Golf Digest South Africa - July/August 2024

IF YOU WANT MORE POWER, YOU NEED MORE WIDTH

To create and store more power for my drives, the feeling I have going back is that while my chest is turning away from

ANTI-HOOK TIP FOR BETTER PLAYERS

swing ( photos, above ). It’s what I call an “anatomical governor.” My arm is at its end range of motion, meaning I can produce a draw with a slightly closed face in relation to my swing path, but my arm won’t rotate any further and produce a nasty hook. It’s my insurance policy. Remember, this is a better- player’s tip . If you tend to slice, you probably want your left arm to rotate more counter-clockwise during the downswing, which would help close the clubface and eliminate your left-to-right curve. Hooks aren’t your problem. In fact, if you learned how to hook the ball, you’re well on your way to eliminating your slice and learning how to draw it.

the target, I’m getting as wide as possible with my arms ( above, left ). I’m trying to throw the club out and away from me while stretching my body towards the sky. The more I stretch my muscles on the backswing, the more I can snap them on the downswing, like releasing a rubber band. A good swing thought: Stretch wide, then snap narrow. When you take the club back, think about rotating into your right side, really feeling pressure all the way up from your right foot to the right hip. At the same time, keep your arms nice and long, even feeling a little stretch at the elbow joints. When you transition to the downswing, the club should feel like it’s dropping and moving in towards your body ( left ). This creates a kind of power called angular momentum. (That’s a little science for ya there.)

I used to be afraid of hitting draws because I didn’t want to overcook one and hook it into the left rough. Watching Jordan Spieth hit his driver, especially when he won all those majors, I noticed he could draw the ball with confidence because he knew how to set his left arm on the club in a way that would prevent a hook. It was really smart. I copied it knowing that while I might hit one 40 yards right of the fairway, I knew I’d never miss one left. What was the adjustment? When I grip the club, I rotate my left arm clockwise towards my body. This pronation makes my left elbow point towards the target. My goal is to keep this left-arm orientation all the way through my

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