how to get more distance?

Originally Posted by Neil18

Hi Samson72,

To support the above comments by jbrunk, I think this is what he is referring to:

http://www.newgolfswing.com/newgolfswing05.php

Might help you with jbrunks advice. It's a good one!

Superb original post by the way. That's the sort of info and pictures we need to be able to talk accurately about your swing.

Firstly, you have a lot of good things going on in your swing, and I dare say you can hit a fair ball and play well (short game depending!).

However, for more consistency and more power, might I suggest the following:

Firstly, to compliment the above article about the backward wrist break, study this on how to grip it to get the most from a backward wrist break:

http://www.newgolfswing.com/newgolfswing04.php

You'll find that with this grip and wrist break that there will be a natural tendency to bend your right elbow earlier in the backswing. This is good! At the moment your right elbow stays straight for too long in the backswing, contributing to your long swing as well as a very late wrist cock, which makes your backswing longer still. There's two ways round it. Learn to change your backswing tempo to stop your arms shorter, or cock your wrists earlier. If you can build up some torque in the early stages of your swing, you'll find you practically cannot swing it long without collapsing your legs or subconciously relaxing out of the tension.

Get your right very upper arm connected to your upper right pec early. I bold these because you only want one connection point, rather than the whole upper right arm stuck to your side all through the swing.

The new grip described above will also sort out what looks to be a very open clubface at the top. It's toe is hanging down almost vertical, when really the leading edge of the clubface should be roughly parallel (even slightly shut of) the flat left wrist. You can even see the clubface is slightly open at address.

Consequently, your brain knows about your open clubface due to the way you've gripped the club, and all you can do to square the face to the path is lose the lag early. Square it with the swing path you have and you have a pull, leave it open and you have a slice. Square the clubface with the grip at address and it goes a long way to aleviating all sorts of faults.

I would say, however, you do a sterling job of keeping behind/over the ball despite your open clubface and "early hit". The tendency with your type of action as it is, is for people to get their head too over/infront of the ball, causing even more flipping at the bottom to square the clubface. Not so with you, so:

The only other thing I'd look at for the time being is your mental picture of what you're trying to achieve.

Your comparison photo with Tiger is a good one. In it you can see how he has plenty of spine tilt away from the target in the downswing, but also notice that his shoulders are quite a bit more closed to the target and facing his hands whereas yours are square to open. You're basically stalling your turn to allow the hands to catch up. The earlier you turn your shoulders to the target, the earlier the lag disappears. It's an unstoppable chain-reaction due to how we're connected up in our bodies.

It will feel wierd to begin with, but try (it's hard!) to get away from the tendancy of turning your right shoulder out toward the ball early. Try the thought of keeping your sternum facing your hands during the downswing. Swing your hands down to the ball. Take your time (although I say this, you have what looks to be a very nice rhythm, but when your start keeping your right shoulder back you may have a desire to give it some "oomph"!).

This thought helps me keep my turn synched with my hands, then you can release fully from the shoulders rather than the hands and wrists. A point that will help you with this is getting your right elbow close into your right side (just infront of your rib cage) early in the downswing at the same time you shift your hips - and only your hips - left at the start of the downswing to get your centre of gravity and weight across.

Your elbows will then be closer together through impact and you can hit the ball from the inside with a slowly turning clubface, rather than from the outside with a quickly turning clubface.

In summary:

• I like your posture and rhythm. Plenty of room to move. You've picked up some good points on your own swing. Always a bonus.
• Study the grip and backward wrist break text.
• Compact the backswing with the wrist break, grip and earlier right arm bend.
• Right elbow in and hips left on the start of the downswing.
• Stay facing your hands on the downswing. You'll feel like you keep your back to the target longer. Wierd, but trust it!

Not a massive amount to do (it's all geared toward achieving the same thing), despite the long descriptions, but everyone on here knows I like to make sure I say what I mean, and that you understand what I say! You can either try the stuff out or dump it! Plus, I love talking to people about their golf swings! I'm on medication for it.

Please let me know if something isn't clear!

Originally Posted by Neil18

Only other thing to do is lift weights and improve flexibility so that the same technique and rhythm produces more power from your muscles.

Originally Posted by Neil18

I would suggest that if you have truly gained 50 yards, then what more would you like (unless you were only hitting your driver 100 yards to start with!)?