Swing the clubhead from inside

By Kim Jeong-kyoo

All great players have one thing in common: swinging the clubhead through the ball from the inside. To achieve your full distance potential off the tee you need to swing the club from the inside of the ball-target line.

Long hitters look all different but they attack the ball from the inside by swinging the club down on a flatter plane than they take on the backswing. They re-route the club from the top, looping the clubhead more to the inside. This is particularly true with players who make an upright swing.

Baseball players let the bat drop down toward the right shoulder when they start down to whack the ball; you need to do the same to create a good downswing path that is from a tad inside the ball-target line to out, a requisite for solid, powerful strikes.

That allows you to preserve the body coil created in the backswing. It is no other than the tremendous amount of torque built up during the backswing between your upper body and lower body that helps muster maximum power.

Crucially, baseball swing encourages you to initiate the downswing with your legs leading, setting the stage for clubhead lag that allows you to maximize the clubhead speed through the ball.

Most importantly, swinging down like a baseball player prevents the over-the-top move, one of the most common faults committed by amateur golfers.

Golf swing is like fingerprints and no two are the same. Every swing varies from individual to individual depending on the differences in height, weight, arm length and what not. Different shaft length and lie angle also cause the same swing to look a little bit different. Still, one thing that never changes is to swing the club down on an inside path.

To swing through the ball on a path that is from inside the ball-target line it's essential to start with a good setup, the shoulders, arms and hands all relaxed, and make a tension-free takeaway. A smooth, relaxed takeaway sets the scene for a good backswing, which, in turn, allows the club to slot into downswing path that is from inside to out.

For a tension-free takeaway waggle the club before starting to swing, keeping your arms and hands remaining soft. Swinging the club back, focus on keeping the clubface square or looking at the ball. You need to avoid opening or closing the clubface until the end of the takeaway when the clubshaft gets parallel to the ball-target line and horizontal to the ground.

Be sure that your left arm remains soft in the takeaway and your right arm swings freely, moving away from the ribcage. The free motion of your right arm is crucial to proper backswing as it creates a smooth rhythm and allows the right elbow to move away from the body to create a wider arc.

Important! avoid swinging the club back too far to the inside. An inside path on the way down does not necessarily mean an inside path during the takeaway. That causes you to push the club away from the body on the downswing and spells an over-the-top swing. Granted, an over-the-top move deprives you of every chance of swinging down on the correct inside path. If you are going to make an err on the backswing, you'd better get the clubhead to move outside the ball-target line.

Once you’ve taken the club away from the ball properly and completed your backswing correctly, all you have to do to hit the ball as far as you are capable of is start the downswing with your lower body. That automatically gets the club to slot into the correct path halfway down, helping preserve the torque between your shoulders and hips.

Striving to do too many things at the same time deprives your swing of its fluidity, power and distance, plus accuracy. Just think of swinging the club down with the lower body like a baseball player, and you will get the club to slot onto the correct inside path and swing through the ball into a good finish.