chip shot. You’ll need to use a chip shot once you’re within about 30 yards from the green, usually after a fairway drive or tee shot. The idea is for this shot to have a much shorter trajectory, so you will need to use a less lofted club. Proper weight distribution is paramount to getting off a decent chip shot. If you’re a right handed golfer, you want to put the majority of your weight on the left side and hold this position through the duration of your shot.

There are generally two kinds of chip shots that we want to concern ourselves with. The first one is what’s known as the bump-and-run shot, and the second is a flop shot. The Bump And Run is usually taken with an 8, 7 or 6 iron club and with the clubface hooded.

That way your shot will have have less loft. You also want to have just enough power in your backswing to follow through. The flop shot is used when you want to get over an obstacle like a rough patch or a sand trap, so you’re going to want to have a much higher trajectory in order to push the ball over. Open up your stance and follow through as far under the ball as possible to try and pop it up, and you’ll keep your ball away from the danger zones with a good position for a subsequent shot.

But if you follow these tips you will hit a great shot nearly every time and at least make a major improvement in your game:

Once the swing gets down to the so called hitting area correctly, the chance of its going wrong is very slight.

Yet, golf being the strange game that it is, there is still the possibility of the good swing going off the track at this late stage.

In both the good swing and the bad, though, when the flaws appear they appear for basically the same reason-trying to “help” the club head get to the ball.

They will appear in the good swing when the player loosens his left-hand grip slightly and collapses his left elbow.

As the result of these actions there comes a peculiar body movement, a sort of heaving action, as though the player were trying, with the body, to help the swing or help hit the ball. It is a very strange contortion indeed.

In this movement the loosening left-hand grip and the collapsing left elbow have the effect of bringing the club up sharply instead of letting it go down and through the ball as it should. The left elbow crooks and bends out to the left, toward the target.

This suddenly shortens the radius of the swing, and since the straight left arm has been performing the function of a constant radius all through the swing, there is nothing for the club to do but come up.

If the swing happens to be from the inside, the loosening left hand and automatic strengthening of the right hand will cause the ball to be hit out to the right a push.

It may be a topped push or, if the club isn’t brought up far enough to make it top the ball, just a push. There is usually trouble to the right on any shot, as every slicer knows, and it doesn’t make any difference whether we slice the ball into that trouble or hit a straight ball into it. It still costs strokes.

A third possibility these flaws may lead to, if they are slight rather than pronounced, is a straight ball that doesn’t go anywhere a dead ball. This, of course, is caused by the loosening of the left-hand grip. The strong connection between the motive force of the arm and the club that is being motivated is weakened. The connecting link (the hand) gives slightly at impact and force is lost.

The best strokes for the good player, of course, are simply to keep his grip tight, hold the wrist position gained by the backward break, hit through with his hands, and let CQAM Jake its course. The first insures a strong, live connecting link between the arms and the club at impact. The second insures a square club face. The hard-swinging hands provide the speed. But COAM? What is COAM anyway?

COAM is the Conservation of Angular Momentum. In the golf swing it is the mysterious factor that makes the club head catch up to the hands, without any effort on the part of the player. Just a few more paragraphs and we will give you the full explanation.

For the poor or average player the same magic moves apply, but he must first learn to get himself into the position the good player is in as he reachers the hitting area retains the hand and wrist position, slides his hips laterally to the left, permits no hand lag, and makes no effort to move the club.

If he does these things he will keep unchanged the eternal triangle and he will be letting the body move the club. If he doesn’t do these things he will never be in the right hitting position. There are just no two ways about it.

The good player is moving most of his weight toward his left leg and his right heel has come up off the ground slightly. His body is beginning to bow out to the left, led by the hips. The upper part of his body, anchored by his head is still back, and his shoulders have not yet turned past the ball, though the left shoulder has risen and the
right shoulder has dropped.

His right arm is in close to his body. His hands are near his right leg but the club is still about horizontal and much of the wrist cock has been retained.

The good player here is coming down into a position behind the ball, so that he can hit it “out from under” and from the inside. He is not turning high and over the ball.

The most puzzling part of this picture is the position of the club, or of the hands and the club. The hands are so far down but the club still has so far to go, a full quarter-circle.

Pictures similar to this one have been printed by the thousands since the advent of high-speed photography. They are perfect for showing us how we should be at this late stage of the swing. But we believe also that they have caused more bad shots than any others ever printed.

Why? Because they have implanted&’and if not implanted, strengthened&’a terrible fear in the mind of the golfer. This is the fear that if he ever gets in this position he will never be able to make the club head catch up to his hands at the ball. Therefore, from this position he feels he would hit worse shots than he hits now, if indeed he were able to hit the ball at all. It looks, to him, impossible.

This is one of the fears that we dwelt on lightly in the preceding chapter&’the fear that you will not be able to make the club head move fast enough. It is largely accountable for what we have termed the average golfer’s eternal preoccupation with the club head.

He thinks of it as the tool that hits the ball, of course, and right from the top of the swing he starts to manipulate it to make it go faster. Or he retards his hands so the club head will catch up. Even though he knows he should not do these things, his subconscious takes command over his reason (as it always will), and he gets an action which has long been known as “hitting too soon,” or “hitting from the top,” or just plain “flipping.” The deep urge to do this is motivated not alone by the idea that he must make the club head catch up to his hands.

Part of it stems from the mistaken idea that he must snap his wrists into the shot. We are not saying this snapping cannot be or isn’t done by experts. We are saying that it isn’t necessary for the average player. Even worse, it is suicidal. The average player, trying to do it, always gets the club head to the ball ahead of his hands.

That is because, as we have mentioned, the swing through the ball is only a continuation of the first movement of the downswing, the movement that brings us to the hitting area.

Unfortunately, many golfers don&’t have a pre-shot routine. If they do have a routine, they don&’t always use it. And when they use it, it&’s disorganized. Their method of ball alignment is haphazard; they spend too much time over the ball; and/or they line up off-target, among other things. If they&’re interrupted, they look up to see what caused the noise&’then hit away, as if nothing happened.

Using a pre-shot routine is helpful, whether on the tee or in the fairway. It encourages consistency, guarantees correct alignment, and helps you make the transition to the right frame of mind. It also helps you focus on the job at hand, which my golf tips constantly advocate. In short, a good pre-shot routine prepares you both physically and mentally for a shot.

My golf lessons review the individual components of a good routine. Of course, everyone&’s routine will differ to a degree, but most will be pretty consistent in terms of their key components. If you&’re striving for a lower golf handicap, work these components into your routine.

Here&’s what I recommend&’

Components of a Pre-shot Routine

&’ Stand behind ball/visualize shot
&’ Position yourself parallel to target line

&’ Place clubhead behind the ball, square to target
&’ Look at target/visualize shot

&’ Relax arms/waggle club
&’ Look at target again, sense shot, exhale

&’ Pull trigger and swing

First, stand a few yards behind the ball facing the target. While behind the ball, pick out a target, and picture the shot, a technique we often emphasize in my golf instruction sessions. Also, visualize the ball&’s flight.

Next, walk to the ball. Position yourself approximately parallel to the target line with your feet close together.

Next, place the clubhead behind the ball so that it looks squarely at the target. Adjust your body so that it is parallel to target line. Move your back foot back, then your front foot forward until you&’re in a comfortable but stable stance. This sequence eliminates the need to worry about where the ball is positioned. It will be in the correct position every time.

Once you&’re set up, look at the target. Visualize the shot once more. Gently shuffle your feet, then waggle the club a few times. Constant movement primes you for the swing, as our golf lessons teach.

Then, relax your arms and your hands. Waggle the club a few times more.

Next, take another look at the target. Exhale. Sense the shot.

And finally, pull the trigger. Swing smoothly and easily.

That&’s it. Use this routine as a guide to developing your own or adapt it as you see fit. Work on the routine until you have something you&’re comfortable with, then use it. If you watch professional golfers you&’ll see that they all have a slightly different pre-shot routine; but they all have one and they all use it time and time again.

Sergio Garcia used to waggle the club countless times before he pulled the trigger. He no longer does that. Now, he waggles the club a couple of times, then pulls the trigger. He uses the routine every time he hits a ball from the tee or the fairway. Other players have their own pre-shot routines, with their own idiosyncrasies. But they do the same thing again and again&’every time they hit.

There&’s, nothing mysterious about a good pre-shout routine. In fact, it&’s rather simple. Each component is designed to help you with the mechanical or the mental phase of the swing. And some of these components can be modified to suit your needs, so you have your own version.

What&’s critical, though, is that you use the same routine every time you take a shot. Repetition develops consistency, and consistency lowers golf handicaps. If something interrupts your shot, step away from the ball and start the routine all over again. Doing so assures you that you are focused squarely on hitting the ball.

Repeat this routine on the course or at home, with and without a ball. Practice it until it becomes instinctive. If you make adjustments, practice the new routine until the adjustment becomes instinctive. Use the routine every time you take a swing&’even when taking golf lessons.

Next time you can&’t get to the range or you&’re on the road, work on your pre-shot routine. Then use it when you&’re on the course. You might be surprised just how much a good pre-shot routine helps your golf handicap.

If you have worked hard to develop a good golf swing so why in the world would you want to develop a hook or slice? Most golf courses have dogleg fairways as well as complex set of obstacles that you must navigate around. One way to accomplish this is to use a draw or a fade. For a right handed player developing a draw is much harder than a fade. This is due to the natural ball spin that develops as the club face strikes right to left across the surface of the ball. The amount of spin is caused by how much the club face is open or closed as the hands release and the club face impacts the ball.

Controlling your golf swing to develop a good draw or fade requires a consistent good golf swing. Only with repeatability will you be able to confidently draw the ball on a left dogleg with your irons or hybrid. In order to develop a good draw shot you should use your normal address position, take a practice a swing to waist high through your follow through. Make sure that your arms are fully extended in line with the club shaft. As you look down the shaft your club should be pointed about 10 to 15 yards to the right of your target. If your target is obscured by trees or other obstacle then you will have to make a mental picture of your target location. Most importantly you the blade of your club should be pointing up. Move your club through to the top of your back swing. As you do so will notice that your club has to move inside around your body. This will allow you to make your swing in an inside to outside move. Taking a couple of practice swings will allow you to gain a feel for the correct motion. Now address the ball and repeat your golf swing motion. As a result you should observe a left draw to the ball in flight.

Practicing this golf swing motion on the range will allow you to develop a feel for what it takes to accomplish the draw that your desire. One additional tip to increase your draw is to lighten your left hand grip pressure through impact thereby allowing a more rapid release which will give the ball more draw spin. Another trick is to slightly close the club face to add further draw spin.

Developing a good draw shot first requires that you have developed a good golf swing that is consistent and repeatable. Only then will you be able to step up to the next level of play. Remember to plan your practice with a clear objective. To avoid confusion it is best to deal with one objective per practice session. Keep a log of your practice and include details of techniques and their results. Always start your practice session by reinforcing the skills that let you develop your good golf swing. Remember golf is supposed to be fun and the better you play golf the more enjoyable your golf game will become.