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How far should my hands be from my body in a golf swing?

The hands-to-body distance varies depending on the club you are hitting. A good rule of thumb is to have the hands a palm's width from the body for short and middle irons (4 to 6 inches) and a palm's length—from the bottom of the wrist to the tip of your middle finger—for long irons and woods.

How far should hands be from body with driver?

As for distance from the ball, the butt of the grip at address should be about six inches from your body. Check this by setting up and then taking your right hand off the grip, moving it about a foot to your right. You shouldn't feel like you have to reach to put it back on the club.

Should you keep your arms close to your body in the golf swing?

On the backswing, keeping the upper arms connected to your chest allows the path of the golf club to move inside and naturally along the proper arc. A great drill to practice the feeling of a connected golf swing is to place a glove, towel, tissue or dollar bills in both armpits as you address the golf ball.

Where should my hands be on a golf swing?

Try this: put your hands together like you're praying. Have your hands neutral and not tilted to the left or right. Now, turn your hands to the left so that the right hand is on top of the left hand. That is the proper rotation of the hands during the golf swing.

How high should your hands be at address?

At impact, your hands should return to the same place they were at address—no lower (as in closer to your body) and no higher (as in farther away from your body).

45 related questions found

Should hands be forward in golf swing?

The grip and hands must be in front of the clubhead and ball. Many amateur golfers believe that the grip and clubhead come back to the position they are in during the setup. The hands and grip must move forward before the clubhead in order to properly compress and control the ball.

How far should a golf ball be in front of you?

How Far Should You Stand From A Golf Ball? The ideal distance you should stand from the golf ball is one where the butt of the club is pointing at your belt buckle and is about 6 inches away from your thighs. This should be the same for all clubs in the bag.

How do you keep the club in front of your body?

Get into your address position, then bring the club up and lay it across your back shoulder, while the rest of your body maintains its normal stance. Rotate your hips so your back faces the target, then extend the club straight out from your shoulder. This is the position you should try to achieve on your backswing.

How loose should my arms be in the golf swing?

Arm Slot. Teaching professional Shawn Clement agrees that the player's arms should drop to begin the downswing, but he says they must drop into the right position. Clement advises players to focus on dropping their arms in front of the body, while keeping their hands on the proper swing plane.

What is the correct tee height for driver?

From a poll of GOLF's Top 100 Teachers, the ideal tee height is about 1.5 inches for driver. A good checkpoint is that half the ball “peeks” above the crown after you sole the club at address. For a 3-wood, peg it about half an inch and just a quarter inch with an iron.

What happens if I stand too close to the golf ball?

Standing too close to the golf ball will result in incorrect posture, which in turn results in inconsistent hits and inaccurate hits. Standing too close can result in a shank or a slice, depending on the posture of the player.

How far should I stand from the ball with my driver?

The right pinky touches the left thigh while the right thumb sticks out to the butt end of the driver. A fist and a stretched out thumb works well too. For a golfer who is 6′ and up, this distance usually ends up around 7 inches from thigh to the butt of the club. For golfers around 5'4″-5'10”, it is around 6 inches.

What tense should arms be in golf swing?

You want to be holding the golf club on most shots about a 4 or a 5 at the maximum. That will allow the grip pressure to stay light the arms to stay relaxed but not so light that you actually let go of the club when you swing.

What does soft hands mean in golf?

Every shot in golf requires 'soft hands' in order to execute each shot. You need to minimize grip pressure when you putt, pitch, and even swing an iron or your driver. When you have tension in your hands, that tension is then transferred into your forearms and your shoulders.

Are arms passive in golf swing?

In the modern athletic swing, an "active," rotating body through impact plays a big role in releasing the clubhead, with the hands and forearms being fairly passive.

How high should arms go in backswing?

To make a proper backswing, start by lifting your arms. Even more specific, use them to elevate the club's center of mass (signified by the red ball on my club) about 25 to 30 degrees as I've done here before even thinking of pitching the club upward with your wrists.

Where should your hands be at the top of your backswing?

At the top of the backswing, the right elbow should be bent at slightly more than 90 degrees. The right wrist should also be bent at about 90 degrees so that the palm of the right hand faces directly at the sky (back of the hand is parallel to the ground. Your right elbow should be below the right shoulder.

How do I stop swinging my body in golf?

Perform a mock backswing and make sure that the end of your club points at the ball when you reach what would be your top of the swing. Reaching this position will only be possible if you are indeed rotating your upper body on top of your hips, with your shoulders – not your arms – doing most of the work.

Can standing too close to the golf ball cause a slice?

Standing too close to the ball causes a loss of posture, reduction in arm extension, loss of balance, loss of speed, toe hits, slices, low hooks and a change in swing path. Always check you setup first when you start hitting errant shots.

Should I stand closer to the golf ball?

Stand closer to the ball and allow the hands and butt end of the club to be no further than three inches from the body. The closer the better. Standing too far away from the ball and reaching out will cause a low trajectory, cause a golfer to cast the club, come over the top and hit the ball on the toe of the club.

Why do pro golfers stand so close to the ball?

Higher Ball Flight

Standing closer to the ball can help golfers that tend to get their swing plane too flat. With flatter swings, you will not get the ball flight you need. Standing close to the ball helps players have a slightly Upright swing path and can help with being able to get the ball to stop on the green.

Should hands be in front of ball at address?

At address, your hands should be slightly in front of the ball – exactly where you want them to return when you make contact. Also, make sure your left wrist (for a right-handed golfer) is in a relatively flat, firm position.

Should the golf shaft lean forward at address?

PHOTO PROVIDED In most cases, the butt of the club should point no more than one to two inches ahead of your belt buckle, more to the center is best. More golfers than not, have too much shaft lean at the address position. Leaning the shaft toward the target actually can cause a slice and a low trajectory.

How do I consistently find the bottom of my golf swing?

The bottom of the arc is behind the ball instead of ahead of it. If you've shifted your weight correctly on the downswing, your right knee should be pointing toward the ball at impact. If you haven't--and you hit off your right foot--the bottom of your arc will be behind the ball. You'll probably hit it to the right.

Should there be tension in the golf swing?

Ideally, on a scale of 1-10, your grip pressure should feel like a 4. On short game shots, try for a 3, or even 2! Most importantly, keep your grip pressure consistent throughout the entire swing. Change in grip pressure is a killer in both the short game and full-swing shots.