Like many of you, the thought of hitting shots 20 or 30 yards, farther led me to make changes to my swing that turned out to be more trouble than they were worth. I gained some distance, yes, but I lost a lot of accuracy, and my scoring suffered.
A GOOD START IS KEY To get into a great position at the top of the swing, which sets up a proper downswing, the secret is the takeaway.
STAY TALL TO THE TOP When I was chasing extra yards, my upper body would drift several inches away from the target during the backswing. I was really loading up. Unfortunately, that made it harder to get the club back to the ball without some last-second adjustments. An issue for me was my head would dip as I made that big move. Think of how your body drops when you wind up to throw a punch.
SWING IT LONG AND LOW Tour pros can hit a 7-iron 200 yards because they de loft the club face so much through impact, it essentially turns the club into a 4-iron. Again, that’s great if you’re after maximum distance, but the results of trying to de loft the club can be very inconsistent. Instead, I’ve been focusing on returning the club to the ball with its proper loft. The reason I carry 14 clubs is that I want each one to hit the ball a specific distance. That’s why I’m working on swinging the club into the ball with very little shaft lean at impact.
