The Moment of Truth score in your Mustard Golf report card is critical to your overall swing score and it is greatly affected by the variables that come before it. You may have previously seen golf’s Moment of Truth defined as the point of impact, but Mustard’s Justin Rose and Mark Blackburn believe it occurs earlier in your swing, halfway between the top of your backswing and impact. At this point, the angle of the shaft of your club should match the angle of your trail forearm when viewed from behind (or “downtarget”); Rose, the former World No. 1, calls this “getting into the slot,” and as you can see in the above screenshot from the Mustard Golf app, he’s very good at it! You may have also heard it referred to as “shallowing the club.” If your club is in this position at the Moment of Truth, your swing path through impact will be directly down the target line.
“Golf’s Moment of Truth is the last point in the golf swing where we can get a measurement that will dictate what happens at impact,” says Rose. “After the Moment of Truth, we no longer have control of the clubface. In those hundredths of a second before impact, all of the ground forces and momentum of the golf swing are fully in flow, so we no longer have the strength or ability to manipulate the club and influence what happens.”
What if your clubshaft is steeper than your forearm at the Moment of Truth?
A steep clubshaft at the Moment of Truth usually leads to an out-to-in swing path through impact with an open club face, making it more likely to create a fade. Rose says you should honor that fade but you should not do this by just aiming left. “If we’re a little steep through the middle of our forearm, we need to match that with our body turning to the left so we have a chance of starting the ball left and having the fade coming back to the fairway,” Rose explains. “If we are steep and also blocked off with the turn, we will get jammed up, leading to a high handle and an open face at impact and the ball will go to the right.” Rose says to compensate for this with great body rotation, leading with the left side and making sure the hips and chest get open at impact so you can play the fade.
What if your clubshaft is shallower than your forearm at the Moment of Truth?
A shallow clubshaft at the Moment of Truth usually leads to an in-to-out swing path through impact with a closed club face, making it more likely to create a draw. However, having the club dip below the angle of the forearm is typically a mistake only good players make. “Elite players are very dynamic with their lower body, using very fast legs and hips to create power,” explains Golf Digest Executive Editor Peter Morrice. “Because of this, the club can fall behind them a bit, creating an excessively in-to-out swing.” These players have to try to sync up the club to their body turn, which is leading too much. They need to speed up the arms or slow down the lower body. Even with better synchronization, they’re likely still going to hit a draw—ideally one that starts to the right of the target and turns toward it.
Wrist position is critical at the Moment of Truth
“How we set our wrists and hold those angles during our golf swing is very important,” says Rose. “The most important thing is that we get into the Moment of Truth with stored energy.” That means the trail wrist is in extension, or hinged back, which keeps the shaft of the club on the correct angle as you swing down. This gives you the ability to come down into the back of the ball or even slightly from the inside. Alternatively, if you cast the club from the top and lose that trail wrist extension, you’ll end up steep with an open clubface. “Often we cast because the arms are happening first,” Rose explains. “If you can pull with the front side, you have a better chance of holding your wrist angle and storing that lag into impact.”
A Moment of Truth feel tip from Justin Rose
If you’ve ever skipped a nice, flat rock across the surface of a lake or pond and watched it bounce a few times before sinking, you know the feeling needed to create a perfect Moment of Truth. “Think about what you would have to do to skim the rock down the line, straight in front of you,” says Rose. “I would be staying bent forward, rotating and turning left, holding my right wrist back, with my right elbow out in front of me.” Replace the rock with your golf club, and you’re all set. However, if this feel doesn’t work for you, drills specific to Moment of Truth are now available in the Mustard App.
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