How to hit longer drives without swinging harder

Every amateur golfer has had that moment when they have stood on a tee box short par-4 with an open fairway and thought to themselves, Bombs away!

But this free approach can result in rushing the right ranking, trying for it generate as much club speed as possible as much as possible, throwing off the pace and mishandling the ball.

Unlike pros and handicappers, most average players simply don’t have the ability to add speed to the call while maintaining proper tempo – which is why you probably find yourself swinging, hooking, or cutting drives. your when you I DO try pressing the internal “Turbo” button.

But something funny happened to me while playing over the past six months: I focused on developing a consistent swing rhythm and not just trying to swing as hard as I could. The result? Beautiful drives, with the ball coming off my club face in the middle of the fairway – more distance than I’ve ever had.

So what gives? How could swinging smoother instead of harder give better results? I eavesdropped GOLF Top 100 Teachers Tim Cooke to help explain.

Why improving your tempo will lead to longer shots

“With the help of research by John Novosel at tour tempo, we know that the vast majority of pros move at a 3:1 rate,” Cooke says, meaning their back-up takes roughly three times as long as their down-change. “Often, the time it takes them to go from the start of their swing to impact is about a second, with the backswing representing three-quarters of a second and the downswing just one-quarter of a second.

“Some players are faster, while others are a little slower, but most maintain a 3:1 ratio.”

And when do golfers deviate from this tempo? Of course, Cooke says, they will generally produce less swing speed.

“When a backswing takes much longer than a 3:1 ratio, less force is put on the club on the way back. Therefore, there is less potential downward speed,” he says. “A slower recoil time results in less force over time, so less momentum is created for speed.”

But if you’re the type of golfer who speeds up his backswing and doesn’t stay on tempo, you’re also costing yourself the opportunity for more speed, Cooke says.

“In contrast, when the backswing is too fast compared to the downswing (for example, 2.5:1), the backswing ends up being short, so the handle doesn’t travel very far,” says Cooke. “A shorter backswing means it’s difficult to put much force into the club on the downswing, which again results in reduced clubhead speed.”

There is one the number of different ways to help improve your movement pace – like using a water bottle — so try a few different workouts to determine which one works best for you to achieve a 3:1 ratio. This will lead to improved distance and distribution.

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Nick Dimengo

Editor of Golf.com