How would your game change if you added 20 yards to your drives? Would you win more matches? Shoot better scores? Lower your golf handicap? Probably. Adding 20 yards or more to your drives takes your game to another level. Longer drives mean shorter approach shots. Shorter approach shots mean more greens hit in regulation (GIRs). More GIRs during a round, as you may have read in our golf tips newsletter, is a key to breaking 80 and shrinking your golf handicap to single digits.
Should you make major swing change to add more yards to your drives? Not necessarily. You just need to plug your existing power leaks. Three things can cause you to leak power: (1) a narrow swing arc, (2) loss of knee flex, and (3) poor weight shift. Plug these power leaks and you could add 20 extra yards to your drives while taking a serious whack at breaking 80. It also won’t hurt your golf handicap. Below are some golf tips and drills to help you plug these leaks.
· Widen your arc
Taking your club back too far inside the target line or just with your hands and arms creates a narrow swing arc. It also reduces clubhead speed. When you come too far inside, you have to shift your weight away from the target on the downswing to get the club back in position to hit the ball. You need to get your arm and hand as far from your head at the top of your swing as possible. Here’s a drill we use in our golf lessons to teach students how to widen their swing arcs:
Put two stakes in the ground on either side of your address position. Make sure they are just inside the target line. Lean them at an angle that matches the angle of your driver at address. Now make some swings where the club stays in front of these shafts. Try to feel your arms in front of your body.
· Flex your knee
Straightening your back knee during your backswing drains power from your swing. It forces you to shift too far away from the target. This makes it hard to move toward the target effectively during your downswing. Bracing yourself over a slightly bent back leg instead creates a tighter power coil. It also helps shorten your swing and increases clubhead speed. All of this helps lead to more distance off the tee. Here’s a drill we use in our golf lessons to teach students how to widen their swing arcs:
Address the ball with your driver. Now start your takeaway. As you make your arms turn keep your back knee slightly flexed. This move keeps you from over shifting and creates a tighter body coil at the top of your swing. It also lets you fire into the ball with more power and speed. It’s like loading and releasing a spring.
· Get to your left side
We see it all the time in our golf instruction sessions. Weekend golfers often rush the transition from the backswing to the downswing. This leads to “hanging back.” That’s when a golfer releases the club too early and shifts too much weight to her back foot. You can spot this flaw pretty easy. The golfer ends up in the reverse-C body position through the ball. Here’s a drill with golf tips to help you shift your weight properly.
Find an area where there’s a downslope and room to hit some shots. Now position yourself on the downslope and hit some balls. Swinging down the slope promotes the forward weight transfer you must make to plug this power leak. Your contact tells you how well you made the shift. If you make solid contact, you shifted your weight correctly. If you make poor contact, you failed to make the proper shift.
Widen your arc. Shift your weight. Get to your left side. Make these three changes to your swing and you’ll generate 20 yards or more off the tee. Longer drives lead to more greens hit in regulation—a key to not only breaking 80 consistently but also lowering your golf handicap.
