All too often I see golfers attempting to gain distance with their Driver by increasing the speed of their entire golf swing. The major problem in doing so is the ‘sequencing’ of body movements gets thrown ‘out-of-whack’ resulting in a loss of distance and missed fairways.
The theory of increasing the speed of the downswing to gain clubhead speed and distance is correct, however, it is vital to begin the downswing from a fully completed and balanced backswing position. When attempting to crank one out there, you will see many players swinging the club faster in their backswing – doing so is incorrect and detrimental because as well as throwing the player off balance, the speed of the backswing has zero positive effect on increasing downswing speed (if anything – it slows it down).
The following tip can be used at home in the garden or on the range when hitting balls.
- Very lightly place your driver headcover partway on to the Driver head (shown in photograph 1)
- Adopt your driver set up as normal (photograph 2)
- Your goal is to complete your backswing without the Headcover falling off of the clubhead. Doing so will see you making the correct weight shift on your backswing without losing balance – it may encourage you to slow down the tempo of your backswing (photograph 3)
- You are now ready to rip into the downswing and unleash your power into the ball (the headcover will have fallen off at some point of the downswing prior to impact. (photograph 4)
Tom Long
Golf Professional
