Kelly Kleckner:
Create Power to Maximize Distance
By Kelly Kleckner,
Staff Writer
A primary concern for most women I teach is that they would like
to gain extra yards with each of their clubs. To do this you must
use the small muscles in your hands, wrists, and arms together with
the larger muscles of your upper and lower body. All of these must
work together to produce the maximum effect on the ball-sending
it farther and straighter.
To efficiently achieve this effect, you must pay attention to your wrist
hinge, arm swing, and the coil of your body. I will give you some key
pointers that will help you increase power and distance, without spending
extra hours in the gym! These pointers will be helpful getting you started
on the right track as we enter the new golf season.
If we start with the basic set-up, correct hand placement on the club
should allow you to feel the pressure in your fingers-not your palms with
the V's between your index finger and thumbs of each hand pointing in
the general direction of your right shoulder. Then I have my students
grip the club using "normal" grip pressure for them.
To test their grip pressure, I have them hold their club out in front
of them while I pull from the shaft. Most of the time I can't pull the
club from their hands-they're too tight! Keep a pressure on a scale of
1-5(1 being light) at a 3 during you your entire swing; this enables the
wrists and arms to move freely through the swing maximizing power.
After we set the hands and achieve the proper grip pressure, we are now
ready to start the motion of the swing by hinging the wrists and swinging
the arms. Where should your wrists hinge? There's no rule, but hinging
before your wrists are even with your hips can result in an up-and-down
swing that loses distance.
To maximize power you must use wrists, arms and coil (pivot)
to achieve more distance.
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On the other hand, cocking too late can result in "casting" the
club and losing distance as well. Cock your wrists as you turn maintaining
a "3" grip pressure, and extend your arms so that your chin meets
your left shoulder. Let your arms swing down from the top of your swing
by pulling the end of the club down through the ball-we want to swing through
not hit the ball!
This is all wonderful news, but if we forget to coil or pivot we cannot
shift our weight from right to left as we swing and we become "upper
body swingers" losing the incredible power we can generate from our
lower torso.
To generate the hip and leg action we need to make sure our take-away
is as a unit. Make sure you are in an athletic set-up with your arms hanging
comfortably from your shoulders, bend from the hips, knees slightly bent,
make sure your rear is out, and weight is on the balls of your feet.
The left side of your body then pushes the arms with the club back so
that at the top of your swing your left shoulder is over your flexed right
knee and your back is facing your target. Your left heel can come off
the ground, but careful to not push up and off swing center with it. I
like to think of my collarbone as my swing center-everything must coil
around it-not move laterally away from it. The weight at the top of your
swing should feel 70-80% on your right side with the majority felt on
the inside of your right heel.
This is the easy part-we just undo what we just did by pulling the
arms, hips and legs down and through the ball so we end up with a
full turn-hips facing the target, arms high and the weight is now
90% on the left foot with the right toe and knee falling into the
left leg to maximize power!
To maximize power you must use wrists, arms and coil (pivot) to
achieve more distance. The following drill will help you develop
the upper body turn and wrist action: Set-up in the athletic position
stated above. Then use a mid-iron and set-up with your feet together
and a tee in the middle of your stance.
Swing the arms just below the waist(one quarter swing) making sure you
hinge the wrists, and clip the tee out of the ground. Gradually swing
higher and as you do so make sure your hips are turning and at a full
swing your back faces the target. Keep clipping tees until you are consistent,
then go ahead with your feet together and clip three tees and then "clip"
three balls. This drill encourages hip and shoulder turn along with cocking
the wrists and sending the arms in the correct position!
TIP OF THE MONTH
For the following "tricky" situations try my helpful hints:
BALL ABOVE FEET: Make sure you choke down on the club, and widen
your stance. Set-up so the ball is in the middle of your stance.
The ball will fly left, so aim right of your target and finish your
swing!
BALL BELOW FEET: Normal hand position on the grip and widen your stance.
Set-up so the ball is in the center of your stance. Make an up-and-down
arm swing and aim left of your target. Finish your swing!!
KELLY KLECKNER-LPGA CLASS A
I have been a member of the LPGA since 1991, and have taught at
Gleneagle Country Club, Valley Hi Golf Course, Pine Creek Golf Club,
and am currently at Cherokee Ridge Golf Course. I am available all
year for private, and semi-private lessons. I hope through my lessons
students gain the knowledge and skills to improve their games to
the best of their abilities! For information regarding clinics or
lessons with Kelly call 597-2637. |
