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Stare It Down From 100 Yards
How Charles Howell III learned to knock it close from this distance,
and how you can, too
By David Leadbetter with Ron Kaspriske
Photos By Dom Furore

When Charles Howell and I sat down and outlined his goals before the start of the year, we agreed he needed to improve his distance control, especially with his wedges. Charles had too much forward lean on the shaft at impact (the clubhead lagging too far behind the hands), causing him to de-loft the club too much and take deep divots. This made him inconsistent on those important scoring shots from around 100 yards.

Since addressing this tendency and making his wedge swing more symmetrical, the results have been impressive. Not only did Charles win for the first time in nearly five years (the Nissan Open in February), but his scoring average has dropped by two shots per tournament from '06 to '07. In addition, his improved wedge mechanics have helped his full-swing technique. By following what Charles and I have worked on, you'll see improvement in your game as well.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Based at ChampionsGate near Orlando, David Leadbetter operates 28 golf academies worldwide.
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