A-Z of Power
ABC | DEF | GHI | JKL | MNO | PQR | STU | VWXYZ
V is for Value
If you can’t stretch to a brand new club, all six of these have won a TG test gold.
While technology improves each year, it doesn’t mean a driver that’s a few years old is suddenly useless. You’ve only got to look at the likes of Lee Westwood using three-year-old Ping i25 irons and Louis Oosthuizen’s Ping G5 woods to realise that if the world’s best are happy using clubs that aren’t the latest releases, you could do the same. These previous TG test winners are second-hand gems on Golfbidder.co.uk
W is for Warm-up
Channel your inner Miguel by stretching
“We want to prepare the body as best we can, so before our players go to the range, we take 20-30 minutes to get the body right,” reveals Justin Rose’s performance coach Justin Buckthorp (360healthperformance.com). Boffins at Stephen F Austin State University in Texas found that an active dynamic warm-up with golf clubs led to significant increases in accuracy and ball-striking. PGA Tour fitness consultant Kelly Blackburn (kellyblackburn.com) has created an active dynamic warm up you can do in five minutes. Each exercise requires 10-15 repetitions on each side without stopping.
1: Dynamic hamstring stretch
Stand with your clubface towards you and hand atop the club. Step back with one foot and fix both feet firmly on the ground. Engage the hamstring by bending the knee of the back leg, raising the toe of the front foot and slowly sitting back as though you were sitting in a chair. Slowly return to the start position and repeat.
2: Dynamic torso rotation stretch
Hook your elbows behind the club so it rests against your lower back. Get into your address position and slowly rotate to the top of your backswing. Without hesitation return to address and proceed to the top of your followthrough.
3: Dynamic lower back stretch
Hold an iron behind your knees, one hand on each end. Now stretch your lower back and hamstrings by slowly rounding your back.
4: Dynamic shoulder stretch
Hold the grip with one hand and the hosel with the other, keep your arms straight and raise your club to shoulder height. Now slowly lower your right hand towards your hip while bringing your left arm towards your right shoulder. Return to the start and repeat in reverse.
5: Dynamic adductor stretch
The inner thigh (adductor) is crucial to your golf swing because it helps your hips generate power. Stand with your feet just over shoulder width apart, your hand on top of your club and the clubface pointing towards you. Engage your adductor by bending your right knee and slowly leaning to your right side while lifting your left heel. Repeat on the other side.
X is for X-Factor stretch
It’s the key power move – and this is how you increase yours
X-Factor stretch refers to the difference between your hip and shoulder rotation as you start down. A powerful downswing begins with the hips briefly shifting laterally before rotating into and over your left or lead leg. Meanwhile, the shoulders retain their backswing rotation. This move increases the difference between hip and shoulder turns, cranking up the torque through your body that can be released powerfully through impact.
Y is for Yardage
Want to test your tee shots? Then head for the world’s longest holes
1: 1,097-yard par 7
Gunsan Country Club, South Korea
Nearly two-thirds-of-a-mile long and with water all the way down the left, this hole is the definition of a card-ruiner – pretty harsh, considering it’s the 3rd. It’s a par 7, but all bar the longest of hitters will be happy to walk away with single figures.
2: 964-yard par 7
Satsuki GC, Japan
Even if you escape that hole with your card intact, you’ll face the world’s only other par 7. The good news is that the hole is flat and relatively straight and a spokesman claims “though it’s long, if you keep it in the fairway you can save par.”
3: 878-yard par 6
St Andrews Hill, Rayong, Thailand
This ultra-demanding hole features two fairways divided by a lake, but neither of them could really be classed as a “shortcut”. After playing an Asian Tour event there, US pro Gerry Norquist revealed he needed a driver, 4-iron, 3-wood and a pitching wedge to reach the green in four. “It’s a tough hole and I’ve never seen anything like it before,” he said.
4: 861-yard par 6
St Andrews Hill, Rayong, Thailand
What is it with these courses not being content to have one mammoth hole? You’ll need four shots to make the green, and even then you’ll find a putting surface that’s huge, two-tiered, and virtually surrounded by water and sand. Terrific!
5: 860-yard par 6
Crondon Park G&CC, Essex
The longest hole in the UK by a country mile isn’t made any easier by the huge lake that will swallow up any second shot that drifts left – not easy considering the hole slopes that way.
Plus… the world’s longest par 3
437 yards at Legend Golf & Safari Resort, Entabeni, South Africa
A 437-yard par 3 might sound impossible, but in your favour is the fact that the tee box is 1,410 feet above the hole (your £500 green fee includes a helicopter ride up there and back). Your ball will be in the air for nearly 30 seconds, during which time friendly spotters on the ground will try to keep track of it for you. Padraig Harrington was the first person to ever make par here.
Z is for in the Zone
European Long Drive champ Joe Miller says power is all in the mind.
“It starts from the moment I wake up,” says former World Long Drive champion Joe Miller. “I do everything I can to make sure I’m in a good mood, as I find this gives me more energy than if I’m feeling grumpy. I’ll eat a healthy breakfast and I always wear my black top for competitions; it’s not really a superstition, but sticking to certain habits makes me feel like I’m fully prepared. Having won a lot of events, I know that if I do certain things, I’ll come out on top. Stick to a routine that fills you with confidence.”