Byrd punches his way around Kapalua to season-opening win

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Jonathan Byrd's three-quarter punch came in esspecially handy in the face of Hawaii's ever-changing winds.

One of my favorite shots in the game of golf is the three-quarter punch shot and Jonathan Byrd hit a lot of great ones this week in Hawaii en route to his fifth career win on the PGA TOUR. Not only can a punch shot flight the ball lower making it easier to control through the ever-changing Hawaii winds, it can also offer a great way of training a good impact position.

When teaching my students I always try to provide a plan on where there swing needs to go for continued improvement. This process of course can be different from student to student, however, there certainly are some similarities when evaluating these overall game plans.

One of the most common errors in the golf swing is to see the club shaft return leaning away from the target with the weight still on the trail foot. When the development of the swing comes to improving this impact position, I often times will use the punch shot to help train the proper dynamics of impact.

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First and foremost, it is so important that all of you learn to return the club shaft forward at impact. There is simply no substitute to this when it comes to maximizing your ability for power and accuracy. When the club shaft returns forward at impact, the club head is moving down and accelerating through the low point of the swing arc -- which is a trait that all PGA TOUR players possess.

A punch shot can help train this dynamic at impact because in order to flight the ball lower a de-lofting affect to the club face must be created by returning the club shaft forward. The angle of the club shaft is a result of the trail wrist. It is so pivotal to learn to keep the trail wrist bent through impact, rather than early release it on the downswing before the club head reaches impact.

Another feature to the punch shot is the three-quarter framework it possesses. You may have noticed this week with Byrd how he really cut off his finish where his hands stopped at times below his left shoulder. This lower finish in the swing arc is helping Byrd sustain the downward pressure of the club head through the low point of the arc -- which is past the golf ball and adjacent to the outside of the lead shoulder. As a result, Byrd was taking very consistent divots and controlling his ball flight all week. For those that struggle with a swing that is too long, the framework of a punch shot can certainly tighten the swing up and make things more compact and consistent.

Finally, a punch shot can also teach the proper support of the body through impact. When someone is committed to hitting down on the golf ball then the body must support, no different than if I told someone to throw a football as hard as they can -- there body would support this effort.

In the golf swing, the body supports by the lower body shifting the weight into the lead foot with hips rotating through impact. It is recommended to have at least 70 percent of your weight on the lead foot at impact to support this downward angle of the clubhead to the low point. Think about it, if you were trying to hit down on the golf ball every time, your weight wouldn't hang back on the trail foot as you would simply hit behind the golf ball every time. By committing to leaning the club shaft forward at impact so the club head is driving down to the low point, you would allow the weight to go towards the target and rotate so the divot moves forward and ahead of the golf ball.

What's great about when students learn to hit this three quarter punch shot, not only do they now have a different shot to flight the ball lower but they have done the development necessary to improve their impact position. What tends to happen as they transition from this punch shot to a fuller swing, the impact position maintains even thou the swing gets bigger. As a result, the overall ball striking improves with all clubs.

So if you haven't already, take a page from this week's Hyundai Tournament of Champions winner Jonathan Byrd and develop a three quarter punch shot so you too can benefit from an impact position that will keep your development moving forward.

Just Because

Happy New Year sports fan and thank you for coming back for Year 4 of my weekly blog on PGATOUR.COM. It has been a great off season but I am happy to be back and ready for the 2011 PGA TOUR season.

For those of you that regularly read my blog you understand the "Just Because" section is an opportunity to briefly discuss some of the other happenings in the world of sports and entertainment. You also know that I am really feeling good this week after my 7-9 Seahawks took down the defending Super Bowl Champions, New Orleans Saints on Saturday night. That's right -- 7-9 Seahawks!

After a long week of endless chatter about how the Seahawks don't belong in the playoffs, how they are the only team to ever have a losing record and still win the division, and on and on and on it went -- I was ready to see Qwest Field lit up.

Just think if the Hawks win on Sunday against the Bears, they will be no longer be under .500 at 9-9 so I'm sure the chatter will completely quite down then.

Go Hawks!

Travis Fulton is PGA TOUR Academy's Director of Instruction and one of Golf Digest's Best Young Teachers for 2010-11. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR. To learn more about the TOUR Academy, click here.