Losing Distance – Check Your Turn

Every so often during my golf career, I would suffer a mysterious loss of distance. Reflecting on my early development as a golfer, I suffered with a quick, snatchy backswing. This was a swing tempo killer. In addressing this over the years, my tempo improved dramatically resulting in a nice smooth, effortlessly-looking golf swing. As with any fix, you have to be vigilant that with any adjustment, however, you don’t overdo things.

Invariably, when I would consult an golf instructor, they would all inform me that I had gotten lazy. I was going through the motions of turning, but really I was only making an arm swing. For distance, you need to continue with a good body turn in addition to swinging your arms.

I could demonstrate to you that it looked like I was making a good turn simply because my left shoulder had rotated. Actually, my left shoulder was just collapsing against my chest. In my case, I was overdoing the “swing easy” concept and had forgotten to make a full turn. It had nothing to do with tempo.

Here are a couple of ways you can check to see if you’re making a proper body turn. First, (right-handers) key into the movement of your right shoulder and forget about your left one. If your right shoulder rotates, then you have truly made a turn on the ball. (When I was losing distance, my right shoulder was not really moving away from the ball, and the shoulders were simply coming closer to one another.) You can cheat your turn if you focus upon rotating your left shoulder, but if you turn your right shoulder, your body will indeed move and create powerful torque.

Secondly, try holding the top of your backswing position. If you can do this effortlessly, you probably haven’t made a sufficient turn for you want to create that torque. The proper backswing/body turn is akin the twisting a spring (backswing) to a point of tension that will snap back (toward and through the hitting area). As we age, this may become a little more difficult to make the turn you once did, but by focusing on creating this torque, you will still maximize your body and power.

If you are hitting the ball solidly, but losing distance, check out the quality and intensity of your backswing turn. This is a quick fix that actually works, but better yet, consult a qualified golf instructor.