You should be ready to sacrifice a bit of distance to become a far more consistent player. It's time to adopt the three-quarter swing. Here's how.
TAKE A WIDER STANCE
You need to develop a tight coiling pattern on the backswing and reduce any tendency to sway -- as most wild hitters do. Take a wider-than-normal stance, so your legs become a stable base for your arm swing and shoulder turn.
With a driver, take a stance slightly wider than shoulder width. Position the ball no farther forward in your stance than the right heel. Many power hitters play the ball too far forward, off the right toe, so they have to lunge to reach the ball. Instead, you should feel nicely centered over the ball at address.
For shorter clubs, your stance will narrow progressively, but keep it two to three inches wider than you ordinarily would.
LEAVE ROOM AT THE TOP
Swing the club back without any conscious effort to break your wrists. They'll hinge naturally as you approach the top. You'll feel your weight shifting onto your left foot, but make sure that it stays on the inside of that foot -- if it goes outside, you're swaying.
Most power hitters take the driver back at least to horizontal, some well beyond. Even if you think you can swing back much further, take the driver back only to the three-quarter position -- midway between perpendicular and parallel to the ground.
The three-quarter swing:
1) Helps keep your weight on the inside of your left foot, reducing any sway.
2) Limits wrist action -- opening or closing the clubface at the top -- which must be compensated for on the downswing.
3) Reduces the chance of losing the proper clubshaft position at the top (pointing at the target rather than left or right of it).
TIME YOUR DOWNSWING
From the three-quarter position, swing down keying on two fundamentals -- shifting your weight onto your right foot and pulling the club through impact to a full follow-through.
Don't worry if your timing feels a bit off at first and you feel the urge to overpower the ball. Stick with it. You'll soon be striking the ball more squarely and at least as far as before because your swing is more compact. But best of all, your distance will be much more consistent -- because you'll have fewer off-center hits.
