If you’re serious about improving your game, you must master the full swing’s key me-chanics. Doing so increases power, consistency, and accuracy. These capabilities help po-sition you to hit more greens in regulation (GIR). That’s big, as I’ve often said in my golf tips newsletter. Hitting more GIRs leads to more pars and birdies, which in turn helps you card better scores and chops strokes off your golf handicap.
But mastering the full swing’s mechanics isn’t easy. It takes hard work to eliminate the flaws that can creep into a swing. Player’s adept at eliminating these swing flaws will record a lot more good rounds. Implementing the five golf tips discussed below helps you eliminate the common swing flaws that ruin a round and bring you a step closer to break-ing 80 consistently.
Leading with the left side (right side for lefties) is critical to good ballstriking. The left side’s uncoiling sets up a pulling motion back to the ball, which is critical to accuracy and consistency. So you need to work on strengthening and training your non-dominant side. Lift weights, squeeze a tennis ball, or practice swinging the club one-handed. Do whatever strengthens and trains that side. Also, keep your left arm closer to your chest as you start the club back. Keep it there as long as you can. This move puts your left arm “in the slot” between your head and right shoulder—the proper backswing position that many players so hard at in golf lessons.
If you hit weak shots, you may lack width in your backswing. The bigger your backswing arc, the greater your swing width is. The greater your swing width, the more room you have to increase clubhead speed before striking the ball. It’s that simple. To create more width, space out the distance between your right hand and right shoulder (opposite hand and opposite shoulder for lefties) at the top of your backswing. This move gives the shoulder more room to turn, improving both your width and your torque. We’ve seen stu-dents in our golf lessons achieve 20 or 30 yards more just by mastering this simple move.
Another key to more distance is the “X-Factor” in your swing. The X-Factor describes the lines created if you looked down at a golfer from above and drew lines through the shoulders and hips at the top of the backswing. The greater the difference between the shoulders and hips, the more resistance created between the upper body and the lower body. The greater the resistance between these two, the more power you deliver at im-pact. To make a powerful turn—not just a big turn—the upper body must rotate much more than the hips. The X-factor is another key fundamental that teachers emphasize in golf instruction sessions. It’s like a slingshot: The farther you pull the rubber band back from the handle, the farther the stone goes.
If want a truly powerful swing, however, you also must master your back knees flex. The flex does two things: It tightens your hip turn in the backswing, creating more distance and more resistance between your upper body and lower body (the X-factor again), and helps you drive your weight into your forward side on the downswing, just as they teach in golf instruction sessions. Substituting a straight leg for a flexed one at the top of your backswing is bad. It messes up your swing plane, leads to the dreaded reverse pivot posi-tion, and robs you of power. To perfect this move, practice swinging the club while fo-cusing solely on keeping the back knee flexed. This drill will improve your swing in no time.
Mastering these five golf tips will help you achieve a swing that’s consistent and accu-rate. They’ll also help you hit the ball father, setting you up for shorter shots into the green. Shorter shots lead to more GIRs. More GIRs lead to more pars and birdies—and a better chance breaking 80 and lowering your golf handicap.
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