Hit The Golf Ball Further

I subscribe to a magazine called golf digest. You can find it at www.golfdigest.com and in my opinion it is the best golf instruction magazine on the market. If you want to improve your golf I would recommend everyone to have a subscription. A perfect Christmas or birthday present. No, I don't get a commission for recommending it. Here is an article to help you hit the golf ball further than ever before.

I came across a great article from one of the best golf coaches in the world, Jim McLean. I have read several of his books and followed his principles all my golf instruction career. He is a legend. He has performed a huge amount of research on what he has termed "The X Factor". The X is a line drawn across the shoulders and a line drawn across the hips. When the golfer is at the top of their back swing their shoulders may turn 90 degrees and the hips may turn 45 degrees. This forms an X when looking down from above the golfer. What Jim McLean found was that if the shoulders and and hips had a big difference in turn between them then the golfer had a greater X Factor and therefore had the potential to hit the ball further. He also found that golfers who turn their shoulders and hips a similar amount had a poor X Factor and therefore hit the ball a shorter distance.

So if you want to have a better chance of hitting the ball further then you must separate your upper body and lower body turn or in other words you must turn your shoulders more and turn your hips less (be careful with your back if you have back problems). You need to do some flexibility exercises so that you are able to turn your shoulders without turning your hips too far. Unfortunately some people will never be able to do this for various reasons. Bad back, overweight, lack of flexibility in the muscles are just a few reasons that people will not be able to do this.

For those who can increase their range of movement please get some help to improve your body fitness and flexibility because I learned long ago that if your body can't do it, you have no chance of doing it in the golf swing.

Here is a link to watch a video of Jim McLean giving you a great drill to help increase your X Factor and your upper body turn. www.golfdigest.com/instruction/video/mcleanpwrcoil

Have a look to help your golf. Please be careful if you have back problems whilst performing a greater body turn. You perform this drill at your own risk.

Thank you to Mr Jim McLean for providing us with a simple video via Golf Digest showing us how to have a greater X Factor and body coil.

Cheers
Maurice