Archimedes once said, “Give me a lever and a place to stand and I can move the world.”
Power comes from leverage
You don’t have to be muscular to hit longer drives. But you do need to harness all the power you have available to you. You maximize the power in your golf swing through leverage.
distance comes from speed
Hitting your units farther is not so much about power as it is about speed. You want the clubhead to travel as quickly as possible through impact.
Leverage provides the power to generate speed
The power of your golf swing must be used to rotate your core through impact towards the target in an efficient pivot. Faster core rotation will generate the clubhead speed you want.
The common mistake that most golfers make when trying to drive the golf ball further is to throw the clubhead at the ball with their hands and arms. The challenge is that the hands and arms are not as strong as the large muscles of the torso, from the hips to the shoulders. The strength of your hands and arms is used to control the clubface, not to generate clubhead speed.
The key is good footwork
Jack Nicklaus believes that a good golf swing starts with good footwork. Creating more leverage in his swing, and consequently effortless power, starts with his feet.
Your Point of Leverage is the Ball of Your Right Foot.
At the top of the swing, you need to load power and energy into the inside of your right foot, right at the ball of your foot. The inside of the ball of the right foot is your action position. If you don’t have your weight positioned on the inside of the ball of your foot at the top of your swing, you’re robbing yourself of power and distance.
Leverage Examples
Imagine a basketball player on defense. To stay in front of the dribbler, the defensive player must move his feet from side to side as the ball moves. They push off the inside of their feet, the ball of the foot, to move sideways.
That same pushing motion, when combined with a pivot, is what adds power to the golf swing.
Another example would be a baseball pitcher. On the mound is a slab of rubber that pitchers use as a lever to propel themselves and pivot toward home plate when they pitch. It is not the strength of the arm that creates the speed of the ball. In fact, your arm needs to be relaxed to maintain precision and make the small position adjustments that make the difference between straights and corners. It is the leg and core strength maximized through the lever position on the inside of the right foot that generates speed.
The same concept applies to distance and your golf swing.
The next time you’re at the range working on adding distance to your shots, pay attention to your leverage position at the top of your backswing. If it’s not on the inside of your right foot, you’re losing strength.
Pigeon point drill to help feel leverage
To help get the feel of good leverage, try the “pigeon toe” exercise.
Take your normal driving position. Before swinging, turn your right heel out so that your right foot is in “pigeon toe.” Square your hips and keep a little bend in your right knee. Take a ¾ swing and pay attention to the tension building up in your right leg. You will probably find it very easy to push towards the target with your lower body when your right foot is turned in a bit.
Keep your leverage for more distance
If you want to add more distance to your shots with effortless power, hold your lever position throughout your swing. Leverage allows you to make efficient use of the power of your large muscles, which in turn allows your hands and arms to remain flexible enough to control the clubface and produce consistent golf shots. Your fulcrum is the ball of your right foot, and that’s where you need to charge energy at the top of your golf swing.