Hitting your ball longer and straighter

By Kim Jeong-kyoo

Golf instructors are arguing endlessly about the different ways to hit your ball as far and straight as you want. But two ways here will help you achieve your goal with ease. The first is keeping your hands passive during the entire swing. To this end, you’d better let your body play a dominant role in swinging your club. You can also hit your ball successfully by creating an “L” shape on the backswing and during the follow-through. You just focus on forming the “L” with your arms and club throughout your swing. You don’t need to think about complicated swing mechanics.

1. Let your chest and left hip dominate your swing, not your hands and arms

Set up comfortably like a goalie in soccer. Then waggle your club several times so you can hit your ball toward the target.

For a good backswing, you need to stop swinging your arms once your body stops turning. Letting your arms finish your backswing, you’ll swing your club down too steeply from outside to inside the target line. Swinging your arms upward at the last moment to complete your backswing, you’ll have pulls and slices thrust on you.

To avoid this fault, you’d better start your backswing by turning your upper body away from the target. Let your body turn propel your arms and club. That way you’ll get your arms to stop swinging once your body stops turning.

You will swing your club back on plane and on the correct path. You’ll naturally swing your club down to the inside. You will immediately stop coming from outside the target line.

Namely, start your backswing by turning your chest away from your ball. Of equal importance is making sure your club takes the identical path it took during the waggle.

More importantly, you need to keep your hands passive or quiet during your backswing. Make sure your body motion propels your arms and club, with no conscious hand action. Complete your backswing by hinging your wrists fully. Wrist hinge helps you create more power and distance.

Start your downswing by turning your left hip briskly to the left. You need to leave your hands passive through your shot. Don’t try to whack your ball with your hands. Let your hip turn propel your arms and club without any deliberate hand move.

Succinctly, turn your chest to start your backswing, rotating your left hip left to set up your downswing.

Make sure your hands do nothing but hold your club during the entire swing. This makes your swing simple. A simple swing is easy to carry out repeatedly even under pressure. With repeating this swing, you can hit your ball consistently successfully every time you swing.

If your ball curves right or left, however, chances are you’ve opened or closed your clubface on your backswing. To hit your ball straight, you need to keep your clubface square to the arc of your swing. Toward this end, you need to keep your left wrist flat. If you cup or bow your left wrist, you will get your clubface open or shut. You will incur slices or hooks.

Look at your clubface at the top of your backswing. If your clubface stays at right angles to the ground, you’re cupping your left wrist and opening the face. That can inflict slices on you. If your clubface points at the sky, you’re bowing your left wrist and closing the face. That can spell hooks.

Your goal is keeping your left wrist flat with your clubface parallel to your left wrist. That way you will keep your clubface remaining square to your swing plane. If you keep your clubface square at the top, you can square your clubface easily when you hit your ball.

If you have a neutral grip, the back of your left hand matches your clubface. If the back of your left hand is facing the target through your shot, your ball will travel toward your target.

To be a good at striking your ball, you need to have the back of your left hand aimed at the target, keeping your left wrist flat. That way, you can trap your ball between your clubface and the turf, preserving the loft of your club. This is a critical key to enjoying hitting your ball solidly and straight as well.

2. Swing from “L to L”

Your golf swing ends in less than a blink of your eye. Still, it comprises chained actions and reflexes. To improve at striking your ball, focus on what happens before and after you hit your ball.

Create an “L” shape on the backswing and during the follow-through between your arm and club shaft. Form the “L” shape with your left arm and club shaft when your left arm gets horizontal. Once your left arm and club shaft have formed the “L” shape, don’t think of how to complete your backswing. You will automatically reach a great top-of-the-backswing position.

Similarly, don’t do anything special to start your downswing. Just think of creating another “L” between your right arm and club shaft during your follow-through when your right arm gets horizontal.

Put differently, create an “L” shape as you swing back and follow through. All good moves you need for solid strikes will take care of themselves. You don’t need to think or worry about what happens during your swing. Eventually, you will swing more freely and with the proper weight shift you will turn your body better. Most importantly, you will swing your club on plane, hitting longer, straighter shots.