Are your drives coming up short? Golf tips say you need to increase clubhead speed to boost power. That’s a good suggestion. The higher the clubhead speed, the farther your drives. One way to increase clubhead speed is by creating more leverage in your swing. That’s something the pros do well. It’s what lets them hammer out 300+ yard drives.
Creating leverage adds at least 10 to 15 yards to your drives, and maybe more.
So if you want to hit longer drives, learn to create more leverage. Three areas where you can dramatically increase leverage are the takeaway, halfway back, and the transition. The secret to creating leverage in these areas is using the ground effectively.
Below are several golf tips on using the ground to boost leverage in your swing. Each golf tip has a golf drill that will help you ingrain the basics we discuss in the tip. Work on these drills religiously and you’ll find yourself hitting longer, straighter drives than ever—a key to breaking 80 consistently.
1) Takeaway: The most common place to lose leverage is in your takeaway. If you come up when swinging, you lighten the force that you can apply to the ground. The pros do the opposite. They stay in their address position all the way through the swing. That gives them a highly stable base from which to coil their upper bodies, generating more power.
Drill: Place a solid object, like a block of wood or a big hardcover book, on the ground. Next, take your 6-iron or 7-iron and place in front of the object while in your address position. Now push the object away from the target as you start your backswing. You should feel the pressure building in two areas when you do this—your right heel and the ball of your left heal.
2) Halfway Back: If you’re like many weekend golfers, you’re probably focused on the mechanics of swinging correctly. This move decreases your feel for the ground. As it does, the pressure you apply to the ground lessens. You also begin to lift your hands and arms to compensate and finish off the backswing. That forces out of your coil. The pros are able to coil all the way back because they stay grounded.
Drill: Place an iron on the ground, then stand on it in your address position. Next, make your normal swing while standing on the club. As you pass the halfway point in your backswing, you should begin to feel the pressure increasing on your right heel and the middle of your left heel. Using the force created by this move, complete your upper body turn, just like the pros do.
3) The Transition: Most weekend golfers steepen their swings during the transition. That forces them to release the clubhead early in the swing, losing lag. The result is a weak slice. Instead, increase the pressure under your feet as you start to make the transition. It will feel like you’re squatting a bit—a powerful move that boosts the leverage in your swing.
Drill: Set up with your hips and feet open to the target. Next, take the club to the top. As you start to swing down, rotate your hips in a clockwise position. You should feel as if you closing them off to the target. This move keeps your shoulders from unwinding too soon and forces you to push into the ground with your front leg, creating more leverage and generating more clubhead speed.
Work on these three drills at home as often as you can. Then head to the range to ingrain the golf tips these drills teach. Also, don’t tighten up as you try to hit the ball farther. Instead, stay loose and fluid. Ingraining these golf tips will have you hitting the ball farther than ever before. And that can help you break 80 and chop strokes off your golf handicap.