Remove your power game from your short game

• By Erik Horve, SwingFix instructor
• Mar 8, 2013 5:00 AM ET

The quickest way to lower your scores is to become more proficient on shots from 100 yards and in.

One of the biggest problems I see in students who struggle with these shots is that they have too much of their power game in their short game, and I often tell my students that they need to get their power game out of their short game.

So what does that mean and how do we do it?

When executing full-swing shots that require distance, we want to create a good separation of our upper body and lower body, often referred to as the X-factor or disassociation.

When this same type of action creeps into the short game it can cause inconsistencies in ball contact.

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By eliminating excess coiling of the body we accomplish two things:

• A more stable center of the body, which leads to more solid contact.

• We shorten the swing, which allows for better control of distance and spin on the golf ball.

Take a look at the above picture of one of the professionals I work with. The shot we are working on is from 50-60 yards.

Notice in the before picture on the left that Natasha has taken a full backswing with her hips and shoulders fully “loaded” and her hands well over her right shoulder.

The changes we made are evident in the after picture on the right. Notice that Natasha still has a nice full shoulder turn with a “quieter” lower body and that her hands are now below her right shoulder.

These changes will allow her to control the trajectory, distance and spin of the golf ball, leading to closer approach shots.

Practice taking your “power game out of your short game” for more control from 100 yards and in.

If you do, you’ll see improvement in that area of your game and lower scores will be the result.

Take an online lesson from Erik Horve.