Get More Distance

Video Transcript

You know you‘ll hear a lot of people talk about the turn in the golf swing. Why is it important? Well it’s important because we need distance. You know I can teach you how to hit a golf ball consistently just by swinging your arms, you’ll make contact every time but you won’t hit it far enough. If you don’t hit it far enough it takes you too many shots to get to the green. So let’s learn how to use your body and your shot to get the distance you deserve. The best way for me to teach you how to do this is put a club behind my back. Drop it down here onto your shoulder blades, you can do this right along with me. If you get set in this nice, athletic posture and you practice winding up, you just turn your torso going back. Now notice when I’m turning my torso, what I’m really thinking about is kind of turning my shirt. My hips, you know they may be turning a little bit based on my flexibility, but I’m in no way trying to turn my hips. I’m trying to turn my torso, now the through-swing is a different story. Now I’m kind of letting my lower body kind of lead the swing and I want to feel if I move into the shot a little bit. This helps me shift my weight and when I shift my weight, I get more distance. So I’m going to feel like my lower body moves into the shot and then I turn on through. See how that finish looks? Wind up, move into it. Now let’s look at this from this angle. I want you to notice how much I keep my spine angled. What I’m saying about that is this, you can see I have a little bend from my hips, it’s important that when I swing and I turn that I keep my spine angle. I turn going back and then I move into it. You didn’t see me lifting and lowering, and this is a common fault when you start out playing golf. A feeling of going up and up or up, down, up, it’s not as effective and you won’t hit it as far. So practice your pivot in front of a mirror. When you do this, wind up your torso and let your lower body lead so your weight shifts. Move into the shot, practice this little move right here, moving into the shot and then turn on through. You’ll get a lot of distance and golf will be a lot more fun for you.

Sandy LaBauve
Kierland Golf Club
15636 N. Clubgate Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Tel: 480-922-9283

Sandy LaBauve is one of the world's best beginner, junior and women's instructors. She is listed as one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers and is Founder and Creative Consultant for the LPGA Junior Girls Golf Club.

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