Would you like to hit the ball further? Who wouldn’t? Distance comes directly from club head speed and centeredness of impact. Club head speed is measured at impact. You may have a fast swing but not generating speed at the right time. You want the club to be swinging at its fastest point as the club makes contact with the ball. 

Two ways to increase your club head speed is to increase your swing arc and improve your weight shift.

• Swing arc is the arc or circle you make while swinging the club, the larger the arc, the greater the potential for speed and power. Imagine your club head drawing a circle back and through as you make the swing. The bigger you can draw the circle the more power you can create. To increase your swing arc, widen your stance slightly and make a bigger shoulder turn. Work on increasing your shoulder turn to increase your swing arc and increase your distance. The bigger shoulder turn you make, the bigger swing arc you create, the more distance you will get. Some simple swing keys are: Back to Target, Front to Target. As you take the club back, make a full turn with your back facing the target at the top of the backswing and finish with your chest facing the target at your finish position. Left shoulder to chin, Right shoulder to chin. If you complete the backswing turn, your left shoulder will come under and touch your chin. After impact your right shoulder will make contact with your head and move it into the finish position.

•  Improve your weight shift with better beginning balance and a strong push off the right side as you begin the downswing. Start with your weight balanced on the balls of your feet and slightly more weight on the right foot. To begin the downswing, start driving the legs and shift your weight to the left foot. Right foot, left foot is a good swing key to increase your weight shift. Feel the weight transfer to the right foot. Right knee to left knee is another good swing key. Start the downswing with the right knee driving your weight forward to impact and finish touching the left knee.

Centeredness of impact is referring to the clubs contact point with the ball and the club’s squareness to the target. If you hit the ball directly in the middle of the club face with the club traveling down the path of your target, you have made the perfect centeredness of impact. Any variation of this impact, the ball struck off center or the path off the line of the target, will lessen your centeredness of contact and result in less distance. This is why a longer shaft may not necessarily help you to hit the ball further. If you cannot swing the longer club and hit the ball in the middle of the club face, you will not increase distance, you may even lose some. So, keep this in mind when purchasing your next golf club. Buy only the length of club that you are able to swing under control and make contact in the middle of the face the most often with.

For more help with your golf game, contact Mark Oswald at oswaldpga@msn.com.