If you’ve ever taken a golf lesson or gone down the rabbit hole of online swing videos, you’ve probably heard about the importance of ranking. or swing in good time generates more speed and power than one that is out of sync.
However, there’s a critical link in the chain that many hobbyists forget about – mostly because they don’t even realize it’s part of their sequence in the first place.
Mike Perpich, a GOLF Top 100 Teachersexplains that if you want to hit longer and straighter drives, you need to learn how to measure your head on the move. Not your club leader. Your nature.
Sort header for more speed
Now, you may be wondering, “what does my head have to do with my golf swing?”
As Perpich explains, the head plays a vital role in the swing because it helps counterbalance your lower body in the transition and downswing. This creates a slingshot effect that increases clubhead speed.
It works like this: as you go downhill, you change direction. To do this, you need to push your trail leg. As a result, the pressure is shifted forward. This starts your drop sequence. But, as Perpich explains, it also causes your strength to move from back to front. As your club and lower body move forward, your upper body actually has to briefly resist and work in the opposite direction.
“You can’t have the top and the bottom going in the same direction,” says Perpich. “Your head will feel like it’s going backwards. That’s what helps speed up the clubhead.”
This brief moment of separation is what causes the “cocoon” effect that elite players use to maximize speed.
Time to increase accuracy
Poor head sequence may be draining your power. It could also be the cause of your errant driver shots. In a swing where the head goes forward at the same time as their lower body, Perpich says, the swing path will likely travel too far — or over the top — and you’ll have to compensate to hit the ball.
“When the head moves with the torso, you’re hitting with the driver,” he says, “So you’re not going to get a hit on the center, and you’re also not going to get a hit on the upswing.”
Remember: point backwards for longer straighter drives
If you’re trying to incorporate this into your swing, Perpich says to think of the top of your head going back as you change direction and start transitioning into your downswing.
“It’s like a whip, a slingshot,” he says, “You have to have the bottom half going forward, but the top half going backwards.”
Do this, and you’ll hit longer, straighter drives.
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