The key to hitting the ball farther is more than just swinging hard and hoping the ball finds the fairway. There’s a science to it, and a lot of things have to come together.
The biggest thing, according to GOLF Top 100 Teacher Jason Baile, is rotating. Or, more importantly, rotating the correct way.
“Are you rotating in posture? Are you in good posture to start with, and then can you rotate from that posture?” asks Baile, the director of instruction at Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, Fla., who was at last week’s GOLF Top 100 Teachers Summit at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Ariz. “Most amateurs are turning too much, and they always think if they aren’t hitting it far enough they aren’t turning enough. So they turn so much they get themselves out of posture.”
And it’s not just turning hips or shoulders, Baile says. But both.
“Usually they are turning their torso way too much in the golf swing, which flattens their shoulder plane and gives poor club delivery,” Baile says.
A drill to work on rotation
Baile says to work on rotating properly, take your left shoulder and work it toward your right pants pocket as you bring a club back.
“When that happens, the shoulders stay on plane, the lower body loads to the ground a lot better, and the arms can move from the inside,” he says.
