Titleist Tips: Golf Myths - Make A Big Turn - Jonathan Yarwood

If you’ve searched for ways to hit the ball farther, you’ve undoubtedly been told that you need a bigger turn in your backswing. Well, unfortunately, heading down this path could ruin your game. As Titleist staff member Jonathan Yarwood shares in this video, there is absolutely no correlation between making a big turn and hitting the ball a long way. Instead, what you really need is Torque, not Turn. For the majority of golfers, an attempt to make a bigger turn will lead to what Jonathan terms an “an early turn”, a weak, out-of-sequence move that doesn’t allow you to use the ground to create pressure and torque to power the swing. Furthermore, if you make too big a turn, you simply can not unwind your body fast enough to get back to impact in time, so you end up flipping the club to release it - a very inconsistent and unreliable way to square the club face. Most pros focus on turning in a better sequence in order to maximize torque in their backswing. The goal is to get more open at impact so that they can do LESS with their hands (a key for consistent ball-striking). Follow Jonathan’s prescription and turn the way the pros do it: 1. Get your arms and the club moving on their journey back first. 2. Feel little pressure move into your trail foot - not a big sway. 3. Feel your trail side extend upwards as your lead side goes downward. This produces an angled or tilted coil and creates resistance between your upper and lower body. 4. Your arms and the club should reach the top at about the same time, halted by the torque you’ve created by coiling your body against the ground. Your shoulders will likely turn a bit less than 90° and your hips around 45°. 5. From here, shift toward the target, moving pressure from your trail foot into your lead foot. 6. Now it’s time to turn, opening your lead side to bring the arms and club into the ball. Make sure you coil, make sure you shift and make sure you turn more as you hit it – that’s the better way to do it.