In normal situations, the aim of a golfer is to always hit the golf ball as straight as possible.

There are times during a game, however, that the golfer may decide that it is more beneficial to go for extra distance and sacrifice some accuracy. Here is a great tip to generate extra power.

Set up to a golf ball in a normal set up position, making sure that the feet, knees, hips and shoulders are all in line, pointing parallel to the left of the target. To produce a little extra power in the swing, change this set up position by then 'closing' the shoulders by approximately 10-15 degrees. Closing the shoulders means that for a right handed golfer the shoulders turn to point to the right of the target and vice versa for the left handed golfer.

This ‘closed’ set up produces more power due to the following points:

1. Encourages a bigger, better turn of the shoulders – The shoulders begin the golf swing already 10-15 degrees turned into the backswing which encourages a bigger turn against the lower body. It also encourages the use of the bigger muscles in the shoulders rather than the use of the smaller muscles of the arms to rotate the body to the top of the backswing. Using such muscles increases the wind up or coil of the body which generates more power.

2. Encourages a swing from the ‘inside'. For a right handed golfer, an 'inside' swing path is when the golf club head passes through the golf ball on a line from left to right rather than straight towards the target. This is termed an 'in to out swing' or swinging from the 'inside'. These directions are all reversed for left handed golfers. An 'inside' swing promotes more speed through the impact area as the club head slingshots around the body in a tight circle into the ball. It also means that the club head travels on a shallow angle through the golf ball meaning that energy is transferred into the ball more efficiently rather than wasted in too much of a downwards or upwards fashion.

A set up change such as this one is incredibly simple to perform yet produces great results. It is a perfect change for someone who wants to add a few extra yards without a big change in technique, or for a golfer who physically cannot turn harder or faster because of flexibility, injury or strength issues. Sometimes simple is best so use this change to hit that golf ball further.