5 Actionable Tips for Adding Power Without Losing Control in Golf

Britt Olizarowicz

May 2, 2024 . 6 mins read

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Have you ever thought about really trying to hit a driver or even a 6 iron as far as you can?

For most players when the idea of more speed is added to the game there is a significant loss in control.

This is common and the reason behind it has everything to do with the way you are attempting to add power.

If you don’t add power correctly, you change the swing path and the clubface angle, which results in a complete loss of control and probably some distance as well.

I’ll give you the five best tips for adding power to your golf swing without sacrificing your control.

Key Takeaways

If you don’t have time to work through these tips and drills right now, save this page and come back to it later. For now, here are the most important tips to take with you:

• Wrists control the angle of the clubface. If you want to hit straight shots with more distance, your lead wrist angle has to be slightly flexed through impact.
• The transition from backswing to downswing is where many golfers lose power. Keep this transition smooth to ensure a cleaner strike and more distance.
• The ground is your friend; learn to utilize ground forces if you want to add more distance.

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5 Actionable Tips for Combining Power with Accuracy in Golf

1. Get the Wrists Right

The wrists control the clubface during the swing. As soon as you understand this concept, you’ll have a much easier time hitting straight shots.

The most important factors to know are wrist extension and wrist flexion.

• Extension – cupping of the wrists, when the lead wrist extends throughout the golf swing we notice the clubface opening.
• Flexion – bowing of the wrist, closes the clubface and is the ideal position at impact.

Professional golfers maintain a stable extension from address to the top of the backswing. Players reduce extension gradually during the downswing, avoid flipping at impact, and eventually move the lead wrist into a more flexed position.

Using the HackMotion is the best way to measure your wrist angles and ensure they are moving the way that the professionals do.

You’ll make a cleaner strike, easily contact the ball, and see extra distance and straighter shots.

2. Keep the Transition Smooth

The transition from the backswing to the downswing is a tricky one for golfers. Maybe you have this action down, and it feels great. However, this transition gets thrown off when you try to add power.

To add more power to the golf swing you need to keep the transition from backswing to downswing as smooth as possible.

It may feel like you slow things down a little and then accelerate in your follow through.

Try this with slow motion swings at first and then increase speed to get you to a smooth and powerful transition.

3. Shoulder Turn Stays Level

Another mistake that golfers tend to make when trying to add power is a loss in shoulder or spine angle. You’ll notice that these moves that incorporate the shoulders and upper body often ‘feel’ powerful.

However, they are not.

They throw off the clubface angle and the spine angle and make it more difficult for you to strike the golf ball with a square face.

Instead, work on keeping your shoulder turn more level. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to focus heavily on the way the hips turn and almost use them to keep the shoulders more grounded.

You can put a club on your hips as a drill and as you turn back that club should actually start to point more towards the ground.

4. Use the Ground

It only takes hitting behind the ball a few times to really feel you and the ground are not friends.

However, if you can learn to use the ground the right way, it can add a lot of power to your swing without sacrificing any accuracy.

Think about any other athletic ability and how you utilize the ground. For instance, if you want to jump higher, what do you push off of when you jump? The ground!

If you want to take a basketball shot, you’ll push into the ground so that you can propel you and the ball further.

The ground provides resistance and makes it so you can launch through the golf ball. At impact you’ll want to push down and into the ground so that you can spring off of it and get more power.

All the great golfers do this. In this video from Danny Maude, you’ll learn a few key ways to add power without losing control.

However, his explanation of what it takes to use the ground and how it should look is a very good visual representation of how this concept can help your game.

5. Correct the Path

Finally, if the club is not on the correct path, it’s hard to strike the ball in the center of the face and get proper distance and accuracy.

You’ll notice that, again, the move most golfers try to make is a “hit” type move where they take the club at the top of the swing and try and just go after the ball without incorporating the lower body.

One way to help you feel the proper transition is to put your headcover on your driver and take some swings.

The extra weight in the head of the driver should help you feel the clubhead a bit more and easily make that proper and powerful transition into the ball.

Should I Swing Hard in Golf?

Amateurs ask this question often because it seems kind of tricky to be smooth in your swing and transition with a good tempo but also swing fast. Many get the incorrect idea that swinging fast is a poor idea.

It’s not.

In fact, to be able to maximize your distance, you need more speed. The extra speed in the club will lead to more speed in the ball and give you the distance. So the next time someone tells you to swing nice and easy – you may want to be careful.

We don’t want to swing easy in golf. We want to swing as hard as we can while still maintaining the path, the weight transfer, the body positions, and the clubface angle through impact.

Final Thoughts

Don’t give up on the concept of adding more power to your swing simply because you think it’s going to make you hit inconsistent shots.

You can get power and keep the golf ball straight.

The key is to get your wrist angles right, use the ground, and keep that turn and transition as smooth as possible. Once you have this down you’ll be on your way to lower scores.