Golf Tips from the Pro

Have you ever looked at a golf professional’s swing and thought to yourself, “Wow, it looks so easy…it is as if he is not swinging hard…his swing is effortless” ?   Similarly, we have all watched a buddy dribble a shot that he did not hit well and think “Boy, did he try to kill that one.”  We can even relate it to our own swing, after hitting a very good shot that went far and thinking to ourselves, “Gee whiz, it didn’t feel like I swung hard at all…it felt so easy,”

We have all read articles that tout the benefits of clubhead speed as it relates to distance.  The articles claim that the more clubhead speed you have, and the wider the swing arc, the faster the club moves - resulting in more distance.   Yet, it seems that the harder and faster you attempt to swing the less distance you seem to achieve.   In fact it is a vicious cycle that golfers experience.  They swing harder and faster and the only result is that they get tired more quickly.

Let me start by clarifying the phase “faster swing.”  I am referring directly to the clubhead speed generated and maintained through impact.   Both a faster or slower swing “tempo” is capable of generating and maintaining clubhead speed through impact.  The truth is that the physics behind the theory prove that a club moving faster through impact will result in greater distance.  If the club is moving in an appropriate direction to maximize the clubhead speed, there is no doubt that you will see a positive increase in distance.  The problem is that the majority of golfers actually lose clubhead speed as they attempt to swing harder and faster. 

Several things happen when recreational golfers attempt to swing faster that result in this loss of clubhead speed.  One of the most noticeable and least favorable results is that it affects your balance during the swing.  If you are off balance during your swing it leads to all sorts of compensating movements in order to regain your balance and hit the ball solidly.   If you maintain a good balanced body position throughout the swing it will enable you to strike the ball more consistently.
 
There is another outcome of an ineffective attempt to swing faster to look at.  Often, your arms outpace your body and it does not enable you to make solid club and ball contact.   Additionally, the path that the club is traveling can be adversely affected.  Swinging with your arms alone will cause you to manipulate the clubface and the direction you are swinging the club simply to make any sort of contact (good or bad) through impact.

Also, the harder you swing, the more tension you have in your body, arms and hands throughout the swing.   It is hard to make a smooth fluid swing motion with a lot of tension in your muscles.  In fact the body moves much slower and is harder to control with tension than when the body is loose.  It is much easier to extend your arms more down the target line and increase the width of your swing arc when your arms are looser and more relaxed.

My favorite example of this situation is when a baseball pitcher gets nervous in the final innings of a very important game.  When the baseball pitcher gets tense on the mound he loses the control of his pitches and is not easily able to throw the ball in the strike zone.  When this happens during a game and the pitcher has walked a few batters, the Manager usually walks out to the mound and calms the pitcher down.  He tells him to “relax, calm down, shake your arm loose and throw strikes”.  The next pitch is usually a remarkable fast moving pitch with commanding control right in the middle of the strike zone.   He can pitch the ball faster and more controlled with less tension.

The key to hitting quality golf shots club/ball impact.  The key to hitting longer quality golf shots is increasing the speed that the clubhead is traveling as it makes solid club/ball impact.   The problem is that speed without solid club/ball contact is not beneficial to making quality golf shots.  In fact, speed alone can often be very counter- productive to creating solid club/ball contact.    If you can consistently make good solid contact when you are moving the club fast, it will result in nice long golf shots.    That is what golf professionals like Ernie Els can do.  He earned his nickname “The Big Easy” because he is very efficient in the method he generates clubhead speed.  His smooth tempo and wide swing arc enable him to maximize the efficiency, which generates and maintains the clubhead speed through impact.  

The way to ultimately hit the ball further is to develop solid and consistent club and ball contact and gradually increase the speed in which you apply the club to the ball.  If you cannot make consistent solid contact with the ball using a full swing at a faster speed, try slowing it down.  Swing a bit smaller and slower until you can make consistent solid contact.  Once you have that mastered gradually increase the size of your swing motion and the speed in which you release the club back down to the ball.  Continue going a bit bigger until you reach your full swing motion.  However, if you attempt a bigger swing motion and you lose the consistent solid contact, go back to the smaller more controlled motion until your ability to handle more speed has developed.  I promise you, if you are able to become a more efficient and consistent crawler, you will be able to run faster, further and more effectively.

If you would like to learn more information on how to become a better ball striker sign up for one of the many group instruction programs offered at the Deerfield Golf and Tennis Club.  You can also schedule your very own private lesson by calling the Golf Shop at Deerfield at 302-368-6640 ext. 3.

Kurt Zolbe, PGA
Head Golf Professional

Archived Golf Tips:

11/08 – Heavy Rough Made Easy
09/08 – Ball Position
08/08 – Ladder Drill
07/08 – Easy Does It
06/08 – Distance Control When Putting
05/08 – If The Shoe Fits
02/08 – Sand Dollars
01/08 – Getting More Power Out Of Your Swing
12/07 – Winter Club Maintenance
11/07 – Hillside Lies
08/07 – Lift
07/07 – Hybrids
05/07 – Practice
04/07 – Golf Club Fitting
03/07 – The Iron Triangle