Golf Digest South Africa - May 2025

80 word

Push Your Butt Back

your body to push your butt back and create space. If you stand too far from the ball, the instinct is to move towards it, which causes the cascade of issues I just listed. The key from the top of the swing is to push your lead foot towards the ball. Drive the toes of your lead foot into the tip of your shoe. The foot won’t actually move, but since force creates motion, that friction will push your butt back. Your chest will move down, and you’ll create a clear path to swing into the ball ( above ).

with irons and wedges. It keeps the clubface square and allows the shaft to return to a similar position that it was in at address. People who early extend and move their hips towards the ball are jammed and have no room to rotate through the shot, leading to erratic contact and usually a slice. To prevent early extension and keep your chest down, stand slightly closer to the ball. Check out Tiger Woods or Jon Rahm at address – they look like they’re right over the ball. When you set up like that, you’re incentivising

rom the top of the swing, the best players create space to swing the club down to the ball. Watch the first down-

swing move from elite ball-strikers – their butt stays back and their chest is down. It’s the opposite of early exten- sion, where the pelvis moves towards the ball and the chest rises, a fault that plagues so many amateurs and causes all kinds of contact issues and inconsistency. Creating space in the downswing is crucial to hitting it flush, especially

DRINK AND EAT UP

Pros are constantly eating and drinking during a round. Dehydration and blood-sugar fluctuation creates cognitive and physical lapses, leading to dumb mistakes and poor swings. I advise my players to drink 500ml of water or an electrolyte drink every three holes. For you, the key is just to drink more, two or three times per nine. Be sure to eat every few holes as well. Healthy fats, like nuts, and complex carbs, like bananas, are great options to maintain consistent energy.

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