Kerrod Gray asks a two-part question, but the two parts seemingly conflict.
“Hate to practice,” he writes, “but still want to hit bombs?”
In most cases, the answers here are “sadly yes” (work, family, friends, etc., can gobble up time), and “happily yes” (“bombs” are wonderful, after all.) But now, in response to Gray, you have a one-word question:
How?
Gray, an instructor with a strong online following, thinks he has an answer. He was talking on a video recently posted to his Twitter account, and you can watch it in full here.
Gray’s thought involved the set-up.
“If you don’t like practicing for hours but you want to improve your driving, then do this,” he said on the video. “When you set up, make sure your lead armpit is slightly behind the golf ball. From here, make a slow practice swing, getting a feel for what it would be like to return back to this position at impact.
“By repeating this in the full swing, it will ensure that you hit up on the ball and maximize your potential to hit bombs.”
Did the author of this story give it a go? He did. The result? I went about it more slowly than Gray and could see that the clubhead comes at the ball at a slightly higher angle, giving it the more upward approach that’s desired for distance.
Notably, Gray recently posted a second tip featuring the driver and distance, and you can watch that one in full here.
In that video, the thought focused on the club path.
“Use this little-known secret to make gains on your driver,” Gray said. “With your left arm straight out in front of you, make slow, one-handed practice swings, keeping your arm as stable as possible. As you feel the toe of the driver turn over, it will ensure that you’re releasing it at the right time with the perfect amount of upward strike that will help you hit bombs.”
Did the author of this story give this tip a go? He did. The result? Keeping the left arm steady takes a while. Maybe that says something about me, though. But when I figured that out, I could see the “turn over” noted.
Editor’s note 1: Please click here, here and here for more of Gray’s instruction content
Editor’s note 2: Please click here, here and here for more GOLF.com stories on distance.
