Impact Position

Arrive with your hips ahead of where they were at address. In GOLFTEC's data, pros' hips are about 1.5 inches closer to the target at impact, while high handicappers' hips end up slightly behind their starting spot.

your belt buckle has moved a little toward the target, not back toward your trail foot.

Have your hips turned open to the target at impact, not square. GOLFTEC reports pros average about 36 degrees open versus about 19.5 for high handicappers, and its instructors put most Tour players at 30 to 40 degrees, measured from where they started.

your lead hip pocket has already turned back, away from the ball.

Keep your trail shoulder lower than your lead shoulder as you strike. GOLFTEC measured pros at about 39 degrees of shoulder tilt at impact against about 27.5 for high handicappers, whose shoulders tend to stay more level.

your trail side works down and under while your chest keeps turning.

Move your pressure forward during the downswing, but judge it by where your hips are, not by a foot-pressure number. Force-plate studies found two distinct weight-transfer styles, including a reverse style that moves pressure back toward the trail foot late in the downswing, so there is no single pressure reading every good player hits.

you are moving into your lead side, not falling back away from the ball.

With irons, have your hands ahead of the clubhead at impact so the shaft leans slightly toward the target. Forward lean takes loft off the face and helps compress the ball.

the handle leads and the clubhead trails.

Don't arrive with your lead wrist cupped (bent back). A cupped lead wrist at impact is the casting pattern: it adds loft and costs power and consistency.

the back of your lead hand faces roughly where the clubface faces.

Get the lean from your body and clubface, not by shoving your hands forward. A face left too open in the downswing makes the body stall so the clubhead can catch up; square the face earlier and keep turning through.

you keep rotating through the ball instead of stopping and flipping.

With irons off the turf, hit slightly down: ball first, then turf. TrackMan's Tour averages for a 6-iron are about 3.7 degrees down (PGA Tour) and 2.3 degrees down (LPGA). If your swing speed is modest, don't chop steeply down; that costs distance and control.

a crisp ball-then-ground contact, not a dig.

With the driver off a tee, aim for a level to upward strike. TrackMan says hitting up is a must for maximum distance, though its PGA Tour driver average is slightly down (about -0.9 degrees) and its LPGA average is up (about +2.8), so treat it as a range, not a rule.

sweeping the ball off the tee rather than hitting down on it.