You’ll drive it farther with more width and a bigger shoulder turn, but what I mostly see among the rec ranks are “fake” shoulder turns: golfers simply swinging their left arm across their chest. Yes, this will turn your shoulders, but it won’t turn your chest and, more important, your rib cage.
Before I explain what you should do, let’s visit your setup. At address, you’ll notice that your left arm and shaft create a slight angle, inward and away from the target. A big key in power driving is maintaining this angle as you start back — something you can’t do if you take the club away by just swinging your arms. The trick is to turn the right side of your torso back and up, pulling with the right side of your rib cage and your arms flinging up in response.
To practice this move, get into your address posture — but as if you’re using your driver as a cane (1). While leaving your left arm in place, turn back, pulling the right side of your chest back and up (2). It should feel like you’re expanding the right side of your rib cage.
If you replicate this feel on real swings, you’ll get the width you’ve been missing and a heavy dose of extra yards off the tee.
Brech Spradley is a GOLF Top 100 Teacher and is the director of instruction at Barton Creek Golf Academy in Austin, Texas.
