Davis Love III, during the 1990’s was one of the top 10 driving distance leaders on the PGA Tour. His tall and lean physique gave him a great advantage over most average men. The great thing about Davis Love III is that he used solid fundamentals and his ability to create a wide arc to produce his envious power.
Love III won the 1997 PGA Championship and owns over 20 PGA Tour wins. Though he’s now in his 50’s and his long career is winding down, he still swings the same today as he did 20 years ago. His golf swing remains effortless and if you’ve had the chance to see him play in person, the pace of his game is worth emulating in every manner.
To achieve a wide arc like Davis Love III just follow some of the tips below.
Tip #1 Take Away Along The Railway Tracks
We’ve seen the image a million times. The one where railway tracks are used to describe the relationship between target line (where the ball lies) and feet alignment. That image can now be helpful to you in attaining a wide swing arc.
If you have alignment sticks you can certainly re-create the look of the railway tracks by simply putting a stick down along your feet and one just above the golf ball on the target line. If you do not have alignment sticks you can simply use two golf clubs. The idea of this drill is take two or three slow practice swings moving the club away from the target and keeping the club face perpendicular to the top alignment stick. Ideally the V created by your arms should not break down in the first quarter of the golf swing. The width created in the takeaway is imperative to maintaining a wide arc throughout the swing. After a couple slow practice swings emphasizing the takeaway along the railway track you may progress to hitting a few balls before returning back to practicing the takeaway.
Tip #2 Low and Slow – Push The Ball
Almost any golfer in history whose golf swing was wide had a very consistent trait of a low and slow takeaway. In Tip #1 we talked about the taking the club away straight back along the target line. Now we need to ensure the takeaway remains low and begins with a nice tempo.
To have a nice wide takeaway in your golf swing, it needs to happen smooth and in one piece. A great drill for this is simply to place a golf ball directly behind your club at address and proceed to slowly push the ball back along the target line. If you see the ball move inside the target line, it means your takeaway was too far on the inside. This will result in the narrowing of the golf swing and a loss of width. The idea is to have the ball move straight back along the target line. It’s recommended that you try this drill two or three times before you do it and hit a golf ball. When done correctly, this drill will give you a great feeling of a smooth yet wide one piece takeaway.
The lead arm in golf refers to the left arm in right handed golfers and the right arm in left handed golfers. Often we see a broken down lead arm, which signifies a narrow swing. One of the major technical aspects to swinging the club with an ultra-wide swing arc is to have a straight lead arm from address to the top of the swing. This straight arm ensures that the same width is achieved throughout the backswing. If there’s a bending of this lead arm, it means the swing has become narrow and will need a compensating move and extreme timing for solid contact.
To help establish a straight lead arm, the first thing to accomplish is to create a straight line relationship at your set up between the shaft of the club and your lead arm. This is very easy to check by using a mirror or having a friend check during practice. Next, when you start your swing make sure the takeaway is initiated by the arms and not your hands. If the lead arm can remain solid, this will also alleviate the tendency to cast your club on the downswing.
Finally, if we don’t have the height of Davis Love III, we can certainly try and emulate his set up position. Davis stands very upright with a tall posture. If you’re the type of player that swings a little flat or around your body, try standing slightly closer to the ball with a taller posture. Next, as you get to the top of your swing, try and reach to the sky and create more space between your hands and shoulder. Lastly, we want to make sure our ball position is moved up slightly to allow for the wider swing and eventual change in timing.
