The golf trick that could change everything
I was reading the late George Knudson’s book, The Natural Golf Swing, and I noticed this tip, which I hadn’t seen before. Knudson was a Canadian who played on the PGA Tour in the 1970s and had one of the best swings the Tour has ever seen. What he wrote might be just what he needs to start making solid golf shots.
Knudson said that early in his development as a professional, he would always hit his driver on the heel of the club, breaking the wood on that side and hitting “these ugly little shots.”
“One day, I decided to try catching the ball on the toe of the driver. I put the ball on the toe and thought that’s where I would make contact. It wasn’t the sweet spot, but getting the ball on the sweet spot hadn’t done me any good either. So what happens? I hit this thing and it shoots off the club like a rocket compared to what I’ve been doing.
“…suddenly, after putting the ball on the toe, the ball was coming solidly off the clubface. I decided the clubhead must be coming off and accepted it….I didn’t know I was suddenly catching the ball in the center of the clubface due to centrifugal force pulling the clubhead out and down.”
What Knudson means is that the centrifugal force of the swing pulls on the arms and they stretch out a bit, they get longer. When they drive the club towards the ball, the longer the center of the clubface will be in line with the ball, if you start from the right place.
Remember that 5-iron you hit a few months ago that took off like it was thrown and you wondered, “Where did that come from?” What you did was finally hit the ball in the center of the clubface, that’s all.
To do what Knudson suggests, you need to know where the tip of the club is. Look at the grooves in the face of an iron. They extend to a point about an inch or so from the tip end of the stick, and then there is smooth, polished metal. Place the center of the ball at that limit between the grooves and the polished metal.
With a driver, it’s a bit more difficult to find the correct spot, because the ball sitting on a tee introduces a parallax effect. The ball will look more towards the toe than it actually is. Aligning the far end of the clubface with the center of the ball, as seen on the tee, is a good place to start. Because driver heads come in different shapes, you’ll have to experiment a bit to find the correct alignment with the driver you’re using.
If you want to hit the ball longer and straighter, there are two rules. Rule 1: Strike the ball into the center of the clubface. Rule 2: Strike the ball in the center of the clubface. (Same rule, right?) Forget swing speed, wrist tilt, and all that. Hit the ball flush and you’ll get the distance and accuracy you want. What you just read is a good way to do it.
