We lead the snap down with the last 3 fingers of the top hand. Then we snap the hands down to the point where they lock again in the down position creating a lot of leverage. Ths is our set point at the top of the swing. There is a point in the up motion of the hands where the wrists lock. This will also help you sweep through a shot without hitting balls into your neighbor's house.The hands work up and down in the golf swing like a hammer motion. Use the same theory of hammering a nail and try to make solid contact with the top tee. Sweep through the ball and make solid contact.'' If you want to try this drill at home but don't have a lot of room, try putting a tee on top of the tee that's in the ground, as in the photo above right. It should be no different than hitting the tee without a ball on it. 'Once you do that, then hit some balls off the tee. 'Practice sweeping the tee off the ground,'' Smither said. When it comes time to hit the ball, use the same swing at the tee and you will hit the ball squarely on the side. This will help you concentrate on the tee instead of the ball. On the tees with no ball, take a swing and try to knock the tee into the air. Place a ball only on the fourth tee in the row. While on the driving range or in your back yard, line up four tees about 2 feet apart, as in the photo above left. If topping the ball off the tee shot is a problem, a drill can help you fix it. 'The body responds to what the eyes look at.'' This theory should also help if you tend to hit it fat. 'The eyes take in the information,'' Smither said. It takes practice, but after a while, it should become second nature. So if the eyes are looking at the proper target, the brain will tell the hands where to go. It's because your eyes are in the wrong place.'' Keep the eyes steady and the body will stay steady. '(A ball isn't topped) because you're looking up. 'I've been doing this for about 35 years, and I've never seen anybody just look up,'' said Smither, exaggerating a golfer who looks skyward when trying to hit the ball. One misconception of topping the ball is that the head moved up before the swing. If the eyes are in the right place, the body will follow. Smither is a firm believer in the visual part of golf. Stay focused on what the point of contact is, and everything else will follow.'' 'The eyes are what gives you all of the information. 'Your body responds to what the eyes tell it,'' Smither said. Your alignment will also stay steady as you focus on the target. Keep your eyes glued to the target (which is the back of the ball), and your head will stay still. Imagine the ball is a nail you're trying to hit into a wall. Do the same with the golf ball.'' For effect, Smither has a hammer duct taped to the end of a club shaft. If you're going to drive a nail into the wall, you look at it and hit it. That's where I got the idea for the hammer. Well, if you're looking at the top of the ball, your eyes are going to tell you to hit the top of the ball. 'They either said they looked at the top of the ball or they didn't know. 'I asked them 'Where do you look at the ball?''' Smither said. When it came time to put the lessons into action, most of the golfers were topping the balls down the fairway. He said he spent nearly 20 minutes going over clubhead speed, club angles and swing planes.

Smither got the idea to use a hammer in his lessons after a chipping clinic. 'You have to get the ball down the fairway if you're going to have any fun at this game. 'The one inevitable in golf is that you have to make contact,'' Smither said. He has a few tips that likely will help you make better contact and have more fun. Smither likes to say that golf isn't complicated.

Hammer golf club lessons