Busting 5 myths about how to generate power in the golf swing

You don’t have to look far for a power tip. Players have always been obsessed with hitting the ball longer—whether you’re a club player, competitive junior, Tour pro or World Long Drive competitor. The problems come when you pick from the huge buffet of information and apply something that’s incorrect, incomplete or out of context — meaning it doesn’t work for your body or swing. You try things that seem sound and helpful, but they’re actually holding you back.

It’s time to tackle five of the biggest power myths and give you the real swing intelligence that will help you ramp up your ball speed this season. Check ‘em out below.

Myth No. 1: Calmness and focus produces best results

It stands to reason that following a calming routine that gets you ready to play and focused on a key swing thought would give you the best chance at a good drive. But that attitude puts a permanent cap on your clubhead speed. You’ll always be playing with a governor.

The reality is that a power swing with the driver is different than a precision swing with an iron, and it needs to be treated differently. When you want to hit long tee shots, you have to ramp up your intensity, not tamp it down.

My student Kyle Berkshire has won three World Long Drive Championships, and he’s swinging 170 miles per hour with a heart rate well over 150 beats per second in competition. That’s obviously extreme, but your goal should be to get more keyed up and energized for a big drive, not calmer and more under control.

Even if you don’t do specific speed training, just making a series of more aggressive practice swings will help get your body primed for speed instead of staying tight and measured.

Myth No. 2: You need to “stay connected”

If there was a power myth hall of fame, “connection” would be one of the first inductees. There are lots of tips out there scolding players for letting the trail elbow move away from the body in the backswing. Jack Nicklaus even caught grief for having a “flying elbow” while also being one of the longest hitters of his era. Instead of actively trying to keep your arms near your torso.

I want you to work on making a backswing with more stretch in your arms. This stretch helps increase the total travel of the club in your swing, which gives you more time to produce speed. What does this look like? If you stopped going back with your arms waist high, your trail arm should have to extend to reach the first part of the shaft where the grip ends. 

When I started working with Ryan McCormick, he had a relatively narrow stance and a narrow backswing, and he was certainly well below average in terms of horsepower. By adding some width with this concept (and doing a lot of work in the gym), he gained more than 20 miles per hour of ball speed and made it to the PGA Tour.

Let those arms stretch and don’t be afraid to add some speed to your backswing early to build up energy and momentum.

Myth No. 3: You need more turn

Think of the concept of backswing turn as you would a bottle of vitamins: There’s a recommended dose and timing and a point where doing more doesn’t give any more benefit and is actually harmful.

Players tend to turn too early and too much in the backswing, which immediately pulls the arms and club behind them. The arms don’t lift enough, and the body’s center of mass stays on the lead side. From there, you’ve effectively made the club heavier, introducing timing challenges and shutting off a lot of your speed potential.

Instead of turning everything together, use some of the stretch we talked about in Myth No. 2. Take the club back with a bit of shoulder turn and more arm lift. Leave your hips to simply respond to what your shoulders and arms do. This is easy to check by sliding an alignment stick through the front belt loops on your pants. You’ll be loading into your trail side without excessive lower body motion and without letting your trail arm and shoulder dip lower and underneath.

By the time your arms get to waist height going back, the stick should still be at almost the same alignment it was at address, meaning your shoulders have turned and your arms have lifted but your hips have pretty much stayed square. If you can wait until the club passes your trail thigh before letting the lower body start to wind, you’re going to have your upper and lower body working together in the right way to produce power.

Myth No. 4: You have to shallow the club

This one is definitely having its moment on social media these days. The general idea: You need to actively shallow the club to a flatter swing plane at the start of the downswing to make sure you don’t come over the top and cut across the ball.

The problem: When most players try to shallow, they lower the trail shoulder too early and the club gets heavy and stuck behind them. Not only does this not solve the underlying issue with your swing, but it can also lead to injury from adding side bend to your downswing rotation.

Instead of thinking about shallowing the club with your hands and dipping the trail shoulder, focus your attention on your lead side. Make your lead shoulder move slightly downward in the early downswing. This will do two important things: improve your swing path and put you in a more supported position where you can effectively use the ground to get more energy into the club.

If you’re tilted back and the club is stuck, you can’t get that early push around transition that good players use.

Myth No. 5: Hit up on the ball to launch big drives

Big-headed drivers with long shafts make it tempting to set up with the ball far forward in your stance and lots of tilt in your shoulders to really launch it. But that combination of setup elements tends to promote clubface contact that’s the opposite of explosive — impact low on the face while the face is open. That’s a distance-killing combination of more backspin and more sidespin, and a recipe for lots of shots high, short and right (for a right-hander).

Great launch comes from a slightly upward strike where the clubhead stays in the hitting zone longer and you’re catching the ball in the center.

for this, set up to a ball that’s lined up just inside your lead heel, with two other tees in front of it at the same height at one-inch intervals on the target line. Your goal is to smash the ball on the tee and clip both of the other tees with your swing, promoting a more neutral swing path, solid contact and maximum speed.

You’ll have a better chance of catching the ball on the fastest part of the face while the face is square. That’s how elite players get such a strong smash factor — the ratio between clubhead speed and ball speed. How close can you get to 1.5?

Bernie Najar is a GOLF Top 100 Teacher and is the director of instruction at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.