We’ve compiled Golf Digest’s top pointers for ladies trying to prove their power on the green.
1. Swing around your body. When you’re taking your practice swings on the tee, swing the clubhead several inches off the ground. This encourages you to swing more around your body (rather than up and down), which will help increase your clubhead speed and add distance. –Sandy LaBauve, one of Golf Digest’s 50 Best Women Teachers in America
2. Give yourself room to rip it. Set up with a wide stance, ball forward, weight on your right side and a tilt in your shoulders (your head should be to the right of your pants zipper). Then hold the driver far enough away from your body to allow for a big, powerful swing. –Gale Petersen, one of Golf Digest’s 50 Best Women Teachers in America
3. Resist with the hips. A major source of power is the winding of the upper body against the resistance of the lower body. The more you turn your shoulders relative to your hips, the more momentum you create for the downswing. The hips unwind naturally and the shoulders follow, generating power through the hitting area, like a slingshot. –Julieta Granada, LPGA Tour player
4. Swing through, not to, the ball. Most slow-swinging amateurs slap at the ball or try to scoop it up into the air, which causes the clubhead to slow down through impact. There’s no gradual buildup of speed, which is a defining trait of good tempo. To learn how to accelerate the club through impact to a full, balanced finish, practice swinging with your headcover on your driver. –Karen Palacios-Jansen, one of Golf Digest’s 50 Best Women Teachers in America
5. Shift your weight. To gain more distance, make sure to rotate your body’s core, or midsection, through the shot, so your weight finishes on your left side. You want your thighs to finish close together–you should be able to hold a sheet of paper between them–and your lower legs to form a small, inverted V from the knees down. –Cheryl Anderson, one of Golf Digest’s 50 Best Women Teachers in America
6. Learn to sweep it. To get the most distance and accuracy out of your tee shot, you need to sweep the ball off the tee rather than hit down on it. Learn what this feels like by teeing up the ball a few inches in front of your usual ball position, and practice hitting drives. Your arms will extend through impact and the club will catch the ball on the upswing rather than the downswing, sending it farther and straighter. –Debbie Doniger, former Golf Digest Top 20 under 40 teacher
*All golf tips courtesy of GolfDigest.com.