The Pro-Level Secret That Leads to Better Contact in No Time

So what is shaft lean? While most golfers can define it — as it's just leaning the club's shaft forward at impact, tilting it towards the target — actually doing it can be tricky if your mechanics and swing sequence aren't aligned.

But when you know how to use shaft lean properly at impact, you'll begin flushing more shots, leading to maximized distances and more consistent ball compression.

In order to do that, Kelley walks through his favorite drill to incorporate shaft lean in iron shots.

Try this Drill for Proper Shaft Lean

According to Kelley, most amateur golfers release the club too early, which causes the clubhead to pass the hands before contact. This leads to flippy contact, inconsistent low points, weak shots, and almost no compression.

“Most golfers release too early,” Kelley explains in the golf lesson above. “That’s why they struggle to hit the ball first and compress it consistently.”

To help fix this, Kelley says it's important to try his favorite shaft lean drill.

"Get into your starting position [by addressing the golf ball], and get your shape and arm structure," he explains. "My right arm is tucked [for a right-handed golfer], with my upper body slightly back behind my lower body.

"I always like to start with a little pressure on my [lead foot], which is about 55 percent to start, and then 45 percent on my trail."

Once you've dialed in your setup and address the ball, Kelley says to simply bump your lead hip slightly forward, which helps give you the feel of shaft lean as you come through impact.

"Just bump your body forward so that all the pressure and weight are on your lead foot — so you can almost pick up your back foot off the ground" Kelley instructs. "Now leave your body over your lead foot, fold up your right arm, and just push it through."

The key to compressing the ball by using shaft lean, Kelley says, is from consistently maintaining the right wrist angles.

"Notice how I said 'push it through,' as the right wrist angle from my address position never changes in the golf swing," Kelley adds. "These wrist angles stay the same throughout the entire golf swing — allowing the clubface to stay square to my sternum."

As you get more comfortable with the basics and the mechanics, Kelley says you'll be able to add more speed during practice, which helps mimic what you'll do out on the golf course.

"Always start small, and then work your way up," Kelley adds. "It should feel about hip high to hip high to start, but then you can go a little further [into the full swing]."

So when you're looking to improve your ball contact during golf practice, try Kelley's simple golf drill, which will introduce some shaft lean to help compress iron shots just like pro golfers do.