Hitting With the Left Side

Two words about this: do it. Hit hard from the side that's behind the ball. That's where free power comes from. When we start the swing down, one good idea is to try to swing the right side into the ball and leave the left side where it is. We try to separate the left side from the right. Now we can't really do that, but feeling as if we were prevents the left side from coming into the ball too soon.

At the moment we stop coming down, and start coming into the ball, the entire left side fires into the ball. The left elbow is tucked into the left side, and now is when that whole left side, from chest to thigh, which has been held back all this time, can come hard into the ball. All the power of that side of your body, not just what is in your hands and arms, is what swings the club into the ball.

There's no attempt here to accelerate the swing beyond what your natural momentum creates. It's more supporting that momentum, ensuring that it doesn't run out before you get to the ball, but that it continues through the ball.

Those of us in America who have played baseball know that you can't swing a heavy bat at a rapidly-thrown baseball without getting that trailing side of your body into the ball as well as the hands and arms. The light weight of a golf club and the tiny, stationery golf ball fool us into thinking that we don't need to put that kind of power into the swing, and we don't if all we want to do is hit the ball. But if you want to get your maximum power without making any more real effort, bring that left side strongly into the ball.

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