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WHAT IS COMPRESSING THE GOLF BALL?
Mike Dero - Director of Golf at the Quail Creek Country Club in Naples Florida gives a detailed lesson about compressing the golf ball. Compressing the golf ball refers to the action of the golf ball when it literally springs off the club face at impact. This results from striking the ball in the sweet spot of the club with a low (about 3 degrees downward at impact) angle of attack and the club swing arc bottoming out about an inch to two inches in front of the golf ball. The coefficient of restitution (COR) is a physics formula that measures the ratio of the final to initial relative velocity between two objects after they collide. It normally ranges from 0 to 1 where 1 would be a perfectly elastic collision. When you hit a golf ball in the sweet spot your COR is higher than when you hit the ball off the lower edge of the club face.
DO YOU HAVE TO COMPRESS THE GOLF BALL?
You do not have to compress the golf ball to enjoy the game of golf. But as your handicap goes down or as you want it to go down more, all higher skilled players compress the golf ball.
HOW DO YOU COMPRESS THE GOLF BALL?
Two factors are necessary to compress the golf ball. Delofting the club by getting your hands in front of the ball and your angle of attack, which should be about 3 degrees downward at impact. You might have heard the expression to hit down on the ball. We want your swing arc or angle of attack to be coming down to three to four degrees. To be clear, we don't want it coming down on the ball so steep that it will chop down on the ball. Ideally you will create a very shallow divot (the size of a strip of bacon) about 3 to 6 inches in front of the ball.
COMPRESS THE GOLF BALL DRILLS
Slow motion hands
A great drill to learn the correct positioning to compress the golf ball is to start your club just outside your right foot three inches off the ground and then try to keep your hands in front while keeping the club head three inches off the ground until your hands are two feet in front of the ball. This can be done in slow motion and then gradually increase the speed of movement.
Impact Bag Drill
The impact bag remains and indispensable tool for working on your golf swing. It's especially valuable for helping you learn the proper body position for compressing the golf ball. You want to strike the impact bag while maintaining your hands in front of the bag and notice how your body and your legs have to move.
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