Golf Tips: Club Selection

Many amateur golfers make the mistake of thinking they need to swing harder for longer shots.  More often than not, swinging harder will produce all sorts of problems from poor strikes to bad accuracy, to....  less distance!  Yes, less distance. There are 14 clubs (the legal number of clubs a golfer can carry) in the bag for a reason.  Some clubs go longer than others.  When faced with a longer shot a golfer should use the proper club and put the same swing, with the same tempo, on that club that he/she would use for a shorter club.  That's why there are different clubs. The longer the club is, the longer the shaft is.  The longer shaft produces a wider swing arc and therefore gets the club head moving at a faster speed than one with a shorter shaft.  Therefore the same swing one might make with a 7-iron would have a higher club head speed than it would with an 8-iron. Some golfers may also think that the swing for a longer club should be harder than for shorter clubs.  Once again, the swing should be the same.  It is not necessary to "swing harder" for a 4-iron versus a 6-iron. So the next time you need to hit the ball farther, don't swing harder.  Use the same swing with more club!