All good ball strikers have one thing in common. At impact they have a forward lean, or tilt, in their club shaft as they move through impact.

Displaying this forward shaft tilt through impact allows you to achieve a downward strike with the club head into the back of the golf ball and also allows you to release your full club head speed through impact. A shaft position that leans backwards will catch the ball with an upward strike. If the club head strikes the ground and then the upper part of the ball this will produce a heavy or fat shot. The ball will not travel very far as the club head speed will be imparted into the ground. If the ground is not struck first, the club head will make an upward strike towards the golf ball with a backward shaft lean at impact and as a result of this, the club head will strike the upper part of the ball or even miss it.

In order to achieve this forward shaft tilt at impact, work on either of the following drills. If you have an impact bag, place it opposite your left foot (for right handed golfers) at address. Place it upright and work on rolling it over to the left as you are looking at it, by getting an area part way up the shaft to strike the upper part of the impact bag.

If you don’t have an impact bag, but have a stand bag, place the stand bag to the left of the ball so that its legs are just on the outside of the target line and the bag is on the inside. The bag should only be a two to three inches to the left of the ball. Swing only part way back and then strike the ball slowly so that you can stop the club before it hits the bag. Work on keeping the shaft of the club in a fairly vertical position as it finishes before the bag. The ball will be struck through the stand bags legs and you can work on achieving a really good forward lean with the shaft through impact.

Both of these drills will help you to achieve an improved ball flight, with greater distance on your golf shots and more consistency throughout your ball striking.