Are you a golf athlete?

Last week in Finding the Tips, I introduced Steve Pratt’s lesson on releasing the hands at impact. He gave us a drill we can follow that not only produces more clubhead speed, it eliminates the dreaded chicken wing in the follow through.

I tried this and I saw an increase in clubhead speed of about three miles per hour after just 15 minutes.

I take this drill to the driving range and golf course. I make it part of my pre-round warmup routine. I’ve also incorporated it into my pre-shot routine on every tee box. I take a practice swing that looks like a baseball swing and I throw the clubhead out so that my trail hand rolls over the lead hand.

Then I do it again, but while in golf posture.

With those two swings done, I tee up the ball and concentrate on releasing the clubhead through the ball so that my trail arm and hand rolls over the lead arm and hand in the follow through.

The results?

Total distance of my average drive before this week was in the 220 to 240-yard range. On the first day I used this routine, I hit a 254-yard drive as measured by my GPS app. I’ve hit more 240-yard drives than 220-yarders. And today, two days before this week’s edition of Finding the Tips hit your inbox, I recorded a 266-yard drive.

It’s still a work in progress, but the ratio of good drives to bad favours the good side significantly. Today I hit nine drives that I considered good, three that were so-so and two that were bad.

I wholeheartedly recommend you revisit Steve Pratt’s video so you can stop being a short hitter. I hope it works as well for you as it is for me.

Now, not all tips produce immediate results. In fact, the coach presenting this week’s tip says it may take months for you to see the full impact of the drills he gives you. But the results will be worth It when you develop into a real ball striker.

Build an athletic golf swing

Professional YouTube golf coach Eric Cogorno was asked to recommend one drill that any golfer could do to make his or her swing more athletic and natural.

“I answered right away,” he said. “The Float Load.”

This drill gets your body transitioning smoothly from backswing to downswing and through impact.

But first, let’s define “float load.”

Take your golf posture and slowly start swinging a golf club forward and then back. Don’t cock your wrists. Just use your body and weight shifts to get the club moving forward and back like a pendulum. Let momentum make the backswing longer and longer. Before long, you will feel a point at the top of the backswing where the club feels weightless, as if it will float down.

When you shift your weight down and toward the target, you load pressure on the lead side.

Doing the drill prescribed in this video trains the sequencing of your swing. Your body will move athletically and create speed in your swing. When you get comfortable with the drill, you’ll experience improved contact at impact and more distance.

Swing the club back until your lead arm is parallel to the ground. Your arms should be straight. Do not set or cock your wrists.

Get comfortable with that position and check that the club face is tilted down — closed slightly — when the shaft is parallel to the ground. Your hands should be at about mid-thigh height.

Once you can get to this position easily, let your hands go up and back about a foot at the same time that you feel your chest, rib cage and lead shoulder press forward and down.

Your hands are going up and back while your body is pressing down and toward the target. You’re float loading!

You should feel your lead arm bicep pressing against your pectoral muscle on the target side of your chest as you start the downswing. This connection of lead arm and body is vital to power and accuracy.

Try the drill without a ball at first. Let yourself get used to the movement and feel the athleticism and speed you are unleashing.

When it feels intuitive, put a ball down and use the float load drill to hit it hard. Remember to turn your body though the forward swing. Watch the video and mimic the finish position that Eric reaches.

This one drill will help you understand the transition from backswing to downswing and through impact. It will become intuitive and automatic.

Once you’re feeling confident with float loading when the club shaft is parallel to the ground, you can graduate to a backswing where the lead arm is parallel to the ground position. This occurs when the backswing is near shoulder height.

Swing back to the lead arm parallel position, then let your hands and arms pump up and back while your body loads down and forward. Turn through the ball and try to create as much speed as possible.

In addition to practice, you can make this your warmup drill before you play. Hit a few balls from shaft parallel, then a few more from lead arm parallel. If there’s no range, do it without balls.

On days when I’m not playing, I get in the backyard and do the drill without a ball, or into a net.

Don’t take my word for it, though. Read the comments in the video and see how the float load drill has helped many other golfers.

A final thought

I read this in the 3-2-1 newsletter this week and thought it made sense for ever-searching golfers:

Mastery requires lots of practice. But the more you practice something, the more boring and routine it becomes.

Thus, an essential component of mastery is the ability to maintain your enthusiasm. The master continues to find the fundamentals interesting.

James Clear