Golf tip: How swing should feel through the ball

Following through with a penalty flick in hockey

Continueing his occasional series, PGA pro John Hoskison, who plays on the European Seniors Tour, offers some quick tips to help golfers understand their faults.

To strike the ball well, without a glancing blow, requires your hands, arms, shoulders and legs working together through impact. Here's a practice drill that will give you the feel as opposed to merely explaining the theory of what happens.

Swing through from an address position - without a backswing - to propel the ball forward

If you managed to come through correctly, the ball would have been slung away 20 yards or so. But if you have moved your hands excessively, the ball would have simply slipped off the face and not travelled anywhere - effectively a glancing blow.

This exercise is rather like a hockey player taking a penalty. If the technique is good the ball will almost glue itself to the club head as you sling it forward with no backswing. This promotes square contact and maximum compression of the ball.

Even out on the course, if you want to make sure you are getting through the shot correctly, find a piece of rough, ground the club behind it, then without a back swing, swing through to a full finish.

This exercise gives a very definite feel for the correct move through impact, where everything moves together. John Hoskison is attached to the Newbury Golf Centre and plays on the European Seniors Tour, having earned a conditional card after finishing 10th at Qualifying School at the Pestana. He returned to the UK to rebuild his career in tournament golf after spending time in China, where he was instrumental in the building a driving range for underprivileged children Fuzhou. He won the 2005 Jamega Tour Order of Merit with six victories from 12 starts. For further information visit John's website at www.johnhoskisongolf.com.