One of the most important things to do is make a full shoulder turn. This is an area that most golfers (especially over 50 years of age) are deficient at. Do you struggle to make a bigger golf backswing? If so, you’re not alone. The culprit is tight muscles that get only tighter when you “attempt” to make a complete backswing, and you’re not physically capable of it.

Stretch Your Core

One of the main areas to stretch if you want longer drives, is your core. This is the midsection of your body; and I include the lower back when I discuss stretching for a bigger turn. This is purely a rotational movement, so any stretch you do for this should ONLY be rotational. Does that make sense? Do a straight on stretch will gain you no more turn in your backswing.

When you stretch your core area, you must isolate either your upper body or your lower body to gain the biggest stretch and improvement in rotation. A great example would be sitting in a chair, and reaching around the back of the chair with both hands. Notice because you’re seated, your lower body stays still, as you rotate your upper body back. This is a perfect example of golf stretching that will get you longer drives.

Dynamic Golf Stretching

Another very effective method of stretching for golf is dynamic stretching. This is movement type stretches that are similar to your golf swing, but you take them beyond your normal range of motion, with a little bit of momentum from the movement. A good example of this (see picture above left), is to get in your golf posture, grab a club on the shaft with your hands wide. Now make a backswing with this wide grip of your hands on the shaft. Bring it back down, and swing it back again, but take it farther. So you progressively go further and further back, and eventually when you play, you will be making a much bigger backswing, an increase clubhead speed, and hitting LONGER DRIVES!

Consistency

Like anything else worth achieving in life, you’ve got to stretch consistently and keep it up to see the results you want. There is no short cut. If it were easy, every golfer would be crushing their drives over 270 yards, but we know that’s not the case don’t we? Golf stretching is an excellent way to fix shoulder turn in your golf swing issues.

Stretching for even 10 minutes daily, with specific, golf stretches will result in a big improvement in your ability to make a consistently big shoulder turn, with no effort.

If you want a complete golf stretching guide, I recommend you read more about our Total Golf Stretching ebook.

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If you want to learn how to improve your golf swing, then studying his golf swing will do you no wrong. I personally have a lot of admiration for what he went through as a child seeing his father take his own life, to being just an average at best golfer, to the greatest of his time.

As you can imagine, there have been many books written about him, and I’ve read many of them. Ben Hogan, An American Life written by James Dodson was an excellent book, as well as Hogan by Curt Sampson.

This article is more of an introductory article about Ben Hogan, as I will have many articles breaking down his golf swing and what you can take from it to help your swing.

If you’re looking for some great golf swing pictures of Ben Hogan, then you’ll want to get your hands on The Hogan Mystique. It is a big book with pictures never seen of Hogan in action. It is quite expensive, but an awesome “coffee table” book to refer to when you want swing tips from one of the best.

Ben himself wrote two golf instruction books, one of which many golfers consider the bible of the golf swing. His first book called Power Golf (written in 1948) was a good book in and of itself, but his later book Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf (written in 1957) is the one that is still today read by the majority of golf instructors, players and coaches all around the world, even though it was written 5 decades ago!

Tournament Record

In the years between 1938 and 1959 Hogan won 63 tournaments, which shows you how accomplished he was as a professional golfer. He won 9 major championships, and after a near fatal car accident in 1949; he was told he may never walk again, let alone play golf; he won several more tournaments and even what they call the “Hogan Slam” which was the first three majors of the season, only missing the chance to win the other major, The PGA Championship because he was playing in the British Open at the very same time.

Ben Hogan’s Secret

There was a lot of speculation that Ben had found the secret to a repeatable, consistent golf swing, and he nearly proved it with his pure ball-striking. After many frustrating years fighting a wicked, nearly brutal snap hook, hogan having pounded over a million balls (supposedly) had found the secret.

But…did he really tell anyone the secret? Many instructors and fellow players said they knew Ben’s secret, but to this day, no one knows if the secret was ever revealed.

The first theory is that the “secret” was a special wrist movementaction known as “cupping”. This information was disclosed in a 1955 Life magazine article. But… many believed Hogan did not reveal all that he knew at the time. It has since been alleged in Golf Digest magazine, and by Jody Vasquez in his book “Afternoons With Mr Hogan”, that the second element of Hogan’s “secret” was the way in which he used his right knee to initiate the swing and that this right knee movement was critical to the correct operation of the wrist.

There have now been golf instructors who have leached off his name and created instruction books and DVDs saying they have the secret of Ben Hogan’s and they will show you. Be aware is all I have to say.

In future articles, we’ll break down Ben Hogan’s Golf Swing and show you how you can become a better ball striker.

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Like the older golfer pictured to the left, this is a “false” shoulder turn. It may look like a should turn, but if I were a betting man, this golfer is struggling with distance. He has swayed off the ball, and picked up the club. He has not properly rotated behind the ball with a correct shoulder turn. Does this look like you? If so, we’re going to fix it, and give you another 30 yards on your drives.

One of the first issues if you’re struggling with your backswing, is tension. If you have muscle tension, it will be very difficult to make a proper, bigger golf backswing. This tension can be caused by nerves, or from stiff muscles. Most likely it is muscles that have become tight over the years, that are keeping you from making a complete backswing. All it takes is a simple golf backswing stretch to quickly improve your turn back away from the golf ball.

Another issue is like the picture. Sliding instead of rotating. Your first move away from the ball if you’re a slider is to ROTATE your right shoulder immediately behind you! This will get you turning and not sliding to the right. Once you feel the rotation in your core, you will be able to unwind with a much higher clubhead speed.

Tip:

To help avoid sliding, take a look at the picture to your left of Ben Hogan. I’m working on this myself. See the angle of his right leg? I drew a yellow line outside his right leg. If you slide and do not rotate, the angle from the ground up in your right leg will disappear.

It is nearly impossible to rotate back into a full shoulder turn, when you lose the angle in your right leg. Instead, I want you to picture you are going to turn into right hip socket, while rotating your upper body behind you.

Tip:

Do not pick up your hands when you start your golf swing takeaway! This is huge! I have been a culprit for my entire golfing career, and it has really killed my consistency. Picture that triangle between your shoulders, arms, hands and clubhead. The all move (rotate) back together. When you do it correctly, your hands will naturally (and slowly) come up, but that this is not a voluntary action. It just happens with the proper one piece takeaway.

So in closing, the name of the game in fixing your shoulder turn in your golf swing is ROTATION. And I mean start rotating earlier in your takeaway. If you are a slider, you need to rotate immediately. Hope this article helps.

Golf Resource:

If you enjoyed this article, and truly want to improve your golf swing power and consistency, then you’ll want to download our FREE Golf Lessons.

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He averaged 293 yards off the tee on the PGA Tour last year. Not bad for a 49 year old who’s carrying an extra 30 pounds! What’s his secret to hitting 300 yard drives? I can tell you he has a very late release of the club, which is another term for lag in the golf swing. To improve driving distance, wrist lag is a very effective way to do it.

Focus On Your Right Wrist

To get lag in your golf swing, focus on retaining your right wrist angle at impact. One of the biggest “power leaks” is casting the club from the top. You come into impact with a straight right wrist, with no clubhead speed; and actually this is now what we call a flipped club at impact. There is no retention of power, because the clubhead will no “slow down” going through impact, causing a massive loss of speed and power.

Make A Full Shoulder Turn On Backswing

One important key to power and distance is learning how to make a full shoulder turn in your golf swing. This is not as hard as you think, even if you’ve lost flexibility. Remember… it’s not how high you get your hands or club at the top of your swing, it’s getting your shoulders to turn at least 90 degrees, with 45 degrees of hip turn. That’s all you need. This is not that difficult.

I’ll give you a little “secret” on how to easily make a full shoulder turn. Focus on your right shoulder rotating back and around immediately upon takeaway. This will release all the tension in the lead shoulder, which is what 99% of all golfers focus on when they try to make a big turn.

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Take a look at Tiger Woods below. Notice the angle in his right wrist right at impact? I drew an orange line to show you the very distinct and obvious angle he has. Tiger has retained his golf wrist cock beautifully, which results in maximum compression on the golf ball.

If Tiger had flipped his wrists like most amateurs, you would not see that angle in his right wrist, and his left wrist would have been bent quite a bit. You would never see Tiger, nor any other pro have that position at impact. That is a hackers swing fault, and one I’ve faught my entire golf career. I’m a flipper, but am slowly retaining my right wrist much better.

For flippers like me, I have to force myself to hold that right wrist as LONG as I can… which feels a bit awkward, but I know it’s a swing thought that works when I do it. You might want to give it a try. It’s amazing to trust it, and see the kind of compression you can put on the ball through impact.

Tips To Retain Right Wrist Angle Through Impact:

• Preset your right wrist (like impact) at address. This is a great drill to feel what impact should be, before you start your swing. You can do this on the range for dozens of balls, but when you play I would not recommend presetting your right wrist as it might mess with your swing and ball contact.
• Driver your right hand down. This was a great thought for me. Instead of flipping through impact, I visualized driving the back of my right wrist (and even the palm) through the ball. This helped me finally compress the golf ball and take a divot AFTER the ball, not at it, or even worse, before it, and it’s a great way to learn how to get power in your golf swing.
• Flat left wrist. If you maintain a flat left wrist at impact, it is impossible to lose the angle in your right wrist. Sometimes golfers have a hard time thinking about their right hand, but when they think “flat left wrist” it’s easier. Visualize wearing a watch on your left wrist, and you’ve got a ruler through the band on the back of your left wrist. Don’t break the ruler!
• Lead with butt of club through impact. This is another thought that worked well for me. Through impact, I focused on the butt of the club going through first. So that encouraged my hands to be ahead of the ball with a forward lean of the shaft, for better ball contact.

Give these tips a try if your goal is to maintain your right wrist angle at impact.

If you’re looking to improve your golf swing, download our Free Golf Lessons today!

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As you can see in the picture, I’ve inserted this cool training aid on the end of my golf driver, right on the shaft. Slid it - Twist it and it’s on in a matter of seconds! Then all I do is swing it. It’s that EASY! I couldn’t wait to get it, and when I did, I liked it so much, I know offer it right in my Power Golf Training Aid Store. 

One of the coolest things about it, is it’s so small, I can easily put it in a compartment of my golf bag so I never forget it when I go to the range or before I play. And it’s just enough added weight that it doesn’t weigh down my bag too much. So no matter if you’re walking or carting, you’ll be okay.

Increase Driving Distance

If you want to increase your power and driving distance you need to set up a consistent training routine with your new golf swing weight.

Here’s a routine I would have you do with it.

• Full swings 20 times a day for a week.
• First 5 swings very slow to loosen up.
• Next 5 swings at about 50% speed.
• Third 5 swings at full speed but with good technique.
• Last 5 with perfect technique in front of a mirror.

Golf Specific Warm Up

This is a great golf aid for warming up. Especially if you’re short on time because you got to the course late for your round. Your golf warm up would be the same as the power routine, but I would not swing it at 100% because this is a warm up to “loosen” your muscles to play.

Free Golf Lessons

If you liked this tip, please forward my blog to all your golf buddies, and be sure to sign up for our 25 Free Golf Lessons sent to your email inbox.

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Relaxed Golf Grip

Once you learn how to grip a golf club, you must relax those hands. It starts with the fingers and goes up through your palm, and ultimately the pressure on the grip itself. Look down at your hands just before you make your swing. Do your knuckles look a little white? Are the veins in your hands sticking out more than normal? These are telltale signs you are gripping the club too tightly, causing excess tension to run right up your arms and into your shoulders. This is a KILLER of swing speed and distance.

It’s All In Your Waggle

You’ve seen all the pros do it. Maybe even your golf buddies. It’s called the golf waggle. This is one of the most effective ways to release tension in your hands and arms before you start your swing. The waggle is movement. Movement decreases tension. Doing this right before you take the club away will eliminate 90% of the tension in your arms, enabling you to maximize clubhead speed and distance. Next time you play, make sure to waggle the club and feel the tension leave your arms. Then within a second start your swing. Do NOT waggle, then set your club behind the ball and freeze! This is a waste of your waggle and will not release any tension in your arms before you swing.

Get Your Breathing Right

You’d be surprised how many golfers hold their breath when they swing. When you stop breathing, you create tension. Just think of yoga. They are constantly working on their breathing DURING their stretches. As a golfer, you should be aware of your breathing when you start your swing. After your swing starts, it happens to quickly for you to pay attention to it, but definitely before you swing, take a deep breath and then LET IT OUT before you start your golf swing. When you let your breath out, you will feel and even see your muscles relax.

One last thing!

I know this may sound counter-intuitive, but learning how to slow down your golf swing, will actually help speed it up. Your arms will be so loose, you speed will be better

Give these tips a try, and if you like them, you’ll want to get our FREE 25 Golf Lessons to help you even more!

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You’re fooling yourself if you think that pounding balls (golf practice), taking lessons, and buying new equipment is going to give you more power. Power comes from YOU! More specifically how your golf muscles respond and react during your golf swing. If they are weak or tight, they will respond slowly and very inefficiently. If they are stronger and more flexible, they will respond with RAPID and effortless speed and power. Which one do you want?

Lead Shoulder Muscle

Okay…here we go again with Tiger Woods. If you’re a senior golfer reading this article, do not think just because you are not Tiger, that this article does not apply to you. It most definitely does. Take a look at the area of the shoulder I circled. This is the SECRET power muscle in your golf swing.

I have done evaluations on thousands of golfers, and their lead shoulder is usually both tight AND weak. This saps your power as you cannot make a full turn on the backswing, and that weak/tight shoulder wants to “jump” out of your backswing cause it can’t handle the tension, causing an over the top golf swing.

There are dozens of simple golf exercises you can do right in your home with exercise tubing, light dumbbells, and even a weighted golf club that will quickly increase the strength and flexibility of this very crucial muscle.

Core Golf Muscles

This seems to be a buzzword right now. You hear the commentators use it, but I’ll bet they haven’t done one single core exercise for their games. I like to think the core is the engine to your golf swing power. The stronger you can get your core from a rotational standpoint, the higher your clubhead speed and ultimate distance will be. Improving in golf by stretching your core area will be a huge advantage to increased power.

Here’s our little secret to utilizing your core to get maximum benefits in your golf swing. Do 90% of the movements (exercises) with rotation. Do not do a standard crunch or situp. The golf swing is a turn back, and a turn through. If you implement simple, easy, fun and very effective core golf exercises, you will see a dramatic increase in your clubhead speed, power and distance.

These are the two KEY areas I want you to focus in if you want maximum driving distance. Of course there are other very important golf muscles like the forearms (wrists) and the legs, and we’ll get into that in another article, but for now, I want you to be implementing golf swing exercises targeting the above areas.

If you don’t know where to begin, I have put together the most comprehensive golf training book on the internet, that will give you all the golf exercises and stretches you need to see massive improvement.

Click on the big image below to find out more!

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