Golf's moment of truth. If your grip, setup, takeaway, backswing and downswing are in order, here's what happens as a hybrid clubhead contacts the ball:

• The right hand and forearm roll over the left; this action is called the release.
• On impact, the hands are ever-so-slightly ahead of the ball.
• The clubhead strikes the ball an instant before hitting the turf.
• Your right knee points inward, at the target.
• The left hip has “cleared,” i.e. rotated left of the target, with the right hip coming around toward the ball.
• The shoulders are square to the target line, your weight evenly balanced on both feet.

For more information on Thomas Golf Hybrids:

You may or not produce a divot with your hybrids, as the clubhead follows a descending but shallow path into the ball.

Hybrid Clubs at Impact

This may go without saying, but the moment of impact is the single most-important point during your golf swing. The reason is obvious – this is the only time when the club actually contacts the ball. It doesn't matter what goes on before and during your swing if you get things wrong at impact. You need to achieve a clean strike in order to succeed in your quest to hit a solid shot. By focusing your efforts on achieving a great impact position – and then working back from that point – you should be able to improve your play moving forward.

In this article, we are going to talk specifically about hybrid clubs at impact. What do you need to do with your hybrids to find a great impact position? What are some mistakes to watch for as you practice? We will dive into these questions as more. As you might expect, the position you want to find at impact with a hybrid is going to be quite similar to the position you use with the rest of your clubs. Consistency throughout your set is an important attribute if you hope to play at a high level round after round. Once you learn how to position both your body and the club correctly at impact with a hybrid, you can apply that knowledge to other clubs as well.

Of course, if you don't yet have a hybrid club or two in your bag, now would be a good time to change that fact. Hybrids are some of the most versatile, useful clubs available to modern golfers, so don't let this chance slip by. If you struggle to achieve good results with your long irons, or if you don't feel confident in higher-lofted fairway woods, hybrids are a great choice. For most golfers, it only takes one or two experiences with hybrid clubs to determine just how much they have to offer. Try one out at your local golf shop and your game may never be the same.

One note that needs to be highlighted before we get started with this article is the fact that you really can't notice much about your impact position during the actual swing. This is because impact happens far too quickly – just a fraction of a second – for you to judge your performance accurately. For that reason, we are going to focus our instruction on the events that take place leading up to impact. As long as you can do the right things both when taking your stance and when making your swing, a quality impact position should take care of itself. If you do want to review what your impact position looks like with a hybrid club, you'll probably need the help of a video camera. Recording your swing on video and watching it back on slow motion is the best way to get a clear look at your impact performance.

All of the content below is based on a right-handed golfer. If you happen to play left-handed, please take a moment to reverse the directions as necessary.

Three Impact Keys

The keys listed in this section should be considered import points regardless of the club you happen to be holding. These are the basic building blocks of your performance in the golf swing – if you can hit on these three keys at impact, you are likely in store for positive results. As mentioned earlier, impact happens too quickly to intentionally make these positions come together at the last moment. Instead, you need to design your swing around working the club and your body into the right spot. Once you have a clear picture of what impact should look like, you'll be able to build up your technique from there.

Without further delay, let's look at the three impact keys –

• Head down, eyes on the ball. You probably could have guessed that this was going to be first on the list. When you keep your head down and your eyes on the ball all the way through the hit, the game will immediately get easier. It is amazing how many golfers fail to follow this standard, classic piece of golf instruction. While getting too wrapped up in more complicated topics and concepts, many golfers forget the basics. You can go a long way in this game if you are willing to stick with the tried-and-true methods for playing good golf. Make it a point to keep your head down and your eyes on the ball while you swing, and you will have one big piece of the puzzle already in place.
• Solid left side. This is one that is overlooked consistently, despite its tremendous importance to your golf swing. At the moment of impact, you want to have your entire left side in a firm position so you can swing through the ball with tremendous force. If your left side were to be 'soft', as would happen if you slid through the ball from side to side, it would be nearly impossible to whip the club through the zone. One of the biggest differences between professional golfers and their amateur counterparts is the way the pros are able to hit into a firm left side. Later in the article, we will talk about the moves you can make earlier in your swing to make sure your left side is nice and solid when impact rolls around.
• Powerful motion. One of the problems that many golfers have when working on their impact position is that they think of it as a static position. Sure, if you watch your swing on video and you pause the recording at the moment of impact, it looks stationary. In real life, however, it is not. The swing doesn't stop at the moment of impact – rather, it carries on through the hitting area and into the finish. This is an important fact to keep in mind. Don't let the thought of a static impact position trick you into feeling like the only thing you need to do with your swing is get the club down to the ball properly. The swing needs to continue on powerfully from that point if you are to achieve satisfactory results.

If you can manage to make it down to impact with your head and eyes in the right place, your left side solid, and a dynamic swinging action in progress, you'll be in great shape to hit some impressive shots. Are you always going to send the ball directly toward the target when you hit on these keys? No – certainly not. You will be putting the odds in your favor, however, and you will probably be satisfied with the result of most of your swings.

Setting Up for a Great Impact

When getting ready to hit a shot with one of your hybrid clubs, you need to make sure that your body is in a great position prior to starting the swing. We know that working on your stance is not the most exciting part of playing golf, but it is an important piece of the puzzle to be sure. If you are willing to work on the 'boring' stuff – like your stance – you will have a big advantage over the competition.

So, what makes for a great stance when hitting a hybrid shot? Take a quick look at the list below –

• Plenty of width. Remember, a hybrid is a long club that is meant to hit long shots. For that reason, you will want to use a relatively wide stance. As a starting point, you should at least have your feet outside of shoulder width apart. From there, it is up to you as to how much farther you would like to go. Some golfers play better from a particularly wide stance, while others find that the 'sweet spot' for their swing is only barely beyond shoulder width. It all comes down to what you would like to promote during your golf swing. A wide stance is going to make it easier to stay on balance, while a narrower stance is going to help you rotate through the ball aggressively. After some experimentation on the range, you should be able to find a stance width that feels comfortable and leads to positive outcomes.
• Good posture. You always want to have good posture when swinging a golf club. This is especially important in the long clubs, as your good posture is going to help you to make a full turn. As address, you should feel like you are pushing your backside out behind you while you settle into your stance. Doing so is going to flatten out your back, making it easy to turn around your spine as the swing develops. If you get lazy with your posture while building a stance, your rotation will suffer and you won't be able to hit the long, accurate shots that you would like to get out of your hybrids.
• Sole of the club flat on the ground. This is a point which is always important, but it is even more important when you are hitting your hybrid directly off the turf. In order to hit the ball cleanly, you will want the sole of the club to strike the ground evenly from toe to heel. If the toe or heel digs in, the club will twist and it will be difficult to hit your target. At address, make sure the club is resting flat on the ground, with neither the toe or the heel in the air. With that out of the way, you can be confident that the club will return to a similar position when impact rolls around.

The quality of your address position is going to go a long way in determining the quality of the shots that you produce with hybrid clubs. Stand over the ball in a strong position, with your back straight and your feet outside shoulder width apart, and you can look forward to nice outcomes. On the other hand, get something wrong here and you are going to pay for it later on. During your next practice session, set aside some time to work on the stance you use with your hybrids. Even just working on this point for a few minutes can pay big dividends in the long run.