Backswing, power and a dilemma

The golf world was abuzz last Sunday as Nick Dunlap became the first amateur since Phil Mickelson in1991 to win a PGA Tour event. Nick won at the American Express tour stop at PGA West in LaQuinta, California. A sophomore at the University of Alabama, Dunlap does not receive the roughly $1.5 million winner’s cheque — that goes to runner-up Sam Burns — but he will receive a tour card that will keep him fully exempt until the end of the 2026 season. He has yet to decide when he’ll turn pro. And there’s that whole school thing. He admitted to the post tournament media that he had homework to do that night. When pressed, though, he confessed that he planned to celebrate over dinner with family instead.

In this issue

• The Hell drill

• Fix your backswing

• The power spiral

• Find the key power source

• Ultimate golfer’s dilemma

Hook begone!

The most common shot shape in golf is a slice. It can really make it hard to score.

However, as Lee Trevino famously said: “You can talk to a fade, but a hook won’t listen.”

If your big miss is a hook, you pray for a slice, In this video, the folks at Golficity show us a drill that will fix the hooks. It may not be easy, but what is? Just dive in and work at it. That’s what I’m doing.

Fix your backswing, Part I

Golf coaches will tell you that you can’t be a consistent, long ball striker unless you have a a great backswing.

Michael Brisbane identifies the three most common backswing issues:

• Reverse pivot

• Club too far inside and behind

• Backswing is too long

Then he tells us how to fix each of them in clear language. These solutions are simple but will require you to practice them so you can ingrain them in your swing.

Fix your backswing, Part II

This is another great backswing thought from Pete Cowen, widely considered one of the best golf coaches on tour. He advocates a kind of spiral move in the backswing, with the right hip not just turning back, but UP as well. This will add to your power.

Turn around a post

Matt from Your Simple Golf Swing explains how we can all pick up more power with every club in the bag.

This tip is a little controversial, but I can assure you it works. I’ve tried it and had nothing but good results.

Now if I could only remember to use it.

What would you do?

On the lighter side, Comedian Gary Mule Deer offers this situation as the ultimate golfer’s dilemma.