Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.
When you see a great ball striker hit their irons, you’ll notice they almost always take a divot. This is because they are hitting down on the ball, which is key for solid contact.
Hitting down on the ball is the product of proper low-point control and is crucial if you want to become a solid ball-striker. If you can’t hit down on the ball and make a divot, you’ve got little chance to become a great iron player.
When you make this descending blow through impact, you are compressing the ball, which helps generate more ball speed and spin. In turn, you can hit the ball higher, further and with more stopping power — all of which are crucial for attack a difficult golf course.
So, how does this compression happen? GOLF Top 100 Teacher Kevin Sprecher has more in the video below.
2 ways to compress the ball
There are two things that must happen during the swing if you want to compress the ball. First off, you’ve got to get forward shaft lean at impact.
“When the shaft is leaning forward, you de-loft the club,” Sprecher says. “And when you apply less loft to the ball, you’re gonna compress it more.”
The other way that you can compress the ball is by having a downward angle of attack at impact. This negative angle of attack — i.e. hitting down on the ball — will help you make ball-first contact.
“So a combination of shaft lean and angle of attack really gets you to compress the ball more,” he says. “And you can actually swing slower and hit it farther if you compress it better.”
A good way to rehearse this feeling is by getting in front of the mirror and making some practice swings. But when you do, stop yourself right around impact and make note of where your hands are in relation to the clubhead. You want to see your hands ahead of the clubhead which will get that forward shaft lean and negative angle of attack.
Additionally, try grabbing an impact bag (or something similar) and making some swings. With this you want the shaft leaning forward and making impact with the bag before the clubhead. A good feeling to achieve this is rotating your body hard and extending your arms fully at the bottom of the swing arc.
“If I get those two things happening, then I can get my angle of attack and forward shaft lean to compress the ball,” Sprecher says.
Once you’ve got the hang of those two things, you’ll be able to compress the ball and hit crisp shots with your irons.
