Why Does Ernie’s Swing Seem so Effortless?

Passionate golfers marvel at the power and distance professional golfers hit their drives.  That’s what keeps us glued to the Golf Channel and weekly tournaments on TV.  So where is all of that power coming from?

Professional golfers are athletes.  They train a lot more than recreational golfers so don’t expect to hit those amazing long shots like Ernie Els or Rory McIlroy or John Daly.  Strength, flexibility and technique are all major factors in their success in generating speed and distance.  Technique is the only component where this blog will be focusing today.  And GOLFSTR is designed to help you with muscle memory as well as technique.

So why does Ernie Els seems to swing with so little effort?  Straight leading arm in the back swing is a key starting point.  Rotation of the shoulders gives him added torque in his back-swing.  Length of the back-swing is so important.

But the real reason why his swing looks so effortless is that his power comes from the rotation of his wrists as his arms reach the bottom of his swing.  His wrists are accelerating the club from horizontal to the ground, through the ball and up to horizontal to the ground with very little movement of his arms.  The club head is moving 95% further than his hands.  You are seeing the effortless motion of his arms and losing sight of the whipping action of his hands and club head accelerating though the ball.

If you want to Swing Like a Pro (and Ernie), don’t release the hinge of your wrist until your arms start to approach the bottom of the arc in your swing.  Ernie, like all great golfers, delays his wrist release.  Others refer to it as lagging the release and snapping the wrist as if you are trying to throw a side arm pitch or skip a stone across water (more on this in the next blog).  No matter how you want to visualize this just make sure that you don’t start your forward swing by releasing your wrist at the top of the back swing.  Keep your leading arm straight and delay the wrist release.  You will be amazed at your improved distance.