The Slot is Supreme
By Dr. T. J. Tomasi, Keiser University College of Golf Senior Faculty and Director of Research
No rocket scientist will tell you ignition is the most important part of launching a rocket, yet it is the ignition that gets the public’s attention.
The same is true of the “ignition” of the golf ball — impact – it’s a result of many important factors that come together before the launch. Thus, for the swing to be successful, all the important work must already have been done prior to contact. The closer you get to impact, the less chance you have of adjusting for error, so while the impact is the point at which the flight information is dumped to the ball, it’s basically out of your control. It might be argued that the most important part of your swing is the slotting of the club because you can control how you arrive at this point. Slot the club correctly, and you have to work hard to make a mistake at impact.
The Slot in Golf
The slot in golf is the halfway-down position in the downswing where the club is approaching from inside the target line with the right elbow pretty close to the right hip. When your swing gets off, the first place to look is in the transition from backswing to forward swing. At this key juncture, the key is to make sure you give your club time to change directions and drop into the slot. During the transition, your clubhead not only reverses its direction, but if you give it enough time, it will also drop down before it starts toward the target. This slight deepening of the clubhead, just as you start down, puts it in a perfect position to come at the ball from inside the target line, an approach that ensures a powerful striking angle.
Golf Swing Slot
Initially, instead of trying to focus on slotting at full swing speed, proceed in slow motion in front of a mirror. Seeing yourself slot the club as you tell yourself why it’s so important will speed learning.
It’s not surprising that good players all look similar when the lead arm is parallel to the ground, and the club is correctly slotted during the downswing. From the right side and the left, each of these players has retained the 90-degree angle formed by the lead arm and the clubshaft. If you drew a line down each clubshaft, it would intersect the target line, showing that the club is on the correct delivery plane with only a moment left until contact. From this highly leveraged position, all that is needed for success is to keep everything that’s moving, moving. This, of course, assumes your clubface and release are correct along with your initial aim.
If you’d like to study with Dr. Tomasi and other PGA Master Professionals, contact The College of Golf today.
