DON’T SPILL THE DRINKS

Rory McIlroy has one of the best, most consistent, golf swings in the game today.

One of the keys to his swing is he doesn’t try and extract too much from his swing. In other words, he relies on flawless fundamentals to produce great power and accuracy.

I see too many club golfers, especially with the driver, trying to hit the ball as hard as they can and their method is to swing the club back as far as possible, usually as quick as possible, and then try and bludgeon the ball. This type of swinging not only lacks power but hitting greens and fairways becomes very hard.

A common fault with these players is they try and swing back so far that the right arm (for right-handers) bends too much and this causes the left arm to collapse. A slice is usually the result.

One key pointer McIlroy uses to avoid overswinging is once his left shoulder is tucked under his chin, he knows he has swung the club back far enough.

Rory’s right arm is perfectly placed to drop straight down into a powerful position close to his side on the downswing. His right arm is hinged at a perfect 90 degrees and is ideally in front of his coiled upper body. From this point, the right arm will drop straight down and put the club on a good path into the ball.

One way to practice getting your right arm trained into this correct position at the top of the backswing is to use a drinks tray and hold it like a waiter. ‘Swing’ the tray up to the top of your backswing with your right hand. Anything but a 90-degree hinge will result in spilled drinks all round.