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Those who watch golf on a weekly basis are lucky enough to see the best impact position in the world, shot after shot, and there is no luck involved. Although there are many different golf swings out there, they all have very similar impact positions to enable them to strike the ball long, straight and consistently.

The best impact positions need to be powerful, with the hips pointing towards the target. The shoulder should be approximately 30 degrees past the ball with the hands leading the club head. These three elements help to generate speed so that the ball will leave the club with as much power and speed as possible for longer distances.

Some players get stuck behind the ball at impact with their weight not fully transferred, and their hips not fully rotated with their hands behind the ball at impact. They will sacrifice a lot of distance and this will be obvious in their trajectory as the ball will leave the club with a high and weak ball flight.

The swing path also plays a vital role in the positioning of the body at impact because if a player swings from out to in, the body weight will not fully transfer through to the left side causing the body to be behind the ball with the hands scooping at impact, which will add a substantial amount of loft on the ball. Due to this swing path, the club face will be open to the path and possibly the target causing a slice.

If a player swings on a straight angle into the ball then the body can also transfer the weight straight towards the left side and get ahead of the ball at impact, helping to create a strong, penetrating ball flight.

Straight shots can occur when the club face is pointing at the target and the swing path is straight but the impact position will be hindered when the shaft is leaning away from the target. This will be evident in the added height on the shots, the lack of distance and maybe even result in more off centre strikes.

Height on the golf shot is a great thing. The old saying of “hit it high, let it fly” is one reverberated worldwide, however, if the body is leaning away from the ball and target at impact then the old saying is exaggerated and the height of the ball is too high causing a severe loss in distance.

At impact, the club face needs to point at the target in order to help the ball finish there. If, in fact, the club is pointing left, then studies tell us that 85% of the time, the ball will start there and its shape will be dependent on the swing path.