- Hello Adam Bazalgette,
Two-Time PGA Teacher of the Year
award winner, founder of Scratch Golf Academy.
Today how to get that easy swing with effortless power.
Everybody wants that.
(powerful pulsing music)
So how to get that easy swing with effortless power
is this possible?
Yes, it absolutely is possible at beginning of the video
I'm gonna show you some barriers to that
and at the end couple of drills, that'll help you
achieve what you're looking for.
If you like the video please subscribe
to the YouTube channel, plenty of free content.
Hopefully more coming your way
and of course scratchgolfacademy.com's my home website.
And we have full courses in every aspect of the game there.
Let's get started.
Okay, so let's not kid ourselves here,
if we're gonna have power, we have to have speed.
So we're not talking swinging slowly
that isn't gonna make the ball go a long way.
But the great golfers, the ones that we admire
doing this, they have a certain effortless look,
an economy of effort if you like
while still turning that into
the creation of a lot of club head speed.
Now, nobody could dial up long drives
more on cue than Jack Nicklaus.
I got to talk to Scott Hoch once
you may remember him, he lost the playoff
to Nick Faldo at Augusta.
Somehow the subject of Jack Nicklaus' driving came up,
probably I brought it up, it's been a while now.
But anyways he said he played with Jack Nicklaus on his
rookie year on tour in about 1974 or five
or something like that it was.
And he said, "Jack outhit me by 15 or so yards
all the way around except the four par fives
he outhit me by like 35 to 40 yards on those 4 holes."
He said, "For the life of me, look like
the same swing as on other holes."
So that's the ability to dial up effortless power.
And I've read a couple of times where Jack Nicklaus
said two of his biggest keys to create extra power
to augment the driver in this case,
were to finish his back swing, make it a little bit longer.
And here's the other one, relax the shoulders.
Get soft and relax.
So we're gonna get into that a little bit as we go.
Let's have a quick look at two players
who make this look as easy as it could be
and hit the ball prodigiousness
and since then will jump back out and get cracking.
- [Announcer] So, Freddie Couples banging
another drive out there.
Nobody makes it look easy than Fred.
Now just watch, pretty soft up at the top,
watch how he completes that swing
and watch the change of direction here.
Just watch how beautifully he's patient
with the arms and shoulders.
No rush at all.
And that just keeps that power stored until the last
possible minute where he can really kick it in the gear
right down there.
Another great example of sequence like that, John Daly.
I believe that's here in Naples at the Senior tour event.
And again watch the leisurely relaxed look with John.
Watch how the club is in no rush coming down
even though he's well into unwinding his lower body.
And when you store that you are gonna
really crush it at the bottom.
- So nice oily, flowing motion.
Nothing rushed, leaving the club back there
so it can store up some speed.
You could see that Jack Nicklaus
soft shoulder look there with those guys.
What's the number 1 barrier to that?
I teach golf full time still.
I'm with people all the time, watching them,
grabbing the club, helping them and stuff.
I'm telling you it's the instinct to hit.
When you take that golf club and you fire it,
and try to speed it up at the golf ball.
You do the precise opposite of what you should be doing.
You tighten up.
It feels like your gonna hit it a long way
and you move that segment prematurely
and you don't get that kind of load that you need.
Picture a nice soft warm towel, how you could snap that.
You stick this thing in the freezer for 3 hours
and bring it out and see how much speed you could create.
Not that much.
What's the second biggest barrier I see, the speed.
Let's have a look close up.
So grip pressure, very very important.
Now listen, you gotta have some grip pressure.
You gotta control that golf club a little bit.
And it's my belief by the way, a belief shared
with a lot of people.
That your grip pressure will slightly build through impact.
Your mind senses, when that club picks up to 90
or a 100 miles an hour or something like that.
You gotta have some control over that thing.
So, nothing jerky, nothing grabbing the club.
A little pick up, a little bit of firmness.
The key though, can you have control of the club?
I don't believe anybody under any normal conditions
could get that club away from me.
Can you have control over the club but still
have mobility in your wrist and forearms a little bit.
Picture shaking hands with someone.
You ever stuck your hand out and give
it a reasonably firm handshake?
You don't have to have your arm rigid
to have a firm handshake.
You can have a firm handshake
and still shake your arm like that.
So, that's what you need to practice.
Enough grip pressure, that you feel like,
"Hey, I've got control of the club,
but at the same token I have some
mobility in my wrist and arms."
That is a big, big key.
Okay, so we've look a little bit at some of
the barriers to speed.
Now let's talk a little bit about how you can work on
creating this effortless speed.
So make a practice swing.
Get some kind of a wood, you can do this at home
or out at the backyard if you don't have room in the house.
(swish sound)
And you'll kinda hear the swish
of the club head down there.
And you can really hear the difference
between a lot of speed and not so much speed.
And the fact of the matter is, when your practicing this.
You've gotta pay attention to your body a little bit.
Pick something out, is it grip pressure?
Maybe grip pressure combined with mobility.
Don't so much tell yourself of what to do.
Get out of your head and feel what's going on out there
and try a few things out.
Try it ultra loose.
(swish sound)
Well that may feel that you can create some speed.
But you wouldn't have sufficient control to play.
So firm it up just a little bit.
(swish sound)
That felt about right to me, I could hear
some pretty good speed.
Practice really dialing it up for max speed
back off a little bit.
See where you are, where you can still keep your balance
feel like you have control, but you gotta
dial it up to about as much as you
reasonably can manage.
And just take your temperature and keep working on it
'till you're creating a lot of loud swishes with the club.
And you're able to stay in balance, et cetera.
Remember, one other little thing here, very important.
This whole notion about accelerate through the ball.
I don't think it's that helpful.
Where do we want the most speed?
We don't want it over hear two feet past the ball.
We want it where the golf ball is.
So when you hear that club, you wanna
hear it swishing right down there.
And if the energy is gonna get out
to that golf club at the right moment.
Remember, your body and your arms in sequence,
are gonna have to begin to decelerate a little bit pre that.
So that the energy has transferred
to the club at the right moment.
Don't make the mistake of ripping your body through
and not letting the club build up speed.
So, make some fast practice swings, check 'em out.
Make sure you're in balance.
Get the right temperature setting
and get some woosh right where the ball is.
Trick is, now can you do it when the golf ball is there.
Let's have a look at the drill from here.
So there it is, there's the mortal
enemy to effortless speed.
That little white piece of plastic
down there in front of me.
Listen, it happens to me.
Don't think I've got this problem solved.
Stare at that thing and wanna hit at it.
All of the sudden your effortless power is gone.
So, how are you gonna get that practice swing
drill over here to hitting the ball.
I've got it on a low T, I think
that makes it easier for most people.
They can relax a little more, contact this is such a burden.
They can think about what they're doing.
The key in this things believe me
when you can do the practice swing well,
when you can get the swish
in the practice swing is comparison.
How does the practice swing compare with the real swing?
So, stop thinking about what to do for a second.
You're not gonna forget about what to do.
Get a couple of practice swings the way you like them
and start to compare.
When I go to hit that ball, how is it different?
Could be different in terms of physically,
you might feel tighter, you might feel
less balanced or something.
Could well be, and we have the ability as people
to notice our own mind.
Could be that you can tell,
"You know what, I just couldn't control myself,
I aimed at the ball too much.
I couldn't let it go."
So, here's how I would do the drill.
Get set up there.
So I'm in position to hit this ball.
And I'm either gonna go over the top of it
with a couple of practice swings or just to the inside.
Whatever your preference is.
The idea once you had a couple
put the club down there and go.
Then you've got a nice close comparison.
So I'm gonna go a little bit over the top of it.
(swish sound)
Feels pretty fluid.
(swish sound)
I'm just gonna set right up.
(sound of club hitting the golf ball)
I would say, pretty similar there.
I was pretty happy with that one.
Balance, not quite so good.
Point being, it doesn't matter how I hit that one.
This is your chance to compare a little bit.
Do a little bit of self coaching.
Hey listen, there's a lot of factors
in hitting the ball a long way.
Swing, plane, grip all those things.
We just chose in this videos though,
to give you some ideas about not getting in your own way.
And with a little less effort, creating some speed.
So I hope that helps you with how
to get that easy swing with effortless power.
If you like the video, please subscribe
to the channel here at Youtube.
scratchgolfacademy.com is my home website.
We have full courses in every aspect to the game there.
Hope you'll consider checking that out.
Thanks again.