How Club Loft Affects Compression
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Flipping the club vs. striking the ball with forward shaft lean can dramatically affect loft at impact. In this video, find out how your club's effective loft at impact affects compression. Also, learn why, and by how much, PGA Tour pros lean their club shafts at impact for penetrating shots!
- Less loft at impact decreases spin loft and increases compression
- Around 2-3 degrees forward shaft lean with driver is ideal
- 10 degrees for shaft lean is ideal with short irons
Our next critical factor in getting a nuked shot with the proper compression on it is shaft lean.
Shaft lean is critical, and that's why I've spent so much time teaching you how to use the lead side of your body to get the shaft to lean properly.
Because it's the only thing that can properly do it without creating a really steep angle of attack.
You could take your right hand and right side and create a lot of shaft lean, but this will always create a really steep angle of attack.
So to have a proper angle of attack and a proper shaft lean and a proper square clubface and a proper path, it's all lead side dominant.
You should know this stuff by now.
So how do we train ourselves especially during the winter months to get this proper shaft lean?
Simple.
Well, the impact cube has sloped sides on it, so this side is the seven iron lean what they call it, and it has slope to it.
So it actually gives you the proper amount of shaft lean.
Actually, a little bit more than I'd prefer, to be honest.
But if you're used to flipping and scooping and adding loft to the club at impact, which takes compression completely away, and you want to start learning how to compress it.
Well, this is your best friend because you can do this anywhere, anytime, and just like the other drill, you can use and check your shaft lean.
So as I put a ball in the way, it starts letting my nervous system and my brain get comfortable with the concept of actually hitting this hard ball with the club.
Because so many of us can find that we can do these drills really well, the whole five minutes of perfect release stuff, really well, without a ball in the way.
And as soon as we put that ball in there, our brain freaks out, or we put the right hand on there and our brain freaks out.
So this drill allows you to start training to get the same impact position and the proper amount of shaft lean because if the club's hitting the the club head's touching the bag and the shaft isn't you're in trouble that means you pushed against the shaft with your thumb and flipped it you should have this shaft completely leaning across the bag and if anything the club head should be slightly away from the bag but the club shaft at the top the club head should be away the club shaft should be touching so once you take your left hand you get comfortable getting the shaft to lean and having this left wrist be nice and flat I want you to challenge yourself and put your right hand on there and now see if you can put the two together it should still feel the same as it did before to where it's left side dominant but now your right hand is following along and you'll notice the right wrist should still be arched slightly back at impact to get into this position if it's flattened out because you pushed against it notice now that the club shaft is vertical or even leaning back away from the impact bag and the club head has actually struck the ball we want the opposite that left hand has got to pull it into impact to get the club shaft leaning up against this sloped side of the bag that's what this bag is so cool is because it has this leading panel on it now you'll notice on this side you really want to exaggerate it this is what they call the wedge lean this is too much you should never hit a ball like this in real life unless you're trying to hit it under a tree but it allows you to exaggerate the drill now you see i've got a ton of shaffling that's way too much but it allows you to really exaggerate a really de-lofted club face which allows you to take compression to a whole nother level when the club face is really de-lofted you're taking the seven iron and turning it into a four or three iron and that adds a ton of club head speed because you're getting rid of the deflected blow that you have if your angle of attack is too steep or anything or the club face is coming across the ball you're taking all of that out when you take loft off so as you take loft off you're getting rid of what's creating the deflected shot that's why no matter what you do your 60 degree wedge you're never going to go to compress the ball like you will with the driver just simply because of the loft now there's a point of diminishing returns here where you take the seven iron you turn into a three iron that's silly you don't need to do it that much but that's why i don't want you to use this panel as a guide of how much shaft lean you should have you should have a few degrees of shaft lean but you don't need that much but now we're taking that seven iron making it a five iron that's perfect we're adding compression to the ball so as you start understanding all of these factors how they go together and start using these drills you're going to be really really on a whole nother level when you start striking the ball you're going to have clean shallow divots you're going to have the ball coming off nice and straight and true and it's going to have a totally different sound to it when you get done with these drills
Peter
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Robert
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Loran
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)