3 Golf Swing Myths Costing You Distance in Your Swing

One of the most searched topics by women golfers is how to increase distance and hit the golf ball further. Today I’m excited to break a few myths relating to the golf swing and distance.

Myth 1: Keep Your Arms and Club in a Straight Line at Address

The problem with this swing thought is it takes away and flexibility and fluidity in your golf swing. Having straight, almost locked arms that run in a straight line with the club shaft will make it difficult to generate power.

Fluidity is achieved by having relaxed arms.

To achieve this, bend over more at address and let the arms hang down from your shoulders. Then extend the club out towards the ball and your forearms should bend slightly as if you were about to “curl” a weight at the gym.

The angle between your arms and the golf shaft should be 135 degrees. This is a much better position than golfers who try a 180 degree straight line position with locked arms.

Myth #2: How Far You Turn Matters Most

Many beginners think that the best way to increase distance is to turn back further and further. They hear that having a bigger shoulder turn can increase your distance and while this has some truth to it the thought process about it is wrong.

Turning back further only works when you also keep your lower body still. The further you turn back your shoulders the more twist you create between your upper body and lower body.

You’ll get to a point where turning back any further will start to pull your hips with it as you won’t be strong enough to hold your legs and lower body still.

Practice Plan: Routine to Break 80 with Worksheets

This will end up unwinding the twist you were creating, resulting in a loss of potential power.

The goal is to find the sweet spot where you can turn back, creating resistance between your upper and lower body that will help you generate power when you unwind on the down swing.

If you feel your front lead foot starting to lift off the ground to help with your rotation, then you know you’ve reached a turning back point that is too far.

The proper rule of thumb to follow is turning the hips back 45 degrees at most while turning your shoulders 90 degrees back. The shoulders should be about twice as much turn as your lower body.

Myth 3: To Hit Straight the Club Face Should Point at the Ball During the Swing

When you set up at address, your club face sits right behind the ball and the face is pointing directly at the golf ball.

As you start taking the club away in the back swing, a common swing fault women golfer’s make is keeping the face pointing at the golf ball.

Practice Plan: Routine to Break 70 with Worksheets

Instead it should turn back with your club and arms, moving to an open position.

If you don’t it will end up staying shut the entire time during the swing, and lead to hooked golf shots among other problems you may face like very low ball flight or inconsistent contact.

During your backswing, your arms and torso should allow your club face to rotate open, which returns the face to a “square” position relative to impact. During the down swing the club face will begin rotating closed again and finish closed in the follow through.

By learning how to rotate your club face properly during the back swing and down swing, you’ll begin hitting higher and straighter golf shots!

Check out these practice resources below as they will take you to that next level and help lower your golf scores if you follow them!