Golf Swing Speed
Hitting The Ball Further

When most club golfers try to hit long drives you see them using their arm muscles to try to 'power' the ball up the fairway.

Believe me, that's the exactly the wrong thing to do. The more you use your large arm muscles the worse results you'll get: more heave, less speed.

So, this is not about how quick your arms move.

I'm talking about the speed with which your clubhead hits the ball. Slow gives you short distance shots. A fast clubhead gives you greater distance. It's as simple as that.

But how do you achieve greater golf swing speed? How do you get high clubhead velocity?

Well, your car might have five but you have two gears at your disposal. You need to use them both:

• First gear is your body turn. Your spine is like the hub of a wheel. So you'll achieve some golf swing speed merely by turning your body one way in the backswing and then the other way towards impact and follow through.

• Second gear (and this is what most golfers miss) is wrist hinge. The great Henry Cotton used to talk about correct 'hand action'.

Of course, there's no point smashing the ball out of bounds into a lake. You also need to be on target. That's why you also need the third component of the Correct Golf Swing which controls the direction of your shot.