Winding up for maximum energy in your swing
To create power in golf you need to wind up your upper body and
unwind with the lower. The wind up, in order to store maximum
energy has a ratio of 3 to 1 (your shoulders wind 3 times more than
your hips). Picture how you wind up a propeller on a rubber band
airplane. If you want to hit the ball farther, you have to increase
your shoulder turn. I will give you a drill that will start you
building a bigger turn.
Winding up for maximum energy in your swing
To create power in golf you need to wind up your upper body and unwind with the lower. The wind up, in order to store maximum energy has a ratio of 3 to 1 (your shoulders wind 3 times more than your hips). Picture how you wind up a propeller on a rubber band airplane. If you want to hit the ball farther, you have to increase your shoulder turn. I will give you a drill that will start you building a bigger turn.
First get a yardstick and a bucket of balls and your 8 iron. Put the yardstick down parallel to your target line outside of the ball. Make sure you have stretched and loosened up. Now put ball No. 1 down at the 1-inch mark. Not to close – you don’t want to hit the yardstick. Next put a second ball (ball No. 2) behind the target ball across from the 6-inch mark. As you begin you back swing push ball No. 2 straight back and then hit ball No. 1.
If you didn’t push ball No. 2, it tells you that you didn’t turn your shoulders but instead lifted the club up. If you go back lifting you come down chopping. It isn’t called a golf chop.
Now gradually keep moving ball No. 2 back 1 inch at a time until you can no longer push it. If the club move back low to the ground you know you are winding up you upper body. To check how far you can turn your shoulders put the club head down at 1 inch and just turn and see how far back it goes until it has to go up. One of my students and I did this today. At first he could only move back to the 8-inch mark. By the end of the lesson he had gotten ball No. 2 back to the 14-inch mark and was hitting the ball 10 yards farther.
We ended that lesson with both of us feeling very happy. Not only will this help your wind up but will improve your weight shift. You can work on this with every club you have, I just don’t recommend it with your putter.
Just a reminder – any police officer, firefighter or active military personnel is invited to play Eagle Ridge GC Monday through Thursday for half price, so please come see us. Have any golf related questions? From rules to club fitting you can call me at 408-846-4531 or e-mail me at [email protected]. If you would like to read some of my past tips, you can do so at www.pinnaclenews.com.
And don’t forget, if you’re not having fun playing golf call your local PGA or instructor, we will help. Golf is more fun when you’re improving. Don’t be afraid to be good.
