Creating and maintaining speed in your golf swing

OK, let’s see a show of hands: who wants to hit the golf ball further? Well, in surveying the pretend responses it looks like everyone. Much of the speed that we create in the swing is from rotation. From a physics standpoint it’s all about centrifugal force which Webster’s dictionary defines as the apparent force that is felt by an object moving in a curved path that moves outwardly away from the center of rotation. In our case the object is the clubhead. So how do we create more speed? Here’s an analogy for you. If you ever watch figure skating during the winter Olympics you’ve no doubt noticed that when the skaters are spinning at a dizzying pace their arms are tucked in close to their body. When they want to slow down, they extend the arms away from the body. So, during the backswing make certain that the left arm (for right-handers) remains in contact with the chest and never loses that connection until close to the end of the follow through. Sometimes I see students try to take the club back to the outside during the backswing and almost immediately disconnect. Unless they reconnect fairly quickly their clubhead speed will plummet. Frequently you’ll see a Tour player practicing with a glove or a towel under their lead arm. And it pretty much stays there until they’re facing the target and the ball is flying miles down the range.

Early extension in the downswiwng

Early Extension Perhaps the most frequent swing issue that I see with my students is early extension. When the hips and spine of a golfer start to go into extension or straighten up too early on the downswing, it is termed Early Extension. This can be seen when the hips and pelvis move closer to the ball on the downswing. This causes the upper body to lift up in order for the golfer to maintain their balance. The lower body does not easily rotate through impact, instead it pushes forward and the person stands up. Players will often complain of being stuck or trapped with their arms on the downswing. This is due to the fact that the lower body has moved into the space where the arms need to go. The result can be a block or hook as the hands and arms desperately try to deliver the club to the ball. If you don't do anything with your arms through impact you may actually shank some shots because you are closer to the ball than you were at address. What is the root cause of this issue? Very often it is due to poor posture in the set-up. Some golfers get into what is commonly called “S” posture where there is an arch in the lower back and the backside is sticking out. From this position most people are going to feel stress and discomfort in the lower back (lumbar region) as they take the club to the top of the backswing. And what are most people likely to do to alleviate that stress? They’re going to thrust the pelvis towards the ball which leads to the issues listed above as well as limiting rotation in the through swing which, in turn, limits power. The solution is to feel as though the backside is tucked under the pelvis and that the lower back is either flat or even slightly rounded in the set-up posture. From this position, during the downswing the pelvis will actually move away from the ball creating plenty of space for the arms to swing and plenty of rotation that will have the golf ball flying father than ever!

Extending your backswing for more power

Soft Lead Arm From 2002 through 2010 I competed in long drive and was fortunate enough to win two American Long Drivers Association grand national championships as well as making it to the RE/MAX World Long drive finals on five occasions. But success was not immediate and it took a fair amount of work to come up with a swing that I could rely on under the gun. During my first year I had a major cup in my left wrist which enabled me to get the club well past parallel at the top and create a ton of speed at the bottom. Golf balls flew a long way but way too frequently didn’t land in the proper zip code, especially when the pressure was amped up. I knew that to increase accuracy I needed to get my left wrist flatter at the top and the clubface in a square position rather than open. However, that led to another issue. I soon discovered that my wrists weren’t all that flexible. I wasn’t able to hinge very much and as a result my arc, and my lag, were quite dramatically reduced along with my distance. One day when I was practicing at the range, I inadvertently discovered that if I softened my left elbow slightly and allowed the arm to bend just a little bit in the backswing, I was able to get the length of my arc back where I wanted it while still controlling the clubface. The result were shots as long as before but with far more control. Please understand that I’m not talking about a 90-degree bend in the left elbow. It’s just a little bend and a little softening of the arm. Give it a try and see if it helps you hit the ball past your buddies.

Chunked Chip shots

We’ve all been there and done that and we were never very happy about it. You stripe your tee ball down the middle 15 yards longer than your usual effort. Then you tug your second shot just a little ending up four yards left of the putting surface. Not big deal; it’s a pretty straight forward up and down, one that you’ve successfully navigated plenty of times. Except this time you chunk it and now you’re three yards off the green facing essentially the same shot but with far less self-belief. So rather than roll the sod over it again you put the ball way back in your stance, lean the shaft way forward and then chunk it even worse. How is this possible, you think? Well, actually it’s entirely possible for two distinct reasons: first of all, when you lean the shaft toward the target you totally negate the bounce of the club which exposes the leading edge and makes digging not only possible but highly likely. Most golfers are aware of this. But there’s another factor that’s quite not as obvious but just as destructive if not more so. When you lean the shaft forward while also moving the ball position back your hands are lowered. When you do it to the extreme your whole upper body is lowered. Does that seem like a recipe for a fat shot? You betcha. So, the bottom line is try to keep shaft lean to a minimum. Here’s something else that will help: Rather than have a rigid lead arm (left arm for right-handed golfers), soften that arm which will keep the shoulders more level making solid contact far more likely. Next thing you know you’ll be three feet from the hole rather than three feet from your feet.

Proper Ball Position

I have always believed that one of the least appreciated fundamentals in the game is proper ball position. Why is it important? Let me count the ways. For starters, if it’s too far forward with your irons, the bottom point of your swing might very well connect with the big ball (earth) before the little ball. With the driver especially, if it’s too far forward, there is a very good chance that your shoulder line will be open relative to the target line leading to pulls or cuts depending upon the angle of the clubface at impact. Generally speaking, most golfers are away of these two ramifications. But here’s something else that perhaps many golfers haven’t really thought about: frequently a student will ask me if they should push the club back with the left arm (right-handed golfer) or pull it back with the right arm. My answer is “ideally neither” and here’s why. If the ball is too far forward in your stance the tendency is to pull with the right side often leading to a diminished shoulder turn. If it’s too far back you’re more likely to push it back with the left side which can sometimes cause the club to get too far behind you. There is a happy median ball position where the sides work in harmony with each other, pulling/pushing their own weight equally. To find that happy place requires a little experimentation but it’s well worth the effort. And it might be easier for you if you embrace the Jack Nicklaus ball position theory. The Golden Bear played pretty much every shot just inside his left heel. But he changed the relative position of the ball by varying his stance with. With the feet wide apart for the driver the ball was inside the left heel. With a sand wedge he moved his right foot to the left into a narrower stance. The ball was still just inside his left heel but now it appeared centered. This worked rather well for him and it might for you as well.

More Clubhead Speed

During my early years of competing in long drive, I went to an event in Nevada and ran across Mike Dobbyn for the very first time. Believe me, the first time you see Mike you never forget it. He is roughly 6-8”, roughly 280 pounds and has roughly six percent body fat. In other words, pretty much everything that I’m not. Mike would go on to win the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship a couple of years later. My first thought when I saw him was that if he and I picked up the same driver it was going to feel a whole lot lighter to him that it did to me. My second thought was maybe I needed to get stronger in the hands, wrists and forearms so that my drivers felt light to me as well. Prior to this revelation I had worked hard on my core strength and leg strength and was doing quite well given my size and age limitations. After working on this missing link, I did even better. Here are the two things that I incorporated into my workouts which I highly recommend to anyone looking for more distance (and who, by the way, isn’t looking for more distance?): I had this old training club which consisted of a grip, a shaft and a very heavy weight at the business end. Using my normal grip, I held the thing horizontally to the ground until my hands, wrists and forearms were screaming bloody murder. And subscribing to the theory that what gets measured gets improved, I used the timer on my phone to see how I was doing. Gradually I worked from two minutes up to four minutes and this resulted in at least 10 yards of additional distance. You can easily accomplish the same thing holding three or four wedges together simultaneously. Another great way to strengthen these important, but often overlooked, muscles is to take a bath towel and completely saturate it with water. Then squeeze as much water out of the towel as you possible can. Believe me your forearms will be begging for mercy. But if you do both of these drills on a regular basis, I absolutely guarantee you that your golf ball will be flying farther than ever!

Elbow bend in the golf swing

From 2002 through 2010 I competed in long drive and was fortunate enough to win two American Long Drivers Association grand national championships as well as making it to the RE/MAX World Long drive finals on five occasions. But success was not immediate and it took a fair amount of work to come up with a swing that I could rely on under the gun. During my first year I had a major cup in my left wrist which enabled me to get the club well past parallel at the top and create a ton of speed at the bottom. Golf balls flew a long way but way too frequently didn’t land in the proper zip code, especially when the pressure was amped up. I knew that to increase accuracy I needed to get my left wrist flatter at the top and the clubface in a square position rather than open. However, that led to another issue. I soon discovered that my wrists weren’t all that flexible. I wasn’t able to hinge very much and as a result my arc, and my lag, were quite dramatically reduced along with my distance. One day when I was practicing at the range, I inadvertently discovered that if I softened my left elbow slightly and allowed the arm to bend just a little bit in the backswing, I was able to get the length of my arc back where I wanted it while still controlling the clubface. The result were shots as long as before but with far more control. Please understand that I’m not talking about a 90-degree bend in the left elbow. It’s just a little bend and a little softening of the arm. Give it a try and see if it helps you hit the ball past your buddies.

Use Your elbows to Control Your Golf Swing Plane

Use Your elbows to Control Your Golf Swing Plane Most golfers are aware that swinging the club on the proper plane is important. When the plane is correct, especially on the downswing, the clubhead approaches the ball from slightly inside the target line which leads to more power and potentially more accuracy as well. Here is an effective way to control your plane: control the position of your left elbow (for right handers). Most everyone knows that Jim Furyk’s shaft is virtually vertical in the backswing. That’s because his left elbow is pointed at his toe line. During his downswing the shaft plane flattens because his left elbow is now pointed at the ball target line. Most higher handicap golfers will never make this flattening move. Instead they’ll be steep and over-the-top. If the left elbow is pointed well outside the target line, your swing can get too flat resulting in blocks and flip hooks. To simplify your swing (don’t we all want to do that?) get the left elbow pointing at the target line during your takeaway until your left arm is parallel to the ground halfway back. On the through swing have the right elbow aimed at the target line until the right arm is parallel to the ground. Before you know it, you’ll be striping it down the middle well past your buddies.

Too much slide in the golf swing

One of the most prevalent issues that I see with my students is sliding the left hip (right handed golfer) too far towards the target in the downswing. Most of us when we first started playing the game were told to hit against a firm left side. When the left hip moves well past the left foot, there isn’t a whole lot of firmness. And, there isn’t a whole lot of rotation. And without rotation, power is dramatically reduced. Here is an analogy that might help put you back on track: Maybe you have a fenced-in back yard with a gate. If you don’t, humor me and just pretend that you do. If the post that the gate is attached to is straight up and down, the gate opens and closes perfectly. If the post is tilted, good luck with the gate. Same with your golf swing. At impact, if the left hip is over the left knee and left ankle forming a straight vertical line your right hip will rotate perfectly just like the gate. If the left hip slides past the left foot, rotation is diminished along with power and accuracy. Here is a drill to help you get the hang of it: stand in a doorway with the outside of your left foot touching the door jam. Cross your arms across your chest. Make a backswing turn and then a through swing turn. During the latter allow your left hip to move laterally just enough to make contact with the jam. That amount will put you in a vertical left leg position, the perfect place for maximum hip rotation. And hip rotation translates to more power which we all want.