Pack a punch this summer

The summer season is upon us and our golf courses are really firm to play on following the recent dry weather.

These conditions can make it difficult to stop your ball on the greens, so today I’ll show you how to play the punch shot, which is a very useful shot to help bounce your ball onto the green.

Punching your iron shots can help you control the ball flight, and this is something that you will see many of the top players do.

The punch shot is also very useful in windy conditions as it flights the ball lower and reduces the effect that the wind will have on the ball during flight.

To play this shot, firstly make your address position with the ball positioned slightly further back in your stance and with your weight favouring your lead foot (pic.1).

When you swing back, you must concentrate on keeping the centre of your chest over the top of the ball and as a result your weight will not transfer over onto your trail foot (pic.2).

As you swing down it is imperative that you again stay over the top of the ball and do not lean back as this will cause the ball to climb too much and will make it tricky to control distance.

You will find your follow through to be a bit shorter and feel slightly restricted (pic.3).

This is the correct feeling and a sign that you are on the right track.