All pro golfers lean the shaft forwards at impact (with irons struck from the ground).
This can create increased consistency, reducing fat and thin shots – and this article explores why in a way you’ll have never seen before.
Before We Read On
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- shanks,
- toes,
- fats,
- thins,
- slices,
- hooks, as well as
- practicing better and improving on-course strategy –
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The 3rd Groove
In the below images, we see a club come in on a 4.5 deg attack angle, first contacting the 3rd groove on the face.
LEFT IMAGE – no shaft lean
RIGHT IMAGE – 10 deg shaft lean
If you’re astute, the will see that the clubhead is able to swing a little higher from the ground in the shot with shaft lean. This will be highly relevant later.
Drop It
Every golf swing has some variance to it.
Sometimes we swing a little higher and hit it a touch thinner, and sometimes we will swing a bit deeper and hit the shot fatter.
What happens to both the “no shaft lean” and the “shaft lean” shots when we drop the club in deeper?
In the below images, we drop both systems 2 grooves (about 6mm, or 1/4 inch) deeper, now first contacting the 5th groove.
The pink star represents the club’s first interaction with the ground.
We can see that, in the no shaft lean version (left image), we get interaction a whole 1.5 inches behind the golf ball – a fat shot.
Whereas, in the shaft lean version, the ground is interacted with at the back of the ball.
This Is Huge
The difference between ball-first contact and contacting an inch and a half behind the ball is massive, in terms of outcomes.
In the no-shaft lean version, we will get
- more debris trapped between the ball and face
- more variable attack angles, as the club either bounces off the hard turf, or digs in (in softer ground)
- reduction in smash factor – dropping distance
- less consistent spin rates (and usually much lower)
Drop It More
What happens if we drop it another half a groove – or around 1.5mm more?
Wow – what a change.
- No shaft lean = 2 inches behind the ball
- 10 deg shaft lean = 0.5 inch behind the ball
While both shots would be considered fat, half an inch behind is negligible and would be considered a pro-fat. Whereas 2 inches behind is a disaster for your result.
Below shows the results of a test I once conducted with a launch monitor, varying ground contact location and looking at the outcomes.
What To Do
So, now you know one of the reasons why the pros lean the shaft forwards at impact with most iron shots – we get improved ground contact consistency for any given depth variance.
This results in
- better, more consistent spin rates
- better smash factor
- more distance
- more consistent distances
- more greens hit
- lower scores
This is why some people can play so well even with minimal practice – they’re literally using an easier technique – one with bigger margins for error.
If you want to learn more about striking the ball like a pro, check out The Strike Plan by clicking the image link below.
Warning!
As with most things, it’s not a case of “more is better”.
There are trade-offs. An example of this would be that, with more shaft lean, the ball will fly lower. So we’re having to balance the benefits of shaft lean with our desired trajectory.
Also, we need to get shaft lean in the right way – one which allows the hand path to also work optimally for consistency. This is also discussed in The Strike Plan (shallowing module) – so make sure to check it out with the link above.
