Lower the Right Shoulder and Give a Full Body Swing

For weekend golfers, the number three wood could be tough. This is especially true if the ball is in the grass.

Although the three wood has greater loft than a driver, it is difficult to hit the ball into the air when it is not placed on a tee. It is difficult to make a good three wood shot with the average weekend golfer’s strength and club head speed. Moreover, the “fear of the three wood” makes one tense, and one’s impact inaccurate, so a lot of the time people miss the shot completely.

Hitting the Ball With a Three Wood-

In a picture of pro golfer Song Aree (left), her right shoulder is positioned lower than the left. Her right shoulder is positioned lower than necessary in the picture for emphasis. The position taken at impact is like the position at address. Therefore, it is more effective to lower the shoulder beforehand. However if you hit a ball with a three wood in a horizontal way pictured by Song Aree on the right, it is impossible to hit the ball in the right trajectory.

Practicing Lowering the Right Shoulder-

Like Song Aree in picture, address your shot with your right leg pulled back. The right shoulder naturally goes down, and as a result, it stays in that position throughout the swing, like Song’s finish (right), making it easy to hit the ball.

People who slice the ball, producing a hook, mainly use this practice method but this is a good method for practicing hitting the ball.

Impact Should Be Low and Long in the Downblow Position-

In order to hit well with the three wood, one should maintain the cocking of the club until right before the impact in the downblow position. (left) After the impact, the club head and the body should turn in the same direction, like a full body swing (right).

When using an unfamiliar club like the three wood, it is effective if you lower the speed of your backswing.

There is no easy way to learn golf. If you are not used to a club, you just have to practice.

There is a joke that says Korean weekend golfers are the world’s best with seven irons. It is because most people started learning golf with the seven iron and are used to it. With enough practice, it is possible to be good with other clubs as well.

Young-SikAhn ysahn@donga.com