John Lucas

Here's a practice tip to help you learn about impact and pressure.

An excellent way to learn the look and feel of proper impact alignment is to take a 7-iron and place it directly behind the ball and simply push the ball a few feet with no hand action whatsoever, just using the larger muscles of the back and shoulders.

Start with a slightly open stance, hips pointing slightly left, push the ball a few feet and hold that position. One should have a flat left wrist and a bent right wrist and the shaft and left arm should form a straight line.

The biggest problem I have seen in non-expert golfers is a bent left wrist at impact. When that happens, the golfer is unable to apply pressure down into the ball. The golf shaft must be leaning forward to apply pressure and to get the maximum efficient use of the shaft itself.

If you have a mop with strings, try taking the same stance as I mentioned previously. With the strings starting behind your right foot, and using only the muscles of your shoulders and back, drag the mop up to your left foot. This will help you feel the lag in the swing that is so important.

Then, with the 7-iron, add a small back swing and stop at follow through (a foot or so past impact) and check alignments.

This all may seem boring to some, but I sincerely believe if one can't have proper muscle use and alignments with a 6-inch swing, it is impossible to create those with a full swing.



Rules teaser:

In stroke play, a player lifts a stone in a water hazard. The stone had been broken off a stone wall outside the hazard. Ruling?



Answer to last column's teaser:

A player's ball lay touching a rake in a bunker. When the rake is moved, the ball rolls. While trying to replace the ball, the player cannot do so without the ball rolling nearer the hole. Ruling? The player must drop the ball outside the bunker with a one-stroke penalty.



John Lucas is the golf professional at SkyRidge Golf Course and can be reached at john@olypen.com.