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Train your body to maximize resistance which will result in increased clubhead speed and more distance, Golf Tips
Do you suffer from lack of power and distance in your swing—
chances are that the tail is wagging the dog.
Ever wondered why an average golfer hits their 6 iron 150 to 170 yards when a touring pro hits his over 200 yards.
Remember Phil Mickelson at 2010 Master’s—With his ball sitting on a bed of pine straw, 207 yards from the green, Mickelson blasted a 6-iron shot between two pine trees, over a creek and onto the putting surface. The ball settled four feet from the hole, leading to a birdie and a two-shot lead at 14-under.
Ever wondered why some golfers appear to hit the ball with almighty force, yet it doesn’t travel anywhere near as far as pro’s who appears to hit it with ease.
It’s all a matter of physics. Remember:
Body Resistance = Clubhead Speed (Turning of the chest against a braced back leg)
Clubhead Speed = Distance = Mass X Acceleration
Professional golfers maximize the Mass factor by engaging all the big muscles of the body–the legs, torso and shoulders. These large muscles control the hands and arms. The body and the arms are connected. In this way, a golfer’s body produces the power that’s imparted to the club via the arms and hands.
Poor players are ‘disconnected’–they use their arms and hands independent of the body. In other words, the tail wags the dog.
Energy cannot be created; nor can it be destroyed. Energy can only be transferred from one state to another.
Professional golfers ensure that this process occurs with optimal efficiency they need to ensure that there is:
Coil Your Torso Against Your Lower Body: As best as you can in the back swing, turn your upper body back in the back swing while trying to keep your hips and legs stable and still. The more separation, or x-factor, you can create between hips and shoulders, the more power you can load up to unleash on the downswing to impact.
From a physics standpoint, a longer coil has more power, so in the back swing you might try to turn back from the mid-section to lengthen your torso coil rather than thinking of turning with only the shoulders.
Many amateurs have power problems because they think firing the right side means starting the downswing from the top — with the right arm and right shoulder. The result is an over-the-top move, which prevents the hips from turning properly and produces a weak slice.
Power, and a good hip turn coming down, begin on the back swing. Start by getting behind the ball at the top, with your upper body coiled against a braced right leg that is supporting most of your weight. From here, you must initiate the forward swing with your right side, since there’s no weight on the left. The first move is the right foot and right knee kicking in toward the ball and your right foot rolling inwards (instep). This shifts weight and balance to the left side and sets your hip turn in motion.
Once your weight has shifted left and your hips begin to clear, release the entire right side and the spine (your swing center). Your hands will respond naturally, falling into the correct downswing plane, approaching the ball from the inside, then extending down the target line after impact.
The number one reason for poor pivot or weight shift is due to compensations in the body that are caused by weakness of the back leg’s hip and thigh muscles, specifically the gluteus maximus muscles and the quadriceps muscles. The back leg must be able to sustain 90% of your body weight during the back swing. Please refer to drills to promote proper pivot.
If a player is weak or has tight hip flexors, hamstrings and buttocks, the golfer will tend to straighten the back leg by locking the knee, so then the golfer will tend to shift the weight to the front leg to maintain balance.
Top of the Swing—Touring and professional golfers transfer 90% of their body weight to the back leg during the back swing while amateurs transferred only 50% of their weight to their back leg at the top of the swing.
Down Swing—On the initiation of the downswing, amateurs only transferred 65% of their weight resulting in the classic reverse pivot position, as oppose to professional golfer’s that put a force of 110% of their body weight to the front leg.
If a golfer can start to pivot correctly rather than tilt or sway it can greatly improve their game. When they pivot and load correctly, their swing becomes more consistent and powerful, more backspin is found for wedge shots and short irons, and drives penetrate the wind with beautiful ball flight and trajectory.
If you suffer from extreme case of reverse pivoting than it might take some time to be eliminated completely – but the effort will be worth the effort, and the reward will be more consistent, smooth and repeatable swing.
