Most amateurs know they have to use their body to create more clubhead speed. They just dont know how. The following drill helps train the body to move correctly and in the proper sequence, efficiently storing and then transferring energy from your body to your arms and, ultimately, to the ball for maximum speed and distance.
Grab an alignment stick or club out of your bag and place it perpendicular to your target line, off the inside your lead heel. Next, take your driver and hold it across your chest, with the butt end of the club pointing toward the target. Mimic a full turn to the top of your backswing, getting your chest to turn behind the alignment stick until its over your trail leg (photo, above). In this loaded position, there should be a fair amount of separation or rotational tension between your upper body and lower body.
JD Cuban
JD Cuban
If theres one part of this exercise you should focus on most, its what occurs next. As you start your downswing motion, push your lead hip forward, toward the target, while keeping the butt end of the club pointing toward your trail foot (above, left). This forces your chest and shoulders to stay back, creating even more separation between the upper and lower halves. Finally, as soon as the lead hip returns to the space where it started at address, turn that hip out of the way and fire your chest and torso through (above, right).
To review, the sequence of motion is: (1) load into your trail side, (2) shift forward and create more separation between your hips and shoulders, then (3) release your chest through. Practice these three movements regularly, and youll be hitting bombs past your buddies.
Todd Anderson, one of Golf Digests Legends of Golf Instruction, is director of instruction at the PGA Tour Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.