Golf Article

In the boxing world, the fighter who can connect his rights has a good shot of knocking out his opponent. In golf, the same holds true, but instead of crosses and uppercuts, you need to connect your right hip and shoulder, a move that augments your balance, puts greater power into your swing and otherwise facilitates a pure, on-plane motion.

On the backswing, it’s imperative that you turn your shoulders, but against a stable lower body. In the vernacular of golf instruction, teachers like to use the phrase “turn your shoulders twice as much as your hips.” This is a solid philosophy that generates tons of coil, i.e., potential energy that can be unleashed into the back of the golf ball.

One of the first lessons most golfers learn is to “keep your eye on the ball.” I’m here to offer a better suggestion: Move your eyes behind the ball.

Heresy, you say? I don’t think so. That’s because when a golfer makes his or her backswing with a full turn of the shoulders and a proper shift of weight, the center of his or her chest, or sternum, will be well behind the ball. (Exactly how far behind the ball depends on an individual’s suppleness and flexibility.)

If a golfer moves to his or her right side during the backswing, yet keeps the eyes locked on the golf ball, there’s a good chance he or she will change his or her spine angle or fall into a reverse pivot, either of which is a huge power leak. That’s because the eyes automatically tell the golfer whether he or she has formed a bad relationship with the ball and he or she will have to “reach” or “stretch” to get back to it.