Heel Shot Cures

Video Transcript

The heel shot. Now we are talking about the golfer who hits the ball in towards the heel of the club, very close to the neck or the shank. A dangerous place to be, it does not feel solid when you hit the golf ball. So what is happening here? Well as we swing somehow the club is getting out to this tee or we are swinging too much in to out which will allow you to catch the heel also. So a guy that tends to swing too much underneath or inside out, particularly with their long clubs, will hit a lot of shots in the heel. To cure that you want to get the club a little more out in front of you on the downswing or a little more vertical. A club that goes too much behind you on the backswing will tend to go too much out on the way through, that is centrifugal force, so a little more vertical swing action will help you get the ball more in the center of the clubface. A really good drill is to hit balls with something just outside the golf ball, so if I swing and the tee here comes out of the ground I know that I have swung out too much, so I will keep moving me tee in closer to the golf ball, just on the outside of the golf ball so that if I hit the heel I would catch the tee also. That is a good little reminder for me to get my hands closer to the body coming down and the club more out. Not where my hands get away from me this way and I catch the heel where my arms are a little closer to me. To feel that you have your left arm in a little tighter to your body on the downswing. Ok, here is our practice drill. Put a tee or another ball out there, be careful because that ball can squirt across the tee if you hit both of them. Set up to them, hopefully I am not going to catch that tee. Swing through, I look down, that tee is still there so I know I caught that ball in the center of the clubface, not in the heel. You can use face tape and check it, but make sure you really work on center contact. Which to me is one of the most important fundamentals in golf.

Jim  McLean
Jim McLean Golf School
Doral Golf Resort and Spa
4400 NW 87th Avenue
Miami, FL 33178
Tel: 800-72-DORAL

Jim McLean runs the Jim McLean Golf Schools, considered by some the world's finest. He is listed as one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers and Golf Digest's #3 instructor in the world.

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