By Ty Love
Lincoln Golf Club
Hello Golfers. Spring has finally arrived and our winter bodies are ready to tee it up … or maybe not.
So I thought this would be a good time to break out my “How to Loosen Up Your Body” tips.
Whether you have an hour or just 15 minutes, be sure to make time to prepare your body to shoot a good round.
Step 1: Walk briskly to the driving range to get your blood pumping, then warm up. Hold two clubs together and swing them in circles, doing 10 reps with each arm. This prepares your shoulders for the demands of the golf swing.
Step 2: Rest the clubs on the ground and hold them vertically, securing your hands on top of the grips. Keep your hands there and do 10 squats to warm up your knees, calves and hips.
Step 3: Hit your short irons for a solid 10 minutes. Start with slow, three-quarter length swings and gradually build to full swings. After 10 minutes or so of hitting balls you can stretch your arm, leg and core muscles however you like without risking a visit to the chiropractor the next day.
Even if you don’t hit another ball after this last step, your body will be primed to hit a good drive on the first tee and sustain good performance throughout the round.
Hitting longer drives
Now that you are loosened up, let’s transfer some energy into our drives.
When addressing the ball, picture a nail sticking out of the back of the ball. As you swing down, try to drive the nail through the core. You’ll accelerate through the ball, instead of to it, which generates extra club head speed and a greater smash factor. Focusing on a small target like the head of a nail can also help you deliver the club’s sweet spot to the back of the ball.
Good Luck!
Why you should get golf instruction
The great Ben Hogan explained it best. In his opinion, average golfers underrate themselves. They have all the physical equipment they need to execute the full golf swing and hit full shots.
A full swing is nothing, more or less, than an extension of the short swing. Like everything else, it takes some learning, but learning the correct movements is ten times less difficult than you think. In fact, once you are on the right track in golf, doing things the right way takes a lot less effort than it does to do them the wrong way.
I know thousands of golfers are satisfied with playing the game for exercise and companionship. This is wonderful, but every golfer, at the bottom of their heart, wants to play the game relatively well.
To do that takes some application, some thought, and some effort. The golfer who goes about this wisely will play better golf and will continue to enjoy their golf, increasingly, for the rest of their life.
The greatest pleasure is obtaining by improving!
-Ty Love is an 18-year member of the PGA, and is the PGA Golf Professional at Lincoln Golf Club in Muskegon, MI. He is available for individual or group instruction. You may contact him at [email protected] or (231) 766-3636.
