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.