A Little Squaring-Up Move

I’ve been working on a move for the past few months that many pros say is forbidden for amateurs, but I say to you, go for it.

When you lead the clubhead into the ball, your hands are ahead. I’ve been telling you this for years now. It's in my Six Fundamentals post. Keep doing that, but add on one little thing. At the last moment before impact, square up the left palm to the intended starting line.

It looks like what Johnny Miller is doing in this image from his Fixing Your Swing video.

The reason teaching pros want you to stay away form this move is that it is very hard to get right. It is the ultimate timing move. A little early or late, and you’re done in. You can't get this right physically. It's all in your mind.

Fortunately, your mind is powerful. You can teach it to do anything. What happens in a very short time in real life, you can learn to slow down to your perception and perform at your leisure. Timing ceases to be an issue because you have all the time you need to get it right.

To perform this move, think to yourself, before you begin your swing, “square left hand at impact.” Let your unconscious mind take over and it will direct your hand into that square position at impact. Trust me, that’s how it works.

If you intentionally try to square the left hand, maybe you will, maybe you won’t, and it gets harder and harder to do as the round progresses.

But if you just give the order before you begin moving and trust your unconscious mind, stay out of its way, it’s easy.

A couple of notes. I had to open my stance just a bit to get this to line up. Also, my left-hand grip is pretty neutral already. Squaring up my palm just puts it where it started from. If you have a strong grip, this tip might not be a good idea.

Why would you want to learn to do this? To make the game easier and more predictable. When you have a way of squaring up the clubface that you deliberately control, and that’s the real purpose of this move, you will hit straighter shots more often.

Bonus. By squaring up the left hand, which squares up the clubface, you give the ball a direct hit, not a glancing hit, and more likely than not on the center of the clubface. That is how you get the maximum distance out of your swing.