The "B" In "A To B"

To play golf with power, control and consistency, you must have a clear understanding of impact. If you were to consider impact as a zone or area instead of the brief instant that it is, you would give yourself a greater chance of better contact with the ball.

Ben Hogan and Lee Trevino are known for the "extended flat spot" in the impact area that gave them great control of the ball shot after shot. They "extended" impact. You too can develop this extension through impact that made these players great.

By practicing the following steps you will have your own action definition for impact and will be building in your own extended flat spot.

Perform this drill one step at a time to build solid impact of the ball.

Step 1. - Start from a standard address position - hands mid body wrists level (not cocked or uncocked) with the clubface up against the ball.

Step 2. Push your right hand forward against a slightly resisting left hand until the left wrist is flat and level, the shaft appears in line with the arm (when looking from a directly-in-front-of position). The right wrist will be bent and level. The left wrist should be flat and level (not cocked or uncocked).

Step 3. -As you push the right hand against the left, allow the hips to turn counter clockwise (as in a barrel) until the left leg is straight - the right heel remains on the ground.

Step 4.-The shoulders respond to the forward push of the hands by tilting - the left shoulder up, the right shoulder down. The shoulders remain parallel to the target line.

Step 5. - The right elbow be more than it was at address and moves much closer to the body. The right forearm will be behind the shaft.

Step 6. - The head is steady and behind the ball.

Step 7.-Now push the ball forward and away from you by fully uncocking both wrists, straightening the right arm and allowing the clubface to close slightly. Vary the speed of this uncocking motion. Note both the direction and the distance you roll the ball. Use a 2-or 3-iron and grip down on the handle.

Step 8. - Once you can feel this extension from a static start, begin to make a small backswing and hit the ball by uncocking to full extension through impact. Gradually build a longer backswing, focusing on uncocking fully and deep into impact, driving the clubhead into the ball.

By treating impact as an area and by fully uncocking through impact, you will be defining the "B" in "A to B."

It has been an exciting discovery on the path to better golf to understand how the hip rotation through the impact area coordinates with the uncocking release of the hands. The hands are the source of motion of the club, arms, shoulders, hips and legs - all the way down to the base of your feet.

By using a pushing motion with both hands through impact, the hip action is triggered to work in support of the hands and arms to deliver maximum compression to the ball through impact.

There are two ways the hands push throughout the swing, and both are very important at impact. First, the power push comes from the uncocking action of the wrists. The hip rotation is caused partially by this uncocking action. Second, this hip rotation also is caused partially by the pushing of the right hand against the resistance of the left hand through impact. The function of the left hand through impact is purely to uncock the clubhead fully down through "B." It is the right hand hitting up against the left that causes the hips, shoulders and leg action to transport the clubhead through follow-through and into the finish.

Hitting against a firm left side has its in hitting against a firm left hand. Henry Cotton prescribed hitting against a tire. This gives the reaction of the hips, legs and shoulders.