The Golf Guru Show

In order to regain some of my old form, I hit a few ball this week in the cold Charlotte weather. I have always been a very solid ball striker but over the years I have lost a few yards. In order for me to compete I need to hit it further so this is what I have been working on. I have always been fascinated by the fact that  some guys on tour hit it a lot further than other guys, yet they don’t look that much different. What separates a guy like J.B. Holmes and a guy like Brian Gay? They are relatively the same size. I spend a large majority of my teaching time trying to shorten players swings. The average golfer has the belief that a long backswing creates distance. This could not be farther from the truth. On the priority list, length usually ranks about 10 for me. It is much more important to create width in your swing. Width is the distance between your hands and your sternum. The bigger your swing circle is throughout your swing, the more speed you can create. I have always set the club early in my swing and in my younger days my shoulders turned a bit more. I have a ton of downswing lag in my swing but my circle tends to get too small and narrow which causes me to lose speed. I have worked extremely hard on my fitness so I know I am strong enough to hit it longer. I made one simple change and feel and started to hit it 10 to 15 yards longer with a seven iron. Here is what I did
I made my takeaway feel as if I didn’t set my hands at all (even though the video showed that I did).This helped me create a wider arc at the top of my backswing. I coupled that with a more aggressive front loading hip turn and body rotation and the ball started jumping off the clubface. I will try to put the video on an upcoming post if I can. I haven’t been that excited about my golf swing since college. The kinetic chain (see mytpi.com) was unleashed and I am creating more speed and my swing is shorter. Just proof that getting the club to parallel is not that important. Width is not the only key to hitting it longer but it is one that is very important. I have attached a video of J.B. Holmes to see what I am talking about. He talks about two important elements in his swing(width and a flat lead wrist/forward leaning shaft at impact). This is #1 on the list by the way. Even though there are things that I don’t like about his swing, he owns it and makes it work. Tell me how long his backswing is and you will see what I mean. Best of luck on your swing and let’s make big swing circles together as we improve our games. Guru TV will be back in full swing next week as the weather improves.

Guru