Saturday, October 13, 2012

Drive Time

Hit monster tee shots and keep them in the short stuff

TOE IT UP

When you address the ball, your driver head naturally rests on the turf. But since the ball is elevated on a tee, your club isn't exactly "square" to the ball. To fix this, you have to do one of two things. Raising your club at address is the first option. But the problem with this is if you raise the clubhead, it extends a little bit away from you, so that the ball is now closer to your club's heel. The best way to—ahem—address this issue is to position the ball toward the toe at address. That way when you return the club at impact (and it's naturally higher), you won't hit the ball on the toe, you'll hit it in the center of the face.

GET "LEAN"


Many golfers make steep swings. This, however, is a guaranteed "death move" if you want to drive the ball well. In order to effectively flatten your swing shape to a motion more conducive to hitting good drives, I suggest bending over more at address. By doing this, you'll steepen your shoulder tilt, and that will force you to create a shallower, more rounded swing shape with your arms, thus producing a more sweeping cut at contact. At first, it will feel a little strange, but from what I've seen on the range, just bending over at address will round your swing and produce shots you've only dreamed of.

ADD SOME PUNCH

No, I'm not training for an upcoming fight. I'm making a fist and a punching motion, which looks a lot like how I want my students' left hand to look at the top of their swings. Getting your left wrist into a "hitting" position at the top of the backswing provides a couple things: a shorter backswing, which results in a stable motion; and a square clubface, which is necessary if you want to consistently deliver a square hit at impact. And, really, who doesn't want to do that? Go ahead, make a swing without a club and feel that punch. Then grip the club and remember that feeling!


Read the rest here..