I want some tips!

[Borf]

I want to learn how to hit the ball better (ie. get more distance)

I need to work on my hips and shoulders turning in my backswing, and where I need to be when I complete my backswing.

From this position I feel confident, but I need to get a better position at the top.

Im just not quite sure on what my hips and shoulders should be doing? and maybe how this should look/feel? keep in mind i shoot left plz!

[BigDave]

I tried tips for years and I've tried buying better equipment to improve my game. This year I broke down and found a teacher I could work with. Finally, I'm seeing real improvement in my game. I've never been afraid of practice but without understanding the swing, practice doesn't do a lot of good.

I suggest finding a good teacher. Spend 15 minutes talking to them about their teaching styles before you pay for the first lesson. If a teacher asks you to do a drill but can't explain exactly what the drill is trying to accomplish and why, they are not a good teacher. I'm paying $70/hr to learn from an LPGA professional (yes a woman) who really knows how to teach and whose teaching style matches my learning style better than the two male teachers I tried last year. After 3 lessons I've already seen far more results than the $500 Ft-i driver I bought last year.

[msd3075]

Everybody's swing is different, and different "tips" works differently for each player. Havings your shoulders in one position might work for you, but that same position won't work for the guy next to you on the range. You really need to work with a teacher/professional so that they can watch your swing and adjust it accordingly.

Also, atleast from teh way I was taught, you should never think about having you shoulders/arms/hips in a given position. You should have certain "swing thoughts" that put your swing in its natural place on its own without you contorting it into an unnatural position. If any teacher tells you to put your wrists here, your arms there, you hip with a particular motion, etc., without actually watching your swing, you need to find a different teacher. Every golfer has a unique swing that fits his/her physical capabilities. There is no one-swing-fits-all in golf; there are the same number of swings as there are golfers in this game.

[wachesawgolfer]

Whatever your swing, a solid tempo is the key to greater distance. Take a lesson as they said, but work on a solid tempo which is repeatable. Swing mechanics are only a part of it, keeping it all in sync is just as big.

[Surfdude104]

Personally i think the three keys for distance are:
Breaking Rists - Make sure you're breaking them at the right time, the end of the shaft should be pointing at the ball as you break them.
Shoulder rotation - Try doing some excersises such as putting a club along your shoulder line and rotating them to loosen up. Try to get a coil going.
Drive Through the Ball - Shift weight to the left leg (if your a right handed player) and follow through.

In the end no explanation can take the place of actually doing it. But if all else fails go see a pro.
x

[DavidFehertysBike]

Distance is natural, if you have it you have it. If you dont you dont. I dont think you can "learn" distance. But you can learn how to control the ball well, and that could be just as useful and being able to bomb it.

[wachesawgolfer]

Distance is natural, if you have it you have it. If you dont you dont. I dont think you can "learn" distance. But you can learn how to control the ball well, and that could be just as useful and being able to bomb it.

I tend to disagree. Distance comes from a full turn back and through and the proper angles with the proper tempo and solid contact. If you cannot make the turn, you cannot achieve good distance. But, if you can increase flexibility and core strength you can gain substantial distance. What comes easily to some and not to others is the proper timing, rhythm and tempo. The harder you swing, things get ahead and the slower the clubhead goes, in what is a game of opposites. Teachers do not seem to teach tempo as it is not a one lesson thing but takes imagination and creativity along with patience to find the keys which ingrain a persons right tempo which will become repeatable.

[DavidFehertysBike]

I tend to disagree. Distance comes from a full turn back and through and the proper angles with the proper tempo and solid contact. If you cannot make the turn, you cannot achieve good distance. But, if you can increase flexibility and core strength you can gain substantial distance. What comes easily to some and not to others is the proper timing, rhythm and tempo. The harder you swing, things get ahead and the slower the clubhead goes, in what is a game of opposites. Teachers do not seem to teach tempo as it is not a one lesson thing but takes imagination and creativity along with patience to find the keys which ingrain a persons right tempo which will become repeatable.

Yeah but most of the things you mentioned are fundementals to any good golf swing, not just to generate power. You can do all of those things to a T and have the good flexibillity and still not be able to hit bombs. Just like there are guys like John Daly (who does about everyting wrong) but still destroys the ball. You will still be limited by what your body will naturally give you. But getting a 40 yard pitch to take two bounces and stop on a dime? We can all learn how to do that with proper practice.