Martin Hall’s 4 Keys For More Power
It is rare that the Golf Channel ever features a show with useful golf instruction, but this video with Martin Hall is the exception, and one of the best instructional videos I’ve ever seen on the Golf Channel. I like Martin’s teaching style because he’s entertaining, but he also explains his concepts terrifically through the use of props.
Video Overview
Hinging and Bending: Martin does a very good job of explaining how the wrists work in the golf swing. The left wrist is the one that hinges, but the right wrist is the one that bends backwards. Simple enough to understand.
Flat Left Wrist: Related to hinging and bending, the flat wrist is crucial. When the clubhead makes contact with the ball, the left wrist should be flat, and the backwards bend of the right wrist should be maintained. The bend in the right wrist is also known as the flying wedge, which is a term used with Golfing Machine instructors and Stack and Tilt instructors.
Ball First Contact/ Compression: If you aren’t hitting the ball before you make your divot, then you are losing huge amounts of energy that you could be transferring into the ball. Martin Hall uses that IFTB (training board) in the video to help his students learn to hit down and through the ball, but you can create a similar drill just by putting a book, or any other object you think would work, about 6 inches behind the ball.
Releasing the Club: Another terrific explanation on a rather confusing concept for most amateur golfers. If you notice, when Martin demonstrates clubhead release, he’s simply straightening his right arm while maintaining the bend in his right wrist and keeping his left wrist flat.
Body Sequencing: From the video, the order of the body parts on the downswing go; legs, hips, torso, shoulders, arms, and then club. As much as I agree with this, I think trying to monitor all these moving parts while you’re swinging a club can be overwhelming and extremely frustrating. For a good drill on utilizing your lower body more, especially your hips, click HERE.
I hope these videos help you to realize some missing pieces in your golf swing.
Practice hard and enjoy!
-Parker