BETTER BY SATURDAY
Want More Distance? You Need More Runway Don’t swing harder, swing longer BY DAN CARRAHER
ENERGY BOOST Take your time going back, and you’ll load up a lot more.
THE KEY TO LONGER drives, besides making solid contact, is swinging the club-
head faster. That doesn’t mean you have to swing harder. The smoother and more deliberate you are on the backswing, the further you’ll swing the club back. This not only gives you ad- ditional time to square the clubface for impact, it also shifts your downswing path more to the right – from the inside – where you’re able to generate more clubhead speed and even hit a draw. Here’s a simple thing you can do to give your drives a power boost. Make a couple of swings feeling as if your back- swing isn’t necessarily slower but more drawn out – like you’re giving yourself a longer runway (right). However long it takes you to normally complete your backswing, try to double it. You still want your arms and club moving in one continuous motion and your body turning in tandem. The difference is that you want to gradually build speed, not jerk the club back and then rush it down to the ball. When you step up to hit your actual tee shot, try to replicate that feeling of a drawn-out backswing. Note how the more deliberate you are going back, the faster the clubhead travels through the ball. That’s effortless power. Tap into this feeling, and I bet you’ll see a big difference in your driving distance. – WITH DAVE ALLEN DAN CARRAHER , one of Golf Digest’s Best Young Teachers in America, teaches at the Golf Club at South Hampton in St. Augustine, Florida.
38 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2026
PHOTOGRAPH BY J D CUBAN
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