Keep your club behind you
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By Kim Jeong-kyoo
To hit your ball as far as you want, you need to learn to hit a draw. To do this better, you need to go for a bent posture, getting your club “laid off” on the backswing. The popular theory dictates you must avoid getting your club laid off or moving behind your hands during the entire swing. However, it is a myth when you address your ball with your spine tilted forward 35 to 45 degrees.
To hit draws, you need a strong grip. This helps you slightly close your clubface through your shot. Make sure the “V” created between your left thumb and forefinger points slightly below your right shoulder. Keep your left thumb on the top of your handle.
To let your wrists correctly hinge straight up and down, you need to hold your club properly with your right hand. Fold your right palm over your left thumb, so the lifeline fits securely into your left thumb. The V created by the thumb and forefinger of your right hand will point toward your chin or your left ear. Normally, you rotate your club with your left hand, letting your right hand look after your wrist hinge.
You need to play your ball further from your feet. Standing too close to your ball forces you to swing your arms on too steep a plane.
Position your ball off the tip of your left shoulder for your driver. Position your ball off your pectoral muscle for your irons. Granted, you need to widen your stance gradually as you use a longer iron.
Bend your upper body from your hips 35 to 45 degrees. Tall golfers bend more. On the down-the-target-line view, let a line drawn from your shoulders point just outside or beyond your toes. Importantly, you need to flex your knees only slightly. You need to bend from your hips. On a face-on view, your spine needs to be resting straight, your shoulders sitting directly over your hips.
Avoid tilting your spine to the right at address so your shoulders are almost level. Toward this end, set your hands in the middle of your body ― off the left seam of your trouser zipper. Tilting your upper body to the right, you will create superfluous width on your backswing.
Let your arms and hands hang down naturally from your shoulders so they are under your chin. Press your left hand “down” toward the ground.
Set up with a moderate to wide stance. The distance between your heels needs to be as wide as your shoulder width when you are hitting your driver. Flare your left foot outward 30 to 45 degrees toward the target. Keep your hips and shoulders square to the target line, with your feet parallel to your hips or slightly closed.
Keep your body weight evenly balanced, with your weight toward the balls of your feet.
Avoid placing more than 50 percent of your weight on your left foot when you are playing your driver and fairway woods. That pushes you to swing your club too steeply going back and coming down. Hitting your ball with a sharp downward blow deprives your driver swing of power and speed. You will also incur pulls and pull-slices. You will even top your ball.
Before starting your swing, think of a football kicker who swings his leg on an arc. Swinging your club in a circle helps you create more power than swinging it in a straight line. You need to swing your club back, aiming to let your hands and club describe an arc like football kickers. Toward this end, swing your arms around your body roughly on the same plane as your shoulders turn.
Waggle your club a couple of times as if you are making a long putt. That helps you swing your club back on the correct path.
Once you have carried out your last waggle, swing your clubhead back vigorously the way you have waggled. You need to take your club back on an identical path to the waggle.
Let your clubhead go behind your hands immediately after you have taken your club away from the ball. Or rather, get your club laid off by swinging your clubhead back rather briskly. Or get your clubhead slightly more inside than your hands when your club shaft gets horizontal. That will allow you to swing your arms around your body. It will let your left arm swing naturally across your chest, your right elbow moving backward toward the rear. Stop trying to keep your arms in front of your chest at the top of your backswing.
If you get your clubhead more inside your hands on the backswing, about waist-high, you will easily create centrifugal force. That also allows you to swing your club in a circle, letting you dominantly use the space behind you.
More importantly, that helps you hit your ball the way football players kick the ball to the full. You will effortlessly hit your ball longer and more accurately.
You need to prevent your hips from shifting to the right. Keep your left hip from shifting to the right as you swing your club back. During your backswing, you must let your left hip stay where it was at address. That encourages you to swing your arms and club around your body, allowing you to use the space behind you.
Critically, you need to turn your shoulders fully -- 90 degrees or more. Make sure your left shoulder hits your chin. Keep your hips centered in your stance or slightly move left toward the target.
To create enough torque, avoid turning your hips more than 45 degrees. You will get your club slightly laid off at the top of your backswing. If you are supple enough, however, you will get your club shaft parallel to your target line. Complete your backswing by hinging your wrists fully as you count “one.”
Shift your left hip to the left to start your downswing as you count “two.” That allows your weight to shift naturally to your left foot. Also important is keeping your head steady. That puts you in a position to start down with your lower body.
Keeping your head still, you will also preserve the forward tilt of your spine, producing solid strikes. That also prevents your head from bobbing up and down or wobbling left toward the target. Allowing your head to get ahead of your ball, you will have pushes or push-slices.
Critically, you need to keep your arms quiet or passive at the early stage of your downswing. Let them remain across and against your chest. Avoid making any active movement with your arms other than rotating your left forearm.
Or, just focus on keeping your club behind you. This promotes draws. You will swing more from inside the target line, rotating your body properly through the shot. You will enjoy a straight shot or beautiful draw every time you swing.
A split-second before impact, your shoulders will stay open by 20 to 30 degrees, your hips remaining slightly more open. Your left arm will remain across your chest.
Once you have started your downswing with your left hip, turn your left shoulder to the left as you hit your ball. You need to turn your shoulders at right angles to your spine as you rotate your left forearm through impact. That will allow your right forearm to turn over your left during the follow-through, your left arm flinging across your chest. That will let your club correctly work on an in-to-in swing path.
Do not try to swing your club from inside to outside the target line. Taking a bent posture, you need to avoid hitting your ball excessively from inside to outside. Trying too much to swing your club on an in-to-out path through your ball often creates pushes and push-slices.
Finish your swing with the club shaft tapping the back of your neck. That means you have swung your club with enough speed.