Golf clubs are designed for you to stike the center of the club face…the proverbial “sweet spot” of the club. You get the most distance, the best launch, and maximum spin (the good kind, not shanky spin) when you hit it pure.
But no golfer is perfect. Even the pros catch it off center at times. That’s one reason for the popularity of game improvement and super game improvement clubs. You’ll still get distance and spin on mishits, but the tradeoff is feel and the ability to “work the ball.”
In the beginning you might not be able to tell when you’ve hit the ball off the toe, or off the heel, or too low on the face (but trust me, you’ll still know when you hit it clean).
Suprisingly, even brand new golfers will tend to miss the center in the same place every time instead of spraying it all over the club face.
That’s where impact tape comes into play. Impact tape shows the exact point where the club face struck the ball on your swing. It will help you identify good shots, bad shots, and give you instant feedback to help you diagnose your swing.
In this example, I hit the ball low on the face…a “thin” shot. A thin shot will result in the ball having a low trajectory with a lack of backspin. Hitting too low on the club means you are hitting too high on the ball.
Improper weight shift is often the enemy here. If you get stuck on your back foot and don’t shift into the lead foot, you’ll often strike it low on the face. You may have heard of this problem as “hanging back” on the shot.
Another common issue for high handicap golfers is hitting it on the toe of the club. This is usually a result of having a swing that goes too “over the top.”
In the image above, I was able to make a bit of an adjustment to my set up and weight shif after hitting a few shots too thin. I hit the next two shots pretty much dead center.
NOTE: Impact tape will increase your distance because it will reduce spin. Do not try to determine your average club distances while using impact tape. It’s not for actual use on the course, it’s for the practice range.
Final Thoughts
There are other alternatives to using impact type. One solution that is fairly popular is powdered foot spray. With impact tape like LongShot being reasonably priced, it’s worth kicking in a few extra bucks for the tape.
Tape peels right off, and doesn’t leave a residue you have to clean like powdered spray. One final benefit of using impact tape is being able to peel it off and stick it to an index card with some notes about your session, what you were working on swing wise, etc.
Impact tape is a fantastic tool, but don’t get too obsessive about using it at every practice session. Just pull it out of your bag from time to time to stay on track.