In-swing moves crucial to solid, powerful ball-striking
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By Kim Jeong-kyoo
If you complete your backswing correctly, you will swing your club down to the inside without extra efforts. You will naturally slot your club into the proper downswing path.
To create an ideal position at the top, you need to rotate your arms correctly so the outside muscles of your left forearm face the sky.
Or you need to rotate your right forearm so your right palm faces the sky. Just imagine you are a waiter carrying a tray of drinks. Or, picture yourself catching the ball gently falling down from the sky. This helps you complete your backswing properly, putting you in position to swing your club down to the inside.
The ball-catching position at the top will ensure you complete your backswing with full wrist hinge, leaving your left wrist flat. That ensures you tuck your right elbow correctly into the side in the downswing. This prevents your right shoulder from jutting out, allowing your club to slot into the proper downswing path.
Eventually, you will hit your ball from slightly inside the target line, enjoying more solid, consistent contact. Soon, you will whack your ball way long, hitting your target with pinpoint accuracy.
If you leave your right arm far away from the side, your shoulders turn horizontally. This causes an outside-in swing path and weak slices.
Critically, you need to keep your right hand as far from your shoulder as possible at the top. This increases your swing arc, allowing you to boost your power and distance.
To increase your power and distance, you need to hinge your wrists properly on the downswing. Make sure you unhinge your wrists downward through the shot as you turn your forearms. That allows you to release your club properly. Doing this properly, you will see your clubhead staying below your hands in the early part of your follow-through. Also, you will find your right hand nearly coming off the grip.
Once you’ve cocked your wrists fully on the backswing, unhinge your wrists downward through the shot. This way you will get your right wrist flat or bowed immediately after impact. Let your right wrist play a main role as you unhinge your wrists downward.
Let your weight shift to your left side as you start your downswing. If you are incurring revolting pulls or pull-slices, your emergency action needs to be a proper weight shift on the downswing.
Don’t blame your upper body or your hands for swinging your club across the ball. The real culprit is your lower body remaining passive or quiet. You need to start your downswing with your lower body, or rather by shifting your weight to your left side.
Begin your downswing by moving your weight to your left foot or slightly shifting your hips left. Or, just stand more on your left foot. This allows your arms to drop waist-high to slot your club into the correct downswing path. Once you’ve started down properly, unhinge your right wrist vigorously to whack your ball. You will hit your ball far and straight toward your target
You need to shift your hips properly on the downswing. If your hips mistakenly move toward the ball, you will hit your ball on the heel-side of your club. You will incur poor, weak shots. Similarly, if you let your hips move blatantly toward your ball, you will suffer nasty pushes or push-slices. You will even incur shank.
To avoid these faults, you need to preserve the forward angle of your spine you set up at address. More important, you need to leave your rear end protruded until well after you hit your ball.
Increase your swing speed fastest through the shot to hit your ball longer. To learn to increase your swing speed, grip your driver upside down and make your backswing smoothly with full wrist hinge. Try to create the loudest possible “swoosh” sound through the shot. Preserve your wrist angle until late in the downswing. Unhinge your wrists as you hit your ball, folding your left elbow immediately after impact.
Most importantly, keep your head steady during the entire swing. That helps you swing your club on the proper plane and path, allowing you to increase your swing speed to your maximum. If you bunch your head and body up, your head will mistakenly go forward ahead of your ball before you hit it. This plays havoc with your ability to hit your ball far and straight.