Slow down your pace for more powerful and accurate golf shots
A slower tempo can go a long way toward hitting better golf shots, as increasing time helps you hit better shots.
Many players, in an effort to hit the ball hard to hit it too far, actually destroy their chances of hitting it by swinging toward the ball too fast.
The distance you hit the golf ball is the product of several factors.
1. Solid contact, in the center of the clubface at the sweet spot.
2. Squaring the clubface.
3. Clubhead speed.
Powerful and accurate shots require all 3. If any of the above factors are missing or not perfect, less than perfect shots are guaranteed.
When the player slows down the left arm by slowing the pivot, the odds of making square-centered contact between the clubhead and the ball increase exponentially.
Clubhead speed can actually be higher with the slower downswing, as the right arm and hand can probably put more clubhead speed rather than struggling to keep up.
This is a good way to control the tempo of your swing and slow it down to a more manageable speed.
I call it swinging in waltz time, pressing forward and saying (out loud or mentally if you are self-conscious) one.
At the top of the backswing say two, and when you hit the ball say three. Make the counts evenly spaced and slow.
Don’t try to add power with your right hand until your left hand gets close to the ball. The left hand should be almost above the ball before the right arm begins to stretch.
I guarantee that you will quickly feel the difference in the quality and power of your golf shots if you do this.
Take your time, if you don’t hit the ball solid at first, shorten your swing and slow down even more.
Here’s an important point, if you were to use a stopwatch and time the rotation of the left arm from the top of the backswing (where it starts down) to impact, on multiple tour stars you would probably be surprised to find that the time difference between the Longest puncher and shortest puncher is very small.
It is not the speed of the left arm that determines the distance, it is the speed of the clubhead.