I love to see great tips from the old pros like Lee Trevino. I notice that his swing, like Jack Nicklaus’ swing evolved as he got older. They added features to increase rotation to minimize distance loss as their bodies tightened up with age. Lee suggested these changes:
1/ MOVE YOUR FOOT AWAY: Move your trailing foot back a few inches off the line parallel to your target line. It allows you to rotate for more backswing and avoid swinging over the top and slicing the ball.
2/ MOVE YOUR BALL BACK IN YOUR STANCE: Lee noticed that most of the aging golfers and want-to-be-golfers impact the turf about 2 to 3 inches behind the ball. Of course, that kills the distance. He suggests moving the ball back in your stance slightly for every shot that you make. He points out that you are swinging your arms around you body in a circular motion which pulls your club away from your ball and your target line. If you hit a lot of THIN shots, just move your ball back in your stance. (Pros shift their weight forward to avoid thin shots.)
3/ SWING STRAIGHT BACK: By swinging the head of your club straight back to start your backswing, you will force your shoulders to rotate more. You need to rotate your hips and shoulders and your arms but if you rush your swing you often miss the chance to rotate all 3 and add lag with your wrists. Remember: there is no need to rush your backswing. It is just the windup for your body and it only gets your club in position for the perfect shallow downswing and release.
4/ AIM FOR THE INSIDE QUADRANT: Swing down to hit your ball at 7 o’clock (where 6 o’clock is directly back and 12 o’clock is straight up your target line). When you aim to hit up the inside quadrant of your ball you are adding draw to your flight path for more distance.
KNEE BEND FOR MORE ROTATION
GOLFTEC discovered that you should be setting up with your leading knee slightly more bent than your trailing knee. That bent leading knee is the trigger to help you continue to increase the bend in your leading knee during your backswing for more hip rotation. You my even want to lift your leading heel off the ground during your backswing to add to your hip rotation the way Jack Nicklaus always helped his hip rotation.
Hip rotation is the most important component to allow for more club rotation. Don’t depend on a bent leading arm in your backswing. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to keep your leading arm straight while your knees, hips and shoulders create rotation for more powerful hits. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com
Golf Truism #79: No matter how bad you are playing, it is always possible to play worse.