Four quick tips to hit your ball farther, straighter
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By Kim Jeong-kyoo
To play better golf, you need to learn to hit your driver longer in the middle of the fairway. Longer drives help you hit your approach shots better, giving you more chances for birdies and eagles. Four quick and easy tips here will help you hit your ball farther and straighter.
1. Steady your head
You can produce solid strikes with ease if you keep your head steady during the swing. Solid contact usually brings about long-distance shots. Typically, Tour players don’t allow their head to move more than one inch as they swing. Keeping your head steady, you can see your ball better. This makes it easier to hit your ball solidly.
To keep your head steady, you’d better stretch your right side, from your ankle to your armpit on the backswing. If you do this properly, your left shoulder, hip and knee will form nearly a straight line at the top. Your spine will not stay tilted much to the right.
Importantly, you need to turn your left shoulder downward as you extend your right side. That way you can turn your shoulders 90 degrees to your spine angle. You will also complete a centered shoulder turn. Put differently, you will turn your shoulders on top of your hips rather than allowing them to drift back. That ensure you keep your head staying still.
2. Let your swing momentum carry your club up and around your body
To hit your ball longer, you need to speed up your club through the shot. Weekend golfers often use up their energy as they start the downswing rather than speeding up through the ball. If your speed fizzles out, you cannot get what you want from your swing: distance and accuracy.
To swing smoothly, you need to keep speeding up your clubhead. If you swing at your maximum speed from the top, you'll slow down at your ball.
Try to let your club move fastest through your shot. Done correctly, your swing momentum will carry your club up and around your body. Granted, you will hit your ball longer and straighter than ever before.
3. Focus on your hips
The hips are the engine of your golf swing. Avoid trying to overpower your ball with your arms and hands to get greater distance off the tee. That is the way you need to avoid to get your maximum distance. A smooth and steady swing will get your job done, and it is your hips that ensure a smooth, graceful swing.
To use your hips properly, you need to have the correct starting position of your hips. To allow your hips to drive your swing, align your body parallel to your target line. Also, tilt your upper body forward toward your ball from your hips. Position your ball in line with your left heel.
Start your backswing with your hips turning behind you, keeping your hands and arms staying passive. That helps you shift your weight naturally to your right side and swing your club on the correct path.
Keep turning your hips as fully as you can. That will help you reach an ideal position to swing your club down on plane. This allows you to hit your ball from slightly inside the target line. Failing to turn your hips fully, you cannot put you in position to hit your ball with maximum clubhead speed.
Turn your hips to the left once you’ve get your club shaft parallel to the target line. Your hands and arms followed your hips on the backswing will do the same on the downswing. You need to keep turning your hips to clear your impact area so you can hit your ball from inside the target line.
You need to continue to turn your hips after you hit your ball. You need a good follow-through to hit your ball longer and accurately. If you stop turning your hips too soon, you cannot achieve a good finish. Keep turning your hips until you are facing your target, your club reaching its natural finish position.
4. Throw your left-hand punch
To hit your ball far and straight, you need to keep your left wrist flat at the top of the backswing. To this end, simply imagine you’re making a fist and carrying out a punching motion with your left hand. That will leave your left wrist staying flat.
Putting your left hand into a hitting position at the top, you’ll make a shorter backswing. This allows you to make a stable, compact swing. You will consistently deliver your club squarely to your ball. You will eventually hit your ball longer and accurately every time you swing.
Practice your backswing several times without a club, feeling the left punch. Then, grip your club. Swing your club back, trying to re-create the feeling.
Incidentally, to gain distance to the maximum, you need to create a widest possible swing arc in your backswing. Toward this end, try to keep your club shaft far away from your right shoulder at the top of your backswing. The wider your swing arc, the longer you’ll hit your shots.