1. "HIT HARD WITH THE RIGHT HAND"

... even though you have probably heard it many times.

The trouble with advice like this is that, while it is
partly right, it can do more harm than good.

What is meant is to hit hard with the right hand in the
low hitting area, just before impact. But we should hit
just as hard with our left hand as with our right.

And we do not mean hitting so that our hands bend to the
left and get ahead of our wrists and forearms, either.

That is disastrous.

Hitting, to us, means moving the hands through the
hitting area as fast as we can but with the wrists
slightly ahead of the hands. No snapping action.

Another danger in even mentioning the right hand at the
expense of the left, is that the right hand is usually
our more active, responsive, and stronger hand for the
reason that we are right-handed. The whole tendency in
golf is for the right hand to take charge of the swing
and overpower the left.

This leads to hitting too soon and hitting from the
outside, things the struggling club pro has been trying
for years to stop his pupils from doing.

So, let's drop the right hand out of our thinking,
so far as hitting the ball goes, anyway.

2. WHY WHEN WE ADDRESS THE BALL DO WE GET AN OPEN BODY?

Well it occurs unconsciously, because our right hand is lower
on the shaft than our left. As we reach slightly lower with
our right hand to grip the club, our right shoulder moves down
and forward slightly and our right hip moves forward just a
little bit.

Slight as they are, these movements "open" our body to the ball!

You can see the effect more easily if you drop your right hand
a foot further down the shaft from the left hand. This, by
exaggerating the action, opens the body much more. It is just
another of the natural actions we make in golf which are wrong.

The effect of this "opening" is threefold.

1. It causes us to aim to the left,

2. It restricts our backswing and shoulder turn

3. It puts us in a position to hit from the outside in before
we have even started the club back.

It is hard enough for the average player to swing from the
inside without taking a preparatory position that almost
prevents it.

CHECKING YOUR POSITION

You can have a friend check your position at address by holding
a club against the front of your shoulders and seeing where the
club points.

It will point to the left of the target an amazing number
of times.


MAKING THE CORRECTION

To bring it around so that it points toward the target or
parallel to the direction line requires a conscious effort
with the hips and shoulders. But that effort must be made
until it becomes a firmly established habit.

For one who has been addressing the ball with an "open" body
for a long time, the squaring around will seem awkward. For
a while the golfer will think he is looking at the target
over the point of his left shoulder.