I urged you to stop trying to hit the ball a while back. You might have read that post and thought, “what is he saying? I have to hit the ball!” Of course, there must be a collision between the clubface and the ball, but “hit” isn’t the right word.
If “Hit” is Wrong, What’s Right?
I think “hitting” the ball is counterproductive in golf. I much prefer the notion of striking the ball with your swing. I found a blurb on the internet that does an excellent job of explaining the difference between hitting something and striking something.
-“Strike” comes from the idea of a stroke (a long, wide movement of an arm or instrument), whereas “hit” focuses more on the impact, not how the blow was delivered.-
Something to Think About
A good analogy is the lighting of a match on the side of a matchbox. To be successful, you stoke the match smoothly along the striker until speed builds enough to create the heat required to light the match. Yea, fire! Imagine you try to light the match by only hitting it on the striker. Fire? Nope, no fire. Broken matches, maybe, but no fire!
Fight the Urge to Hit
In marshall arts, there’s a saying, “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.” Unfortunately, the hit impulse is strong and curtails smooth speed. It’s the primary source of fat shots, thin shots, over-the-top swings, pulls, slices, etc. Need I go on?
Try it. You May Like it.
Next time you play or practice, think of striking a match. Build speed with a long smooth swing to strike the ball. You’ll be surprised by the effortless power you produce.