How to Hit the Ball Longer by Properly Using Your Chest

Hitting the ball further is one of the main goals for many golfers. Whether you're a beginner trying to get more distance or a seasoned player looking to gain an extra 20-30 yards, using your chest properly in the swing can help generate more power and launch the ball downrange. Here are some tips on how to utilize your chest muscles and torso rotation to get maximum distance out of your shots.

Engage Your Chest Muscles on the Backswing

One of the keys to creating power is to load your chest muscles on the backswing. As you take the club back, feel as though you are loading your pecs and lats by keeping your arms connected to your chest. Resist letting your arms disconnect too early or fly out away from your body. Maintaining this connection keeps your chest loaded with potential power as you start down. The longer you can maintain the stretch into your chest, the more force you can unleash during the downswing.

As you reach the top of the backswing, you'll feel a slight stretch across your chest. The more coiled you can get your torso on the backswing, the greater the potential energy you can unleash on the downswing. Think of your chest muscles like a spring - you want to load them up with tension before letting them explode into the ball.

Rotate Your Torso Aggressively 

To take full advantage of the power loaded into your chest, you need to rotate your torso forcefully through impact. Aggressive clearing of your hips and chest release all that stored energy and transfers it into the golf ball.

As you start the downswing, really focus on rotating your chest and hips through the shot. Visualize your belly button pointing back behind the golf ball at impact. The more rotational speed you can generate, the faster the clubhead will be traveling when it strikes the ball. 

For many golfers, the lower body leads the downswing. Let your hips move first, then your chest follows through. Uncoiling the sequence in the proper order ensures maximum clubhead speed through contact.

Extend Your Arms and Chest After Impact

The follow through is just as important as the backswing when it comes to generating power. You want to fully extend your arms, chest, and torso after impact to squeeze out every last yard. 

Be sure to resist the urge to decelerate the club early. Maintain your spine angle and let your chest follow through to face the target. Keep your arms extended out in front of you, rather than recoiling too soon. 

The combination of torso rotation and chest extension through the ball allows you to take full advantage of the potential power in your upper body. Use your chest both as a power source and for additional leverage to pick up extra yardage.

Maintain Posture and Spine Angle

Proper posture is essential to employ your chest effectively during the swing. Maintaining spine angle keeps your torso coiled on the backswing, loaded with potential power. 

Set up to the ball with a slight spine tilt away from the target to encourage a full shoulder turn. Keep your chest up throughout the swing to prevent losing your posture. Avoid straightening up or rolling your shoulders during the backswing.

This also allows you to fully release into the downswing, clearing your hips to unravel the torso. Without maintaining good posture, your chest muscles lose the leverage needed to generate maximum speed through impact.

Practice Drills to Improve Chest Mechanics

Implementing some simple practice drills is key to training your chest to produce more power. Here are a few great ways to ingrain proper chest mechanics into your swing:

• Hug drill - Hold a club horizontally across your chest and turn back and through while keeping the club in constant contact with your chest. This engrains proper sequencing of the torso and arms.

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• Wall drill - Make practice swings with your back facing a wall and your torso barely brushing it throughout the swing. This teaches you to maintain spine angle.

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• Medicine ball rotations - Rotating a medicine ball from your chest teaches you to unwind your torso from the ground up.

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• Resistance band training - Mimic the golf swing with resistance bands pulling on your chest to increase muscle strength.

Proper use of your chest muscles and torso rotation is a big key to unlocking more distance. Focus on coiling your chest fully on the backswing, rotating aggressively into the downswing, and extending through the ball. With some practice to ingrain good sequencing, you can tap into the power of your chest to hit the ball further.

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