Golf-FAQ.com

golf how much shaft lean

by Prof. Skye Schuster Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
image

Full Answer

What is shaft lean in golf?

Before going any further, we need to clearly define shaft lean. When you hear this term used in golf circles, it is referring to the angle of the club shaft at impact. If the shaft of the club is leaning toward the target when the ball is struck, your swing is said to have forward shaft lean.

How much shaft lean should you have when putting?

For most people, the ideal setup when putting is going to see just a tiny amount of forward shaft lean. Set up with your hands slightly in front of the ball and then maintain that same shaft angle throughout the entire putting stroke. Yes, shaft lean is yet another small detail that you need to consider when putting together your game.

How can I tell if my shaft lean is good?

Even if you are unable to record your swing on video, simply watching the divots that you take out of the ground should be enough to tell you about your performance with regard to shaft lean.

Should the shaft lean toward the target when making a full swing?

Generally speaking, you want to have the shaft leaning toward the target slightly at impact when making a full swing. This is especially true with your irons, where you need to be hitting down through the ball in order to achieve solid contact and impart plenty of backspin.

image

How much shaft lean should you have?

PHOTO PROVIDED In most cases, the butt of the club should point no more than one to two inches ahead of your belt buckle, more to the center is best. More golfers than not, have too much shaft lean at the address position. Leaning the shaft toward the target actually can cause a slice and a low trajectory.

How much forward shaft lean at address?

1:4412:54Forward Shaft Lean: How Much? - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAll right what you're gonna do is you're gonna set up to your ball at address all right and then youMoreAll right what you're gonna do is you're gonna set up to your ball at address all right and then you're gonna go ahead. And move the shaft a head at an angle. So it's in front of you leave ty.

What happens if you have too much shaft lean?

When the shaft has too much lean towards the target it naturally decreases the loft. An important note with regards to the proper shaft angle is that wherever it starts, it will most likely end up.

Should I have shaft lean with irons?

Having forward shaft lean at Impact for your irons allow your hands to stay ahead of the club head at impact. This allows the club to be moving down as it enters the hitting area. The result is that the ball is struck higher on the face.

How much forward shaft lean is too much?

You want to see a 1/4-1/2" divot, no more than that. If you're coming down more than that you're probably putting too much spin on the ball or delofting the club too much. For optimum control with your irons you want a slightly descending blow - about 6-12° of forward shaft lean - and a very shallow divot.

Can you have too much forward shaft lean at impact?

2:1015:13WHY YOU MUST TILT | FORWARD SHAFT LEAN AT IMPACT - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWell having the shaft leaning slightly forward at impact. Allows a few things to happen itMoreWell having the shaft leaning slightly forward at impact. Allows a few things to happen it encourages the golfer to hit the ball first and the ground.

Do you shaft lean with driver?

Put some work into solving this problem first, then you'll have far more confidence getting that shaft leaning forward and taking some loft off your clubs. You should have less forward shaft lean when using driver.

How do I keep my lean shaft at impact?

8:1912:52HOW TO GET SHAFT LEAN AT IMPACT LIKE A TOUR PLAYERYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo get the club. There maybe 20 degrees closed grip. It. So that will feel now very very strong andMoreSo get the club. There maybe 20 degrees closed grip. It. So that will feel now very very strong and then we're just going to hit that shot full swing and that one much lower much more penetrating.

How should my irons look at address?

0:273:33GOLF TIP - HOW YOUR GOLF IRON SHOULD SIT - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo the toe is slightly raised to allow for the the dynamic movement to impact where the chef raisesMoreSo the toe is slightly raised to allow for the the dynamic movement to impact where the chef raises under and the.

Should you have shaft lean with wedges?

5:316:16Biggest SETUP MISTAKES amateurs make with wedges (Use Shaft Lean ...YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipForward i might actually shaft lean with the wedge. Shot isn't always a good thing it's not alwaysMoreForward i might actually shaft lean with the wedge. Shot isn't always a good thing it's not always an appropriate.

Why is shaft lean important in golf?

6:2913:37Golf Contact Drill - Is Shaft Lean at Impact Necessary? - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipYou have more swing speed all kinds of good stuff. Now the best way I've found to fill this is asMoreYou have more swing speed all kinds of good stuff. Now the best way I've found to fill this is as you start your downswing.

Should hands be in front of ball with irons at address?

The grip and hands must be in front of the clubhead and ball. Many amateur golfers believe that the grip and clubhead come back to the position they are in during the setup. The hands and grip must move forward before the clubhead in order to properly compress and control the ball.

What does Johnny Miller mean by "lean into your irons"?

And then Johnny Miller entered my life.…in a good way. Miller has a saying…lean into your irons. Meaning, move forward on your downswing, so you get back to where you were at address or a little bit more forward.

What is GolfersRX?

GolfersRx will help you master your swing, your putting stroke, your fitness, your short game, your mental focus and attitude, your health, and every other challenge you face on the course. Above all, we can help with golf tips and golf drills to lower your golf score.

Hey Darren,I'll throw a

Hey Darren, I'll throw a little sympathy your way.

Callum,

Here's a good link which tells, and even shows, how to properly register with Disqus. Good luck http://conservatives4palin.com...

I don't think I am coming

I don't think I am coming across since I have returned to the vertical swing because of the surge.  In a recent video I took (face on view) I noticed that after impact at about the 9 oclock position that the forearm of my forward arm (closest to the green) was higher than the trailing arm. To me this appears to be not getting a release at impact as the arms should be level..

Don really touched on my big

Don really touched on my big problem. It is the worst with the driver and spills over a littlte with other woods and irons. I feel my issue is with release. With the driver a natural swing (no attempt to alter face at impact) will result in a huge slice. I do not think it is club fit because I can choke up to the shortest part of the grip and get the same results. I have looked at some videos of my swing and it seems that my fore arms do not cross over after impact which means a wide open clubface.

As I said below, check your

As I said below, check your grip. In addition, be sure that you're not tensing up your upper arms. If the forward upper arm gets tensed up, it'll block release. I find that the feel of the elbows drooping slightly while the forearms are firm gets me to the right place.

All you avid golfers out

All you avid golfers out there who are trying to be the best you can be--pay attention to what Steve wrote when he said, "If I didn't know what my swing needs to do to be successful I would have no way to make adjustments." He has taken the conversations on this blog to a new level. I didn't write what I'm about to write before today because I didn't know if the blog was ready for it or not. What Steve is talking about is called "closed loop learning" in learning theory, which is something good. The opposite is called "open loop learning," which is ineffecrive and inefficient.  This means that open loop learning can work in gifted learners, but less likely in those less than gifted. Closed loop learning means that you have to have  a clear understanding of the swing you are trying to learn, and you have to be able to feed back information about your swing into the "closed loop" learning system. That's why videos are so valuable--you get to see yourself and feed that information back. If you don't have video, then having someone try to mimic your swing can help you with the feedback. Seeing the path of the ball (the outcome) is ok, but not as good as the imagery you get from video and from someone mimicing your swing. Bottom line--closed loop learning takes you out of pure trial and error learning, where you keep swinging until the ball does what you want it to do..

Hi, Kevin and anyone else

Hi, Kevin and anyone else interested in closed loop learning (also known as leaning with feedback) and open loop learning (learning without feedback).  Suppose you had some lessons in throwing darts, or simply watched an expert throw darts, and then threw darts at a target you weren't allowed to see. Then supposed that you were only told if you missed the target or not. You would have to just keep trying by trial and error, each time listening for whether you hit the target or not and which direction you missed. If you were a competent learner, you might be able to deduce a pattern in your adjustment, based on what you perceived to be the correct mechanics. That would be open loop learning--very little information being fed back into your brain..

What is lag in golf swing?

Lag is said to occur when the hands lead the clubhead at impact and is a core component to solid ball strikes. An effective way of encouraging this to happen is to position your hands ahead of the clubhead at address, as this swing tip does, and try to keep it in place until impact.

Do tour professionals have a lot of shaft lean?

Studies have shown that tour professionals will almost always have a few degrees of shaft lean whereas amateurs will have very little, if any at all. Positioning your hands forward at address is not something most amateur think about yet is one of the easiest things to incorporate into a normal swing.

logman

I was looking at a table That Lucius Wooding posted about tour players stats and it showed Nearly all clubs had a maximum height of 30 yards....give or take 1 or 2 . So 30 yards for a pitching wedge.....that seems incredibly low. So the pros are putting the ball back and using alot of forward shaft lean to get such a low number.

Zeph

I don't know about putting the ball back in their stances (farther than center anyways, but you'd be hard pressed to find a PGA pro without forward leaning shaft. At least on irons. Iacas: Do you have some data from amateurs (scratch) compared to pros on this? Launch angle consistency and peak height through the bag.

logman

Yes. It's what you'd expect: the higher the handicap, the less the consistency and the higher the launch angle (due to more delivered loft). Peak height tends to be too low with long irons and too high with short irons.

golfdu

Would you ever say to a student "you've got too much shaft lean and this problem is happening because of it?"

Hogan1949

iacis, Can you clarify what you mean by "lining up" the shaft? Is this the same concept that Manzella is advocating in his Ideas About The Release.........well timed release.......rapidly moving the left wrist to a cupped position through impact interval?

Pablo68

I think 'lining up the shaft' is relating to your lead shoulder down to the clubhead. It should occur just after impact meaning that the clubhead should bottom out just after you hit the ball.

VegasRenegade

Example of to much shaft lean. This is from my lesson yesterday the idea was for me to be able to over do it a bit to get the feel

Feedback

Was busy filming myself on the range this weekend and noticed my hands at address have been inching forwards towards the target at address with my irons.

Feedback

Thanks guys. I can believe that there's no right or wrong answer, but rather a range of hand positions that one can be successful in, but if you start moving out that "ideal range", then you might need to make compensations for it.

Feedback

Definitely - because you're exposing the leading edge by having too much shaft lean. If you can decrease that, then you'll be using the club's bounce effectively and stop hitting those skulled shots. Let me know if you still need help

Feedback

I agree with everything everyone else has said but just wanted to add:

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

image
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9