I was recently at the range practicing and began talking with a few people about what we felt was the key to hitting the golf ball as far as possible. We all took our turn explaining what we though and why we felt our key was critical to hitting the ball far.

Some of the people had very elaborate answers/explanations. My answer to the group was very simple. So simple that they all looked at me completely baffled. I told them, in my opinion, the key to hitting the furthest golf drives possible was…..

WAITING!

Naturally, they all asked me what I meant by waiting. What I meant was making sure you took the time on the backswing to hit the proper positions that will help you develop the energy you will use to power the club on the downswing and then waiting until late in the swing to release that energy into the ball.

Most amateurs are in such a rush to hit the ball that they never give their body a chance to get into the positions that will allow them to fully utilize their body’s natural levels and deliver maximum power through the impact zone.

Waiting = Power

The video below is an excellent slow motion illustration of how you should develop, store and transfer power to the ball. Look for three excellent, proven power moves in the video.

1. Very significant shoulder turn with minimal hip turn.
2. Hips start to turn on the downswing while the shoulders stay in the same position.
3. Significant wrist angle is maintained until very late in the downswing (commonly called “lag”).

This video also has some remarkable moment of impact footage. As a note, in order to watch this video you must have Macromedia Flash installed on your computer. If you do not have it you can download it here. If your e-mail is blocking the video below you can also view it here.

The three factors mentioned above, especially factor 3, ensure that incredible power is developed and delivered to the ball.

Downswing Lag Drill

If you really want to hit your drives farther it is critical that you store your energy as deep into the downswing as possible. Here is a simple drill to help you create more lag and power.

Grab a mid-iron and an extra range bucket. Place the bucket on your target line so that your club will brush it on your backswing (put some range balls in the bucket to keep it from moving).

The idea is to touch the bucket on your backswing, and miss it on the downswing. To do this, you must create lag in your downswing. If you cast the club, like so many amateurs do, you will hit the range bucket on the downswing.

Hit many balls using this drill, and try to ingrain the feeling of maintaining your wrist angle deep into the downswing. You will see a great improvement in how far you can hit the ball and will do so with far less effort.

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