Sport News Blog

By Dave Smallwood

Now that I hope I have the attention of Ontgolf.ca readers, I am going to focus on writing a series of golf swing mechanic tips that revolve around creating more power and distance. Additionally, I hope to subliminally create a superior knowledge of proper swing mechanics for those reading that would only listen if it was about hitting it farther.

Is there any sport that people play that more power would not be an asset? There must be some, but none that actually interest me, and those with power and distance surely appear to be the most attractive to the boys having a few while watching the big screen at the 19th hole.

Off the top of my head I can rime off 50 sports stars where power separates the great players from the good ones. In the more spectator sports such as hockey, football, soccer, baseball and basketball power and the speed power brings makes those who play at the top level superior and make thousand s pay to watch them. Even as I write this the Cricket World Cup is being held only the powerful players can drive the ball past all the other guys dressed in white and stay at bat for what seems a like a week. Even though I don’t really know the game I did play tipit as a kid and can tell what purpose power plays in such a sport.

The creation of extreme power is what will distance great players from good players and good players from ordinary ones. Even the graceful sports such as figure skating the governing body removed the figures component from the point system because they could foresee that people want to see athleticism and power. The most amazing thing to happen to the sport was to see Elvis Stojko create the power and torque to do a quadruple axel. David Ortiz (Pig Poppy) is arguably the most talked about baseball player today, all because of his incredible power. He either hits a home run or a well hit single, as he’s too slow to hit doubles or heaven forbid a triple. Regardless he’s fun to watch. Do I even have to mention Tiger? Enough said.

Power in the golf swing of course has a lot to do with physical attributes and all players have limitations, but it is not to say all players can not maximize their power within their limitations or even expand their limitations. I will be highlighting portions of all players’ swings that play key roles in the creation of power in all swings. These swing keys are also valued components in repeatability which will help simplify and make all games more consistent. All of this can be seen in the powerful swing that is built out of the set up position in of Cambridge’s Victor Ciesielski, who is pictured here. Many will recall the seemingly effortless power Victor demonstrated in making the cut at last year’s Canadian Open, capturing the imaginations of golf fans across the country along the way.

ADDRESS POSITION

There are several key fundamentals to note in Victor’s set up that all golfers can utilize.

In today’s high torque golf swings all players start off from a much more flexed address position. This position is known as an athletic position, I can also be found in a hockey player at a face off, tennis player receiving a serve, a football running back etc. This position allows players in all applicable sports create speed, torque, power and balance. It is vital in golf in order to maximize limitations. A proper address position is also the easiest swing change for most players, and has the greatest effect on repeatability and consistency. Key components of a good address position:

* Feet shoulder width apart.
* Keep a straight back, flexed from the bottom of your rear end.
* Head up looking down over the top of your cheek bones.
* Gently flex your knees until you feel the weight transfer over the balls of your feet.
* Make sure your flex angle does not change during this knee flex process.
* Arms hang from your shoulders with a 5 inch clearance from the front thigh.
* This position will create a prewrist cock angle.

This address position will allow for a power full rotation and weight transfer to the backside to create a proper power load on the backswing. It will also help create a repeatable loading and planning of the club in this backswing motion. This repeatability in the backswing motion will inevitably create more consistency in the golf swing as a whole with the plane, club loading and weight transfer leading to more power.