Crank Out More Yardage Now

Want to add 40+ yards to your drives right now—without taking golf lessons? Imagine what that could do for your golf handicap. A study done by Golf Digest indicates that you can add 40+ yards to your drives simply by "hitting from the inside." By that we mean swinging the club on a path that approaches the ball from the golfer's side of the target line as opposed to outside the target line. Unfortunately, many weekend golfers approach the ball from the outside. How does that affect your swing?

Hitting a ball from an outside path doesn't achieve the right launch angle or generate as much height as hitting a ball from an inside one. Both are critical to achieving extra yardage. A temporary solution to the problem is changing clubs. Using a higher lofted driver improves launch angle and mitigates the effects of sidespin without a meaningful loss of ball speed. But this change won't add the kind of yardage we talked about in the beginning. To do that, you must make a swing change.

Below are several golf tips that can help you achieve an inside path without attending golf instruction sessions.

Too Far Inside:
When we talk about going inside, we're talking about the downswing. If you go too far to the inside on the backswing, you're heading for trouble. Going too far inside too soon encourages you to re-route the club to the outside—known as coming over the top. To eliminate this problem, make sure you're hinging your wrists as you take the club back, not just turning your shoulders, which pulls the club inside. Try taking the club back to about hip high and stop. Check the club's position. Is it where it should be?

Swaying (Reverse Pivot)
Golfers taking golf lessons are told to keep their heads still. Too often, they're so intent on doing that that their back hips slide away from the target, instead of turning behind them. This is called swaying, which can lead to a reverse pivot. It sets up a steep downing swing that makes it almost impossible to swing down from the inside. To rid yourself of this flaw, put a chair next to your back hip at address. Leave an inch or two of space between them. You should be able to make your turn without bumping into the chair. You may brush it lightly as you turn, but don't bump into it.

Not Turning Enough
You may not be comfortable or flexible enough to make a complete turn when you swing—especially if you're a senior. But if you want to swing from inside the target line and generate more power, you must make at least a 90-degree turn behind the ball. This is a complete turn. To learn to achieve a complete turn, lay a club on the ground inside your back foot. Take another cub and hold across your chest. Turn your upper body so the club at your chest is parallel to the one on the ground.

Creating Too Little Space
As you swing to the top you need to create sufficient space between your right hand (left, if your left handed) and your back ear or you won't have enough room to swing down from the inside. To make sure you make sufficient room, take the club back with your right hand and stop. Look at your hand to ensure you have plenty of room between your hand and your head. If you do, grip the club with your other hand. This is a good top of the swing position.

Golf Digest's study indicates that taking an inside path to the ball—just like golfers are taught in golf instruction sessions—can add 40+ yards to your drives. Taking an inside path improves your launch angle and generates more height than taking an outside one. Using a more-lofted driver is a temporary solution. But it doesn't generate as much yardage as making a swing change. The golf tips described above will help you make the necessary swing change. Add 40+ yards to your drives and you'll chop strokes off your golf handicap.


Copyright (c) 2011 Jack Moorehouse