Do you remember the 1996 Masters? Greg Norman walked onto the course with a massive six-shot lead. But suddenly, “the Shark” started forcing his swing and chopping at the ball like a lumberjack. And with time, the commanding lead evaporated, and Norman lost to Nick Faldo with a devastating five-shot margin. It remains a painful reminder that power means nothing without control, but what’s more painful is that we all face this “hit impulse” on the course again and again and can do nothing.

We see the flag, get excited, and try to crush the ball. But while doing that, we don’t even notice that we unconsciously tighten our grip, and swinging harder actually kills our speed and ruins the mechanics. And the result? A weak slice or a chunked iron shot. Let’s look at three simple changes to stop swinging out of your shoes.

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Tip 1: Always take more club

Most amateurs grab a 7-iron for a 150-yard shot because they hit it that far once. But that choice forces them to swing at 100% effort every single time. And this maximum effort ruins their balance and kills the timing and creates unnecessary tension as they try to force the distance out of the club.

The solution? It’s simple.  Swallow your ego and grab one extra club. Grab more clubs and take a smooth, controlled swing instead. Legends like Fred Couples swear by this simple strategic adjustment for amateurs and advise players to take a longer club because it naturally reduces swing speed. All you need is a perfect angle and timing, and most importantly, precision.

The strategy works effectively because of the basics. A smooth swing with a longer club produces a lower ball flight, while swinging hard with a shorter club often just adds spin and balloons the shot.

Tip 2: Hold the club like a live bird

Hands are our only connection to the golf club. So, when we want power, our instinct squeezes the handle tight. But a death grip locks our wrists and hardens the forearms. In that way, we lose the natural whip that generates effortless power through the impact zone as the tension travels up to your shoulders and hampers your clubhead speed. It makes us rigid and slow.

So, we need to relax those hands to release the clubhead properly. There is a myth of gripping that you grip it like you’re holding a bird, and legendary Sammy Snead said to hold the club “Like an eagle trying to get away from you.”

And the strategy works effectively because lighter pressure allows our wrists to hinge and unhinge naturally. This creates the whip effect that generates real speed without so much muscular effort.

Tip 3: Shorten your backswing to find the slot

One of the mistakes we often make is that we think a longer backswing equals more time to build speed. But in reality, it throws us off balance. We lose connection with the ground, and our wrist angles collapse. So, we lose track of the clubface and usually slice the ball violently. And a normal human body simply cannot recover from such an extreme position in time to square the face and ends up casting the club early just to make contact.

And how to solve that? Focus on making a compact turn and consider a slight pause. Look at the 2021 Masters champion, Hideki Matsuyama.  Matsuyama pauses distinctly at the top to let his lower body initiate the downswing. One can also follow Tony Finau or Jon Rahm as examples. They also use compact and shorter backswings to generate power.

These three changes will change our game immediately. But we have to focus on other things, like our balance and flexibility. Stretching the hips will allow the effortless turns we see on TV. And always remember to let gravity help our arms fall naturally. So next time you stand over the ball, take a deep breath. Relax your grip, shorten your turn, swing smoothly, and see the magic. Good luck!