The Duffed Shot

THE DUFFED SHOT

A duff is when the club strikes the ground before the ball. It’s one of golf’s most infuriating shots, as you can follow a screaming drive 280 yards with a 20-yard fluff.

THE PROBLEM

The reason for a case of the duffs lies in not getting your weight forward during the downswing. It leaves the majority of your weight on the back foot at impact. Instead of moving subtly towards the target, your head moves away from it. Often, your front heel lifts up off the ground leaving the hands to get very active and trying to scoop the ball up into the air. It creates a horrible turf-first, ball second contact.

 THE CURE

What you need here is a more positive move through the ball. You want to feel a slight lateral movement towards the target as you unwind on the downswing. With this move your right heel should be lifted up off the ground at impact, with the majority of the body weight on the front foot.

Here’s a great drill to make this happen. Hit shots with your back heel lifted up off the floor during the entire swing. If you don’t fancy simply lifting the heel off the ground, place a ball underneath it. This sets your spine angle more forward at address, with the majority of the body weight forward. It makes for a much more positive move through the ball, with your weight moving forwards. Don’t worry too much about where the ball goes – just get used to feeling of moving forward through the ball, and note how this drill promotes a ball-turf-contact.

I hope you enjoyed the article, any comments or Questions then please leave a comment below..

Until next time I wish you all the golfing success

Mark

Mark Wood Golf Academy
Dale Hill hotel & golf club
East Sussex

 

Leave a Reply