Michael Henning Golf Academy and ProShop
Being gullible golfers, we all clamour to try the latest Golf Club and Ball Technology whose manufacturers promise us greater distance. As a retailer, you would not expect me to deny that modern clubs help, but the fact that they are easier to use with larger heads and increased sweet spots, ensures more consistent strikes even from the most unorthodox of swings, therefore creating more distance. The correct technique is if course far more important and although there are people who naturally hit the ball further, just as some can run faster than others, I firmly believe that most pupils we encounter do not achieve the power they could because of incorrect swing moves or wasted energy. The faster the club head is travelling at impact, providing it is attacking the ball from the correct angle, with the face square, the greater distance you will achieve as long as the body is in balance and not fighting the club head. In my experience most golfers place far too much emphasis on exaggerated body movements rather than increasing speed more easily with levers and angles. I am not saying that the body does not play an important role in the golf swing. It should act as a hub around which the club is swung and the correct coiling rotation of the hips and shoulders on the backswing necessitate an unleashing counter movement through impact with weight transference but real speed is delivered by the natural hinging and unhinging of the wrists. Many people overpower this source of speed with excessive body movements which then feels laboured and difficult. I spend a great deal of time proving to my clients, using our video library, that top players movements are usually benign, balanced and simplistic and I have never met a good player who consciously tries to turn. The rotation should be a natural response to the thought and actual process of swinging the club backwards and forwards. If a pupil does not move correctly we will obviously address the problem and show them how to but that scenario is rare. The absolute difference between most tour players and amateurs is the amount of lag (late hit) that professionals generate. Many amateurs dissipate their power by releasing or casting the club too early on the downswing.
The pictures demonstrate Mark with his simple but powerful swing which because of its late release coupled with balance and fluidity creates enormous torque and leverage.
Haywards Heath Golf Club High Beech Lane, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1SL
Tel: 01444 414866 Fax: 01444 414450