Collin Morikawa is one of the four Olympic athletes to tee it up on behalf of Team U.S.A. at Le Golf National later this week.
Morikawa has been experiencing an uptick in form recently, and at a Golf Digest cover shoot late last year, we picked his brain for a few ball-striking tips from one of the best in the game.
You can browse all of them in our Swing Thought Finder tool right here, but here’s one I found particularly useful.
The problem: Fake backswing turn
Lots of amateur golfers tend to cheat their backswing turn. They lift their arms to the top, which costs them power and can cause other issues, like getting too steep.
Feel to fix it: Stretch sternum towards the sky
Morikawa says his key feel is that his sternum—the middle part of his chest—moves up towards the sky on the backswing.
“I want the big muscles in my chest to initiate my backswing. I feel like my sternum moves back with my hands, and then stretches towards the sky. When your wrists get too fast and snatch the club away, it can cause all sorts of issues.”
- Feeling like your torso stretches up towards the sky helps promote more range of movement in your thorax, which is a problem area of the body for lots of golfers.
- It can also help golfers turn, rather than lift, their arms around their body, promoting a more powerful stretch.
And hopefully, more powerful golf shots at the end of it.
Once again, you can check out our full Swing Thought Finder tool right here.
