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How To Avoid Pulled Shots By Tweaking Your Follow-Through

A pulled iron shot is a nuisance, mainly because when you pull one you tend to repeat the mistake, much as you do when you start shanking. Of course the pull doesn’t look too bad, as it does not hook or slice, and it feels firm coming off the clubhead, but it ends up 25 to 30 yards to the left of the green.

There are 3 common causes for pulling an iron:

1. Hitting the ball with an outside-in swing.
2. Closing the clubface somewhere during the swing.
3. Starting with the ball too far forward in the stance.

The first thing to do is check your stance. Every iron shot should be hit off the left heel, but no further forward than that. Now concentrate on taking the clubhead back in a straight line and bringing it onto the ball on that same straight line.

Finally, make sure that the follow-through throws the clubhead out towards the hole and that you finish with your hands high. A proper follow-through like this makes it almost impossible to pull the ball.

A Sound Follow-Through Technique

It is obvious that you can hit a good shot even if you follow through awkwardly, for nothing you do after the ball leaves the clubhead is going to influence where the ball goes. But a sound follow-through is still a vital element in a golf swing because it helps insure that everything that went before was done properly.

What is a good follow-through?

In general, there are three important elements to look for:

1. How the hands finish.
2. How the right shoulder finishes.
3. The position of the head.

Ideally, the hands should finish high. This indicates that you have brought them straight through the impact area and out toward the target. If the hands finish past and below the left shoulder, it usually means the swing has been too flat or the wrists have rolled over excessively at impact.

At the same time, the right shoulder should stay down and underneath the left. This indicates that you have hit straight through the ball with all your power, and not pulled the face of the club across it.

Finally, the head should be kept down but slightly tilted, to the point where you watch the flight of the ball almost entirely out of the corner of your left eye. This means you have maintained a steady position throughout the swing and stayed down on the shot.

Dirty Clubs = Increased Scores

Too many weekend golfers ignore what seems to them to be a forgotten part of the game: Taking care of their golf clubs.

Dirty Clubs Can Impact Your Score

As often as not they keep their clubs at home and they find it quite easy not to clean them. But this costs strokes. If the grooves of the iron are not clean the clubhead will not put maximum backspin on the ball.

Always Carry A Towel

During every round you should have a towel available so that the clubface can be cleaned after each shot. You should also clean the grooves by running a sharp object through them before every shot.

How To Keep Your Woods In Top Shape

Caring for woods presents a different problem. Woods pick up moisture and are affected by sharp changes from very moist to very dry climates.

To prevent any problems, you should soak your woods periodically in linseed oil. This seals the heads of their irons, presumably to keep them from rusting.

More Swing Tips: Not Enough Distance

There isn’t a single golfer in the world that would not like to add more distance to the ball. Ask Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, or Steve Stricker if they want more distance and I guarantee you they would all say yes!

Here Is A Tip

A very simple tip on helping you get that extra yardage out of your drives is to learn to turn your shoulders during the backswing.

You will have a much better chance of hitting the ball longer if you learn to turn your shoulders during the backswing. Stretch your torso and make it a goal to get your left shoulder to be positioned over the right foot when you have reached the top of your swing.

If You Are Having Trouble

For those if you who have tried this and are having trouble moving your shoulders through enough on the backswing, you can turn your left knee clockwise, just enough so that it is pointing behind the ball during the backswing. This will help free up the hips and aid in turning your shoulders enough.

Consider Your Grip

To help increase the flexibility needed to extend your shoulders during the backswing, pay attention to your grip. Too much tension with your hands can cause the chest and forearms to tighten up, which lessens the speed of your arms.

Hit Short When Playing Through A Long Course

Getting yourself ready to play through a golf course that is considerably longer or shorter than your usual one presents certain problems in shot adjustment.

For example, if you normally use a driver and short irons on your own 6,500 yard golf course, you cannot expect to hit drivers and long irons on a 7,000 yard course and score well without preparation.

Adjust Your Game

If you are getting ready for a course that is much longer than your own, you should adjust your game. Instead of hitting a drive and wedge on the 350 yard hole, hit a five iron off the tee and then another long iron to the green.

The primary reason for this is not to give you practice swinging a long iron. You can get that on a practice tee. The purpose is to become accustomed to hitting into the green from a considerable distance so that the long course you are headed for does not mentally defeat you before you start.