To help generate additional club head speed and greater distance, the key is to retain your release angle. The release angle is the angle created by your left arm and the shaft on the downswing (lag). Put simply, the more acute this angle is and the longer it is maintained into impact, the further the golf ball will travel.
How to Get More Distance
3 Tips to Generate More Distance Off the Tee
Distance off the tee can give you a huge advantage over your competitors, being able to hit wedges into par fours, rather than 5 irons, and hitting par 5’s two can drastically reduce your score (assuming you can putt, of course). Sadly, golfers tend lean towards the self-destructive swing techniques when trying to gain those extra yards. Use these distance tips below, and you may just find yourself a little farther down the fairway.
Extension Drill – Hit it Further
The backswing is one of the most important determinants in creating and retaining power. A break down in the first few movements of the backswing can rob your swing of power and reduce your chance of solid contact. Many instructors have talked about a one-piece takeaway; this move involves the arms, wrists and club moving away from address together. Seen front on, the arms and wrists make a triangle. This triangle is very important to retain in the first movements of the backswing on all full shots.
The Reverse Weight Shift
Hanging back on your hind-leg through impact side is a common swing fault for amateur golfers. This position is indicative of a classic reverse weight shift. This position is also called the “reverse C” finish. If you’re falling backwards after a shot, or notice your body weight on your hind leg after a shot (which is much more common than you may think), you suffer from this swing fault. A common ball flight and trajectory with this fault is a slice that lacks power and distance. How does it happen?
Add Yards with the Split Grip Drill
If your arms collapse at the top of your swing, you’re stealing your ability to create power and hit the ball further. This common fault is most commonly seen with beginners, especially women and seniors. At the top of your backswing, when you reach the top, the club should be held out as far as possible from your shoulders – your left arms should be extended straight, and your right arm should be in an “L” position – as shown in the picture to the right. In this position if you can imagine a box resting on your arms – you can be sure you’re creating width.
Another great drill to create width is the split grip drill – as the video above describes, if you split your grip apart into a hockey-like grip – your forced to created width. Why is width so important? Consider your swing like a whip, the longer the whip – the faster the whip can snap. The golf swing works the same way. The further you get the club away from your body as you swing, the faster you will be able to swing it.
This is why you see professionals starting their swings with a wide takeaway and full extension throughout their swings. This is one major contributor to their “effortless power.
Once you get the hang of this drill – try to re-create this swing technique with you hands together; your swing will feel smoother, and more powerful almost immediately.
Cart Lag Creator Drill – 20 Extra Yards Now!
The key to gaining distance and to begin creating a more effortless, repeatable swing is to understand and incorporating lag into your golf swing. Creating lag, which is done by retaining your wrist release on the downswing is what separates high and low handicappers. On the downswing, when your arms reach 9:00, the club should be pointing to the sky – when looking front on your lead arm and club should make an “L”. Casting, the opposite of creating lag, is the number one reason why players lack distance. In the same position described above, you’d see more of a “”.
So now what’s the best way to delay your wrist release on the downswing? Practice! First of all, you need to loosen up on the downswing, most people tend to tighten up, your wrists must be able to move and rotate during the swing. Second, practicing drills like this one will help you understand how the movement is supposed to feel. Set up with a cart as shown in this picture and video. When you perform your backswing, the cart should make slight contact with your club. On the downswing, if you perform the incorrect move (casting) you should make contact with the cart. If you retain your wrist release even slightly, you will swing through to finish missing the cart entirely.
I found that nicking the cart on the backswing disrupted my swing a fair bit. If this happens to you as well, try this modification. Instead of starting your swing as usual, cock your wrists up first from your address position – the club should be pointed at the sky right in front of your chest. Next, fully turn your shoulders – this should bring you into your normal “at the top” position. Swing down normally, and remember to retain your wrist cock.
Give it a try!
The Wrist Hinge Drill
While this fault may look silly, you’d be surprised how many players suffer from it. At the top of the backswing, some players are gripping the club so tightly, that their wrists do not hinge at the top. If you are so focused on keeping the clubface on-line throughout your swing, you will likely exhibit some form of this fault in your attempts to keep clubface movement to a minimum. As the video below describes, this is counter-productive. Not only will you be throwing away a ton of power, your wrists and arms will be in such poor position at the top that reaching impact in a square position is all but impossible. This drill is designed to help you loosen up. Much like swinging a rope, let the club hit each of your shoulders – really focus on feeling your wrists hinge and unhinge at the top.
Golf Body Rotation 101: Creating Tension
You see it on every range and course you play – someone with a swing where their front heel lifts off the ground at the top of the backswing. And while for some players, this is a necessary swing adjustment in order to produce a solid turn, for most, its actually hindering the creation of tension and coil between the upper and lower body. This same resistance is what helps generate and create power in the downswing. In the video below we look a little closer into this swing fault, but with a focus on the weak lower body, characterized by your knees being very close together at the top of your backswing. We call it over-rotation, and it often leads to over-swinging at the top. Both faults tend to produce similar swing results – a lack of power, distance and consistency at impact.
This drill is designed to help you feel the proper tension/resistance at the top of your backswing. By simply turning your lead foot towards the target, you make it all but impossible to have a weak lower body, or over-turn at the top. Your torso muscles will resist the movement. For those of you who lift your front foot at the top – try this drill for awhile, and then swing normally focusing on keeping your front heel on the ground — take notice of the similarities in feel. For those of you who tend to rotate your lower body too much, focus on keeping your knees equidistant to each other throughout the swing, and facing perpendicular to your target line until impact.
With a little practice you should see a big difference in the amount of power you can create, and distance the ball will travel. See the video below.
Fix Your All-Arms Golf Swing
Have you ever been told your golf swing is all arms? Do you often suffer from a lack of distance and consistency? Not to worry, it’s a very common fault, and today we’re going to share with you a great drill to help you feel the proper lower body motion into impact that your swing is missing. For those of you who suffer from this fault, you’re likely thinking that you’re swinging hard, but the ball is not going anywhere. Other’s may be thinking it is in fact a strength issue. The truth is, it’s simply a lack of leveraging your body weight to effectively create power and speed into impact. Here’s a great drill to try to fix this fault.
How to Feel the Lag Position
A little while ago I posted a drill called the Cart Lag Creator Drill, where the concept was to force yourself to lag the club properly by sticking a golf cart in the way of your downswing. This way, only a swing employing proper lag would avoid the cart entirely and allow you to make contact with the ball.