The X Factor and power

I'm going out on a limb again with another bit of advice on the golf swing. I won't denigrate my skill with the clubs again as I've already done that. Proceed at your own risk, check with your doctor and don't blame me if you duck hook your first drive through a course side bay window.

Actually, I think this tip is quite interesting because you don't see it mentioned alot. I was looking at an old golf article the other day about the X Factor. This is something that I believe Jim McLean came up with to explain where the power comes from in a golf swing. Basically the X describes the lines that are created if you looked down at a golfer from above and drew lines through the shoulders and hips. The greater the separation in the lines, the more power you're able to deliver to the golf ball.

Don't worry if you're confused because the tip is actually quite simple. You've got to restrict your hip turn. This makes for a bigger X and therefore more power. But, more importantly in my book, it allows you to hit the ball more cleanly and more consistently. It makes sense if you think about it. When you restrict your hips you create more torque in your torso (sounds like the tag line in a bad ad!). This creates a whole bunch of stored power and all you have to do to get your downswing started is to release your right knee towards the target.

Maybe you're scratching your head about that right knee. It is the key to restricting your hips. Watch the pros, you'll see that many actually point their right knee towards their left at setup. This braces the knee to resist all that turning you're doing on the backswing.

And finally, if you relax and release the right knee, you're more likely to swing with the big muscles of your torso. This is where the real power comes from, not your arms. When you use your arms lots of bad things happen.

Give it a try and let me know how it works.