Tour players use different backswings to hit their marks.
Great short-iron players typically flight the ball lower by limiting the amount of wrist hinge in the backswing [above]. By focusing on turning the rib cage back and through with minimal wrist set, tour pros shallow out their downswing to hit penetrating iron shots that have loads of spin.
This is a great technique to copy, but it doesn’t work in every situation. If the hole is cut in the front of the green, say, over a bunker, pros will generate more height to have the ball land softly. Average golfers tend to leave these shots short because they know their typical lower-trajectory flight has no chance of stopping near the hole. By hitting wedges higher to front pins, pros create more margin for error.
They do this by moving the ball slightly up in their stance, just forward of centre. The real key is to hinge the wrists more in the backswing [above]. More hinge adds loft to the club at impact and sets up a fuller release through the ball. Notice how much more wrist hinge I have compared to the boring-trajectory shot.
You still make a full turn going back by rotating your rib cage. This is not an arms-only swing. Then, with that extra wrist set, feel the club unhinge coming down and rehinge after impact. This will put more loft on the shot and land the ball softer.
Mark Blackburn, No.1 on Golf Digest’s list of the 50 Best Teachers in America, is based at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama.
Photos by J.D. CUBAN
