Not every golfer is capable of recording a single-digit golf handicap. But all golfers are capable of lowering their current golf handicaps. To maximize your scoring potential, you must max out your distance off the tee. To many weekend golfers this means swinging as hard as they can. But if you watch professionals like Fred Couples, you’ll see that they never look like their swinging hard. Yet they regularly hit 300-yard drives. How do they do this?
The key to effortless power, many experts contend, is your rotation around your spine. To rotate effectively, you need a big shoulder turn matched to a small hip turn to store power in your swing. Once the power is stored, you must make a smooth transition to the ball to release all that pent up energy. Few weekend golfers have a swing that exhibits effortless power. But they can develop one with help from the golf tips provided below and practice.
1. Create A Stable Base
Effortless power starts with a balanced, athletic address—one you’re both comfortable and confident in. If you don’t have one, you need to develop one. For many that means getting into the right posture, having the right grip, and teeing the ball high enough so you can easily hit the ball at the clubface’s sweet spot. Follow these golf tips to achieve a balanced, athletic address: Stand up straight with the clubhead out in front of you. Flex your knees until you’re comfortable. Then bend your hips down to the ball.
2. Make A Wide Takeaway
How you rotate around your spine plays a big part in generating power—a golf tip we emphasize in our golf lessons all the time. When you start your backswing, focus on taking the club away by turning your shoulders while keeping your hips as still as possible. Strive for a smooth one-piece takeaway. You should feel like your turning around the inside of your back leg. Keep it low and slow. Don’t pick up the club too quickly. And don’t sway. Otherwise, you may find yourself making a reverse pivot.
3. Don’t Rush The Transition
Rushing the transition is a good way of getting yourself in trouble. It’s also a huge power leak. If you rush the transition, you’ll be slowing down at impact. The idea is to build up speed in your downswing as you come down. You want to reach maximum clubhead speed just when you get to impact. You also want to keep your hands as far away from your head as possible. The idea is to turn your shoulders more and arms less. If your back is facing the target, you’ve made a good turn.
4. Lock Down Your Core
Your must maintain your posture throughout the swing, enabling you to unwind the coil you created in your backswing. The focus of your whole swing should be to turn around your spine. At lot of students in our golf instruction sessions, get confused when we say “maintain your spine angle.” Simply put, it means staying in your posture. If you do that, you’ll enable you arms to swing freely, which allows you to unleash a powerful strike at the ball. To get the feeling of locking down your core, try sucking in your stomach and make practice swings.
5. Feel Balanced At The End
Your goal at the finish is to be balanced at the end, just like you were at address. The idea is to try to end the swing on your left side (right side for lefties) looking at the target and you’re left leg straight. A straight left leg after impact means you’ve fully rotated around your spine. It’s called finishing with authority. It’s something we try to get all the students at our golf lessons to do.
Not every one can be a scratch golfer. Most of us don’t have the time to practice enough to do it. But we can all lower our golf handicap. One key to do this is to max out your distance off the tee. Developing a swing that produces effortless power is the secret to maxing out distance. The golf tips provided above will help you do this.