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Photo & video by Mark Mathew
By Alex Riggs
Now, potentially more than ever, golfers of all abilities are on the hunt for more clubhead speed. The proof is there among the highest-level players. If they can carry the ball further, and hit a similar percentage of fairways, they will have more success. For the average golfer, the question then becomes, where will this increase in speed come from? Will fitness or speed training help? Well, of course it will. But what will matter most, will be how we are able to generate force through the ground to transfer energy into the club.
1. Pressure
To create the maximum force off the tee, we want the pressure in our feet to initiate the movement. Therefore, I want you to trigger the backswing movement with a spike of pressure into your trail foot. Shifting pressure off the ball early in the swing is essential to creating maximum speed. The earlier you can shift it to the trail foot, the earlier you can get it starting to shift back into the lead foot.
2. Pivot
Once you’ve shifted pressure into the trail foot, I want you to think about rotating your sternum as much as possible away from the ball. This rotation, otherwise known as a pivot, will involve everything from our ankles, knees, hips, pelvis and ribcage. A big turn with the body creates a bigger swing arc, and that bigger swing arc allows us to create a lot more speed as we have more time to accelerate.
3. Pull
The word pull relates to allowing our ‘pivot’ to ‘pull” the arms. This creates a whipping-style motion which is incredibly beneficial to speed production. Visualise the wave produced by someone swinging battle ropes in the gym. We want to create a wave of acceleration in this same way with our bodies. If our arms are relaxed and the body is going through a full rotation, we will be able to accelerate our arms much faster.
The 3 Ps of Power is a way of movement where pressure is first link in the chain. When movement is led with a strong shift in pressure, the body can accelerate segmentally. We all would love to hit it further, so why not learn to with less effort.
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Alex Riggs is a Canadian-born golf coach who specialises in finding simple and effective strategies to lower scores. For lesson inquiries, contact Alex via [email protected] or +971 55 497 7913
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Hublot Big Bang Unico Golf Yellow Carbon
Introducing the Big Bang Unico Golf Yellow Carbon, an entirely mechanical golf watch that can keep track of your score over an 18-hole round, allowing golfers to keep tabs on hole, shots, and their cumulative score for a round. The 45mm timepiece made of carbon fibre and yellow texalium has a power reserve of 72 hours, comes also on a yellow fabric strap, for a weight of less than 100 grams, and is water resistant up to 100 metres.
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More golf tips and instruction:
Master your short-game options around the green
How to maximise the distance off the tee
Putt in place on the dancefloor
Straight to the point for short-game success
It is never too late to pick up a club for the first time — some tips to get started
Mobility and stability are key links in the chain to golf fitness
The chips are down if the hips are right
Looking for more power? It’s all about kinetic sequence forces
Understand golf’s power chain and how to avoid a weak link in your swing
Why solid putting starts with a sound set-up
Alignment is a fine balancing act to stabilise clubface
Why you are wasting your time on the range
Claude Harmon III’s simple impact drill
How Billy Horschel’s simple backswing move will make you a better ball-striker
