If you had just one thing to tell a golfer that would improve their game, what would it be?
Make solid, ball-first contact with the center of the clubface. It is the main goal in skill development. In general, a large percentage of golfers fail to meet that demand. And, what makes it all the more troublesome is, they do not have it in mind. They hit a slice or a hook or a topped shot and look for a swing flaw with their arms or hip turn, when the first thing to consider is the contact they made with the ball in relation to the ground. We are talking iron and fairway-metal play, which amounts to some 90 percent of the shots played in a round.
How do you “learn” to do it? How to get the basic technique and feel for achieving that contact? It starts with short game.
Yes, short game, because for these shots the club and body move slowly and there’s a better chance to make that contact and find out how it feels when you do, and infuse your golfing system with it. It will carry over to full-swing shots. It’s how we begin coaching beginners at Elevate Golf Academy, in Oakland, and what we emphasize with those who have played a lifetime of golf. If you begin a practice session hitting chips and pitch shots you’re starting your day on a good note. When hitting full shots the club is moving so fast it is hard to get a feeling or knowledge of what is happening down there, on where the clubhead is landing in relation to the ball. What’s more, you’re so involved in watching where the ball is going, which is understandable, that you don’t consider the path of the club and the nature of the contact you’ve made. The short game is far less rigorous, both physically and psychologically, and more effective in imparting that feel.
The swing path is important to the process. For these shots you want the club moving pretty much like a pendulum – straight back from the ball, and straight forward to impact. It’s the beginning of the path you want when hitting full shots. Setting up two alignment sticks aimed at your target and just far enough apart for the clubhead to swing freely through in that space allows you to maintain functional parameters for your path and centered contact. What grip you use, from a motorcycle grip to a standard one, have an open stance or a closed one, it is okay at the beginning so long as you’re controlling the clubhead’s direction as it moves through impact. Roughly, the contact is where the ball and the grass meet. And what you are looking for is no evidence of the shot; that is, there is no divot and minimal disruption of the grass. And the clubface is clean - well, maybe a blade or two of grass sticking to it.
Once you’ve learned to land the club in the correct location you might square your stance, play the ball a bit farther back or forward depending on the height you want or need for the shot, and set your hands slightly ahead at address. Of the three, the path of the club is the one that is most important; if the path is in-to-out it will lead to bottoming out early in the downswing, because there is not enough downward angle leading to the ball. So, the neutral path should be straight back and straight through, or slightly outside to in but always between those alignment sticks.
What club do you recommend to chip with?
From a wedge to an 8-or 9-iron. Even the use of a putter from off the green is a good club to use if the length of grass allows it.
What is the most common strike, or mis-strike, hitting behind the ball or skulling it?
They’re both on the same track. One and the same. If you’re bottoming out too early the clubhead is already rising up and you either chunk the shot or hit the middle of the ball. Those are the most common dysfunctions. It most typically arises from ball position being too far forward at address, moving the club too in to out, or leaning back when beginning back when beginning the downswing, which is when the issue of keeping your head down comes up, and is one of the worst messages to pass on to the amateur golfer.
Why?
Have you ever seen tour pros with their head down as they hold to their finish position on a full swing? No. But the amateur golfer hears the “head-down” mantra and thinks that it’s even after the ball is struck. But by doing that a full and free-flowing follow-through is limited. In a full swing with an iron or driver, the upper body and/or the lower may not rotate enough. Which, by the way, can cause injury. There is less mobility, and an excessive strain is put on the body. You can avoid that by starting with the short game and swinging through after impact, which is when to look to see the result.
Gene Bakkum has been coaching golf for 29 years in Northern California. He was on the coaching staff for the UC Berkeley golf teams for 14 years, including as assistant coach for the 2004 team that won the NCAA Championship. He played two years of college golf at UC Davis, and later the school’s team for two years. He won the 2024 NCPGA Professional Development Award and is a two-time NCPGA Youth Player Development Award winner as well as a two-time NCPGA Youth Player Development Award winner. He now does the majority of his coaching at the Metropolitan Golf Links, with Elevate Golf Academy, in Oakland.