What is Low Point?
Low point is the lowest point of your swing arc. It tells you where your club bottoms out relative to the ball. Essentially it's a product of your attack angle.
An easy concept to understand but managing the low point turns a good golfer into a great golfer with consistent, quality, controlled ball striking and more distance.
Why It Matters
Low point is everything for quality ball striking, especially with irons.
- Irons → low point after the ball
- Driver → low point before the ball
Get this right, and you compress the ball properly.
With irons we are looking to move the swing arc from address forward so we hit the ball first then the turf. This creates compression as we hit down on the ball as the swing arc moves down toward the low point after the ball. It's this compression which will help generate more distance and spin.
With the Driver it's different. The low point moves to before the ball because we want to hit up through the ball to launch it into the air. This is why the driver set up is different to iron set up. Because the driver will have the highest swing speed of any club in your bag, any mistakes with the swing are amplified, so if you're hitting across the ball (in to out) you're effectively applying a lot of unwanted side spin to the ball which creates those big slices.
Common Problems Controlling Low Point
Low point behind ball → fat shots
Hitting the ground behind the ball is often from casting in the downswing, where the lag shape is lost and the golfer is trying to 'help' the ball into the air. When something is off in the swing, such as early extension, the body tries to correct it as the swing comes down and the brain thinks it needs to release the club early to make contact with the ball.
Low point too far forward → thin shots
Here we need to think about controlling the swing arc, weight distribution and ball position. Check your set up and find a way to make it consistent so the ball is positioned correctly each shot. Professional golfers tend to shift their weight to the front leg much earlier in the swing than amateurs which means their posture and swing arc will be more over the ball where amateurs would have a tendency to lean back causing the swing arc to come up and a thin shot.
How to Improve Low Point
Here's a few key things to focus on when trying to improve low point control:
- Shift pressure forward
- Maintain posture through impact
- Focus on ball-then-turf contact for irons
- Think of the swing as a circle
HackMotion provide a series of Low Point training drills such as the Line Drill and Towel Drill and Danny Maude offers helpful advice and drills to help you in this video.
Have you ever watched a tour pro in the training area create divot line where each divot links to the previous divot? This isn't just to help the ground staff, it's a training mechanism to help with low point control.
How Golf Tech Helps
Most golf launch monitors measure Attack Angle which is a main factor of Low Point, however only the mid-high end launch monitors such as those listed below will provide specific low point data.
- FlightScope Mevo Gen2 with Pro Package
- FlightScope X3C
- Trackman 4
- Trackman iO
This is where real improvement happens.
Controlling the low point is a product of wrist mechanics in the golf swing. This is what HackMotion can help with. Available as the Core, Plus and Pro versions, it will measure your wrist angles throughout your swing, identify issues, and provide personalised drills to help you improve with real time audio and vibration feedback.
Summary
Control your low point… And you control your strike. If you're hitting fat or thin shots and not sure how to improve your consistency and ball striking then some Low Point drills could be in order. The low point of the swing tells us so much about what is happening tin the swing, and golf tech can help shine a light on these issues.
Use Golf Tech. Improve Your Swing. Play Better Golf.
