Every time I go to Golfer’s Warehouse, I like to spend a few minutes hitting in one of their bays with the golf simulator. And more often than not, there’s someone near me hitting driver. Usually, it’s a high school student who’s much younger than me and easily out drives me by 75-100 yards. “There’s no way that kid is stronger than me! I must be doing something wrong,” is what I immediately think. So what do I do… the exact opposite of what makes a good golf swing… I tense up and try to swing the club as hard as I possibly can. To what result?? Not a very good one.
Instead, I need to remind myself to relax, use the weight of the club throughout the swing, and accelerate at the bottom of the swing to whip the club through impact. Here’s a Shawn Clement video that summarizes the thought process I should use: