GROWING UP, I WAS OBSESSED WITH BEN HOGAN. I still have a photo of him swinging a club on the wall in my house. He was the ball-striker I wanted to be. I even copied his grip so that I could hit a fade just like him. Yet, after a few too many disappointing finishes in majors, I realised there’s only one Ben Hogan. I needed to make some changes. Specifically, I wanted more distance, and one of the quickest ways to pick up yards off the tee is to switch from a fade to a draw. The way draws are created, they tend to roll more than fades because they come off the club with less backspin. They tumble instead of checking up. Knowing that, I got to work on developing a powerful draw swing. The results have been remarkable. I swing my driver 129 miles per hour (208kph) now, that’s 12 mph faster than when I first turned pro, and my average driving distance at the PGA Championship in May was 330.5 yards. I’m even more excited now that I’m working on building a new driver to perfectly match my new swing. Back to hitting power draws, I gotta say, it’s an awesome feeling when you smoke one. If you want to learn how I do it, I can show you. I’ve helped a bunch of golfers on my YouTube channel with tips to make the game easier – and more fun! Consider this article some of my greatest hits. Before we get into it, I do have to warn you: If you’re new to golf and/or predominantly hit slices and pulls, don’t be surprised if some of my technique is tough to copy. It might even make your slice worse for a while until you get enough reps in to really feel what your body, arms and club need to do to produce a draw. I’ll try to speed up the process but remember to be patient. If your goal is to pick up 10, 20, even 30 extra metres on your drives, my power draw is worth the wait. – WITH LUKE KERR-DINEEN
GET SET TO DRAW IT
I had a lot of fun giving celebrity golfer Paige Spiranac a YouTube lesson. We talked a lot about the importance of getting the simple stuff right, like the setup. It’s easy
to do but often neglected. One thing I see, especially with slicers, is that they set up with their hips or shoulders open (aligned left of the target for a right-handed golfer). It’s almost like they’re setting up to slice it on purpose . If anything, they should have their shoulders and hips aligned right of the fairway. That would promote the in-to-out swing path you need to draw the ball (I’ll talk more about that later). Just as important as alignment in relation to the target is to make sure everything is matched up ( right ). You can check this by laying the shaft of your driver across your shoulders, hips, feet, etc. ( above ). If one body part isn’t touching the shaft and its alignment is more open or closed than the others, good luck trying to produce a consistent shot shape. Also, pay attention to ball position. Play the ball forward in your stance so the club has enough time to close in relation to your swing path (I’ll also explain this later). When you play the ball in the middle of your stance with a driver, you’re putting yourself in position to slice it before you even take the club back. Use your setup to set you up for success.
40 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JULY/AUGUST 2024
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