Create More Speed And Straighter Shots, Tour Sticks Drill (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles
Create More Speed And Straighter Shots, Tour Sticks Drill (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles

In terms of trying to generate a lot of power into the golf shot and hit the ball as far as we can, you should be aware now about how you turn your upper body and you generate power by turning the big muscles to hit the ball a long way. But there’s one fact that a lot of people miss out on to generate power and that’s what their hands are doing through impact and particularly their grip pressure. For most golfers, they assume and they assume incorrectly, that holding the golf club tighter produces longer shots. They actually strangle their driver far more than any of the club, they grip hold of it as tight as they can, they swing back with sort of blithe knuckles and gritted teeth and then it goes 150 yards. And then you see a little 14 year old whipper snap, the kids step up to it, swing it nice and smooth and outdrive you and you think how is the world so unfair. But the whipper snapper 14 year old, he’s using his technique efficiently and particularly releasing their hands in a relaxed fashion and is generating a lot of power.

If you’re gripping the club too tightly and smashing at it, you’re not hitting the ball as hard as you could or as far as you could because your hands aren’t releasing. So using my tour stick just to help you feel and understand how you should release your hands. So because it’s a very light weight stick and it got no real grip on it, actually you feel that you can hold that quite nice and relaxed; you don’t need to strangle it, it’s not got a big handle and a heavy head, it’s a nice and relaxed in my hands, it just feels nice just moving it backwards and forwards. And now start to build up a bit of length in my swing and you can start to hear the swoosh and you start to feel the swoosh getting louder and yes I’m swinging that quick with my body and quick with my hands, but there’s still no tension. I can still feel the club is nice and loose in my hands as I swing it through.

So I want you to get that swoosh to be as loud as possible, as fast as possible particularly noticing where the swoosh is happening. We don’t want too much swoosh in the early stages of the down swing. Smashing it down here as fast as you can won’t give you a lot of power, we want to deliver the power in the bottom half of the swig and actually from the ball pass the golf ball a little bit is a great way feeling the swoosh and hearing the swoosh happening faster at the end of your swing to generate maximum power. So as I set up again, I make my nice little back swing and I hear the swoosh and it happens late in the swing, it’s not happening there I’m not hitting there it’s late on and I’m still keeping everything nice and relaxed.

Now you take one of the swing sticks out in the garden and have 20 swings, 30 swings of an evening, you’ll feel where you’re generating the power. You then take it on to the practice range, have a few drives, then a few swing sticks goes, feel where the power is coming from in your swing. Keep it relaxed, keep it powerful; use that as a good warming up exercise in the golf course and I’m sure you’ll see a little bit of extra yardage with actually less effort.

 2013-06-28

In terms of trying to generate a lot of power into the golf shot and hit the ball as far as we can, you should be aware now about how you turn your upper body and you generate power by turning the big muscles to hit the ball a long way. But there’s one fact that a lot of people miss out on to generate power and that’s what their hands are doing through impact and particularly their grip pressure. For most golfers, they assume and they assume incorrectly, that holding the golf club tighter produces longer shots. They actually strangle their driver far more than any of the club, they grip hold of it as tight as they can, they swing back with sort of blithe knuckles and gritted teeth and then it goes 150 yards. And then you see a little 14 year old whipper snap, the kids step up to it, swing it nice and smooth and outdrive you and you think how is the world so unfair. But the whipper snapper 14 year old, he’s using his technique efficiently and particularly releasing their hands in a relaxed fashion and is generating a lot of power.

If you’re gripping the club too tightly and smashing at it, you’re not hitting the ball as hard as you could or as far as you could because your hands aren’t releasing. So using my tour stick just to help you feel and understand how you should release your hands. So because it’s a very light weight stick and it got no real grip on it, actually you feel that you can hold that quite nice and relaxed; you don’t need to strangle it, it’s not got a big handle and a heavy head, it’s a nice and relaxed in my hands, it just feels nice just moving it backwards and forwards. And now start to build up a bit of length in my swing and you can start to hear the swoosh and you start to feel the swoosh getting louder and yes I’m swinging that quick with my body and quick with my hands, but there’s still no tension. I can still feel the club is nice and loose in my hands as I swing it through.

So I want you to get that swoosh to be as loud as possible, as fast as possible particularly noticing where the swoosh is happening. We don’t want too much swoosh in the early stages of the down swing. Smashing it down here as fast as you can won’t give you a lot of power, we want to deliver the power in the bottom half of the swig and actually from the ball pass the golf ball a little bit is a great way feeling the swoosh and hearing the swoosh happening faster at the end of your swing to generate maximum power. So as I set up again, I make my nice little back swing and I hear the swoosh and it happens late in the swing, it’s not happening there I’m not hitting there it’s late on and I’m still keeping everything nice and relaxed.

Now you take one of the swing sticks out in the garden and have 20 swings, 30 swings of an evening, you’ll feel where you’re generating the power. You then take it on to the practice range, have a few drives, then a few swing sticks goes, feel where the power is coming from in your swing. Keep it relaxed, keep it powerful; use that as a good warming up exercise in the golf course and I’m sure you’ll see a little bit of extra yardage with actually less effort.