How do you compress the golf ball?

Compression is just your club arriving at the ball with the shaft leaning forward and the grip ahead of the club head. When the club head gets there first and the shaft leans back, the ball kind of slides up the face. To get compression, find your impact position. Club back to just behind your trail foot, straighten your lead leg, keep your trail leg bent, and turn. Hit tiny shots from there, then add speed.

That's it. It's actually not that challenging. Let me show you.

What compression is and how to get it, in three minutes.

What compression actually is

Everyone wants compression, so let's be clear about what it is.

When the club comes through the ball with the shaft leaning forward, the ball hits the face and stays solidly on it for that little bit of time. There's a solid foundation for the ball to bounce back from, so you get compression.

When the shaft is leaning back and the club head is leading the way, the surface the ball has to interact with is, well, less solid. That's the weak, floaty, scooped shot.

So many golfers have the club head leading the way through impact. If you want compression, the grip has to be ahead of the head when you're moving through the hitting position. It starts right down at the ball, at the moment of hitting.

Step 1: check your grip and ball position

Before you find your impact position, I'd check your grip first.

• Lead hand: Put the club under the meat of your hand and poke your arm straight out. If the leading edge of the club is straight up and down, you're in fantastic shape. If it's pointed left or right, keep your arm pointing out and line up the bottom of the club up and down.
• Trail hand: Put it on top so the line of your thumb runs up your arm toward your trail shoulder. If you're a little different, that's okay. It's a good guide to start with.
• Ball position: Stand with your feet together, pointing the middle of your feet at the middle of the ball. Bend over to the ball, then widen your stance so the ball is in the middle.

Step 2: find your impact position

Here's how you find where you actually want to be at impact:

1. Take the club back until it's just behind your trail foot.
2. Start to straighten your lead knee. Your trail knee stays bent and tilts in.
3. Use those leg muscles to turn your body to the ball. Don't change anything with your arms or your wrists.

Notice the shaft is leaning forward and your lead arm is straight. That is your impact position. You'll feel your spine twisting or pulling a little bit. That's right.

How to find your impact position: grip check, ball position and the turn.

For the last 30 years, any time I've had a problem in my golf swing, this is the point I've come back to. The only important part of the golf swing is the foot before and the foot after the golf ball. Get that right, and all you need to do from there is add speed.

Step 3: the lower body keeps the face square longer

With irons, we're not trying to smash the heck out of it like the driver. We want accuracy and predictable distances. If your 7-iron goes 170, you want it to go 170 every time.

So we want the club face pointing at the target for as long as possible through the impact zone, instead of always changing angle. Straightening your lead leg while your trail leg stays bent does exactly that. When you straighten it, it turns your body, and the club comes through the ball.

I even caught one a little heavy in the video and it still went straight. That's the thing with consistency. Even your mishits go closer to the target. It's like taking the lake off the right side of the hole. We don't like penalty strokes.

Step 4: if it still feels weak, try lead forearm over trail

Zafri watched my super duper awesome compression video and still couldn't compress it. So we cheated our way through it.

Set your lead forearm over your trail forearm. Take the club back to about halfway and make a little half swing from there. Be careful, because it may blow your mind. If you've always been the other way, this feels completely different. It feels solid and snappy. Once you get it, it's magic.

The compression drill: hitting position, then add speed

This is the magic practice move. You can do it in your living room with a ping-pong ball or a wiffle ball, at a net, or at the range, all year long.

1. Set up in your impact position with the shaft leaning forward and your hips opening up. Leave space between your hips and your hands so they can pass.
2. Hit the tiny shot. Yes, it's only going ten yards. That's okay. You're looking for a straight, solid shot with zero effort.
3. Feel your lead leg pushing straight as you turn through the ball. No flipping. Pull the handle through.
4. Add speed. Same movement, a little more speed. Then a little more. If you can't do it slowly, there's no way you can do it quickly.
5. Work back toward a full swing only as fast as you can keep getting back to that same position.

FAQ: compressing the golf ball

What does compressing the golf ball mean?

It means the club arrives with the shaft leaning forward and the grip ahead of the head, so the ball gets a solid, square face to push against instead of sliding up it.

Why am I not compressing the golf ball?

Usually the club head is passing your hands before impact, so the shaft is leaning back. A lot of the time that's from trying to hit at the ball with your hands instead of turning through, or from your hips getting in the way. See How to Stop Early Extension.

How do I compress my irons instead of scooping?

Scooping is your hands going backwards at the ball, or flipping the club into it. The ball spins up off the face way too fast. Compression is pinching the ball and the ground together, and for that your hands have to be pulling the club through impact and keep pulling. Start at your impact position and practise that pull.

How do I get shaft lean at impact?

Keep the grip ahead of the club head through the hitting area. The lead-over-trail forearm half swing is the quickest way to feel it.

Does compression stop chunks and thin shots?

Yes. A forward-leaning shaft makes your hitting zone bigger. More on that in How to Stop Chunking Your Irons.

Want to build compression into your whole swing? In 30 Days to Better Ball Striking, we master your impact position slowly, then add speed to it, then drill consistency so it becomes repeatable. Grab a ping-pong ball tonight and let me know how it goes.

Learn to hit it where you want it to go. All of my courses, from ball striking to chipping, putting and bunkers, are in the Big Swing Kings store →