Learn from the Long-ball Hitters

January 5th, 2016 Swing Solutions 1 Comment

Whether you are a beginner and or a low handicap player, you need to approach each shot with a calm state of mind and a swing plan. Your swing plan has to be different for each type of golf club. The design of each club requires a unique plan and swing. They fall into 4 categories: driver, fairway woods/ hybrids, irons and putter. This week’s Swing Tip is focused on swing thoughts for your driver.

I have recently been asking golfers: “What is your swing thought to create a consistent hit?” High handicappers talk about the fear of missing the shot (fear of failure). This is obviously not where your mind needs to be. Low handicappers have a game plan and you should have one too.

I recently saw an interview with 2 of the contestants in a 2015 Longest Drive Contest. The longest hitters are tall and powerful. They also hit well over 300 yards with longer shafted drivers. The point of this article is not to encourage a radical change in your swing so that you can hit 100 yards further. I’m just trying to offer swing thoughts to help you create a more consistent hit with your driver. Without adding any more speed with your arms, you can use the tips from the long ball hitters to get a lot more distance out of your drives [Hint: use your wrists for whipping action].

How to Drive for Consistency and Distance:
1/ Tee your ball higher. Half of your ball should be above the top of your driver head when resting on the ground. Drivers are designed to generate more distance when you impact the ball just above the center of the driver face plate.

2/ Swing up on the ball when using a driver. That’s why you need to place the ball forward in your stance (directly out from the heel of your leading foot). This allows the club to pass the bottom of your swing arc and to be rising as you impact the ball even though the impact will cause a reverse rotation on the ball (opposite to a topped ball which dives to the ground).

Let your trailing elbow fly like Jack Nicklaus and then swing up the inside slot to your target line. [My personal breakthrough]

Let your trailing elbow fly like Jack Nicklaus and then swing up the inside slot to your target line. [My personal breakthrough]

3/ During your take away keep both arms straight to create a wide arc. Then let your trailing elbow fly, like Jack Nicklaus, as you pull your leading wrist with you trailing hand to create a 90 degree lag angle. Loop your club head at the top to swing down from the inside and up the target line. Jim McLean and Hank Haney refer to this as swinging from the slot. [This was my major breakthrough for my swing and consistency improvement. Learning to hold a towel under my trailing armpit during the backswing was killing my game.]

4/ Use a strong grip with your left hand, with the “V” between your thumb and your hand pointing to your right shoulder. [The heavy hitters move it further to the right.]

5/ Hit the inside quadrant of the ball (inside of the imaginary target line along the top of your ball). TIP: Place your ball on the tee so that the brand name is visible as a target on the inside quadrant.

6/ Long-ball hitters use a longer swing arc by going beyond horizontal like John Daly. If you want consistent swings, DON’T even consider this.

Practice with GOLFSTR+ for every swing in your game. Get more distance using your wrist release through impact. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com

Share

1 comment