Hey, guys, it’s Aimee, your golf coach. Today, I’m going to share a tip that will change your driving forever.
Common Mistakes Off The Tee
Many amateur golfers make mistakes such as getting too quick, casting, early extending and using their arms instead of their body turn. These movements are interconnected, leading to shorter distances and slice or hook misses. Prioritizing your swing fixes is crucial. Imagine having a dozen things to work on; addressing the right one first can take care of many others.
What It Takes To Hit Great Drives
Great tempo: If your swing is rushed or inconsistent, you’ll start compensating with your arms, losing power and control. A smooth tempo helps you maintain control over the clubface at impact, enhancing both distance and accuracy.
Creating a whip: The whip in your swing generates clubhead speed, resulting in longer drives. This comes from proper hinging, lag and release.
Maximizing power: Properly using your body means coiling and uncoiling effectively, utilizing a good weight shift.
The Key To Great Driving: Setting The Club
Short and slice misses often stem from setting the club incorrectly, leading to a lofty backswing and improper coil. This disrupts the desired whip and causes compensations like casting. Casting reduces whip and control over the clubface, resulting in distance loss and accuracy issues. It also causes you to hit behind the ball, leading to early extension and misuse of your body, draining power from your swing.
Today’s Goal: Mastering Three Essentials
- Great tempo
- Creating a whip
- Maximizing power
To simplify these, let me “Aimeefy” it for you, making golf simple, fun and effective. Focus on one thing: setting the club at the top of your backswing.
How To Set The Club
Setting the club means finishing your wrist hinge in the backswing, like supporting a big serving tray. Many amateurs struggle with this. Properly setting the club enables you to create lag in the downswing. Once you experience the correct setting and lag, you’ll realize how much more efficient your swing can be.
Using Training Aids
I recommend using training aids to help you feel the correct movements. These aids provide immediate feedback, ensuring quality practice and preventing the reinforcement of bad habits.
One such aid makes a click sound if you hinge correctly. Common faults include rotating the wrists too early in the takeaway, which disrupts proper body turn and sets the clubhead under the plane. Our goal is to take the club back on a straighter path without excessive wrist rotation at the beginning. You should hear the clicks between the halfway point and the top of the backswing. This indicates a proper hinge and body turn.
Practicing With The Training Aid
Put the training aid on and listen for the clicks. Aim to hear the last clicks toward the end of your backswing. Start hitting balls at 50% speed, focusing on hearing the clicks and feeling the lag. As you get comfortable, gradually increase your speed to 100%. Initially, don’t worry about how you hit your shots; focus on hearing the clicks and feeling the lag. A long pause at the top of your backswing is a good sign.
With practice, you’ll set the club, create lag and compress the ball effectively. This will help you develop an amazing tempo, create a powerful whip and maximize your power, leading to longer and straighter drives.
If you want to try the training aid, visit http://www.pureswingproducts.com/golfwithaimee and use the code AIMEE for $20 off.
Happy swinging!
Aimee Cho, LPGA & Top 25 Instructor
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