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By Cory Puyear
Titleist Performance Institute

When most golfers hear the phrase "punch it", the conjured image is one trying to execute a shot struck lower to extricate the golfer from trouble. However, the punch I am referring to has absolutely nothing to do with getting out of trouble on the golf course. Instead, it has to do with keeping you from making the mistake that might have gotten you into trouble in the first place. The act of punching a heavy bag is the action needed to deliver a blow to the back of a golf ball that could produce enough ball speed to hit it over the trees.

In fact, that is exactly how Mike Austin, the man who still holds the Guinness Book of World Records longest drive title, described the body working to hit a golf ball. Mr. Austin's secret was a revolutionary approach to hitting a golf ball that evolved out of his engineering and physics studies at Emory University and Georgia Tech and his PhD work in kinesiology, the science of human movement. Mike looked at the body and believed that this was the most efficient way to fit this machine with the job. On September 25th, 1974, at the U.S. National Seniors Open Championship in Las Vegas,egged on by his playing partner to "really let one go". Austin, then 64 years old, hit a 515 yd drive beyond the flagstick on the par-four fifth hole. Since then, the longest recorded drive on the PGA Tour that has even come close to this distance was hit by Davis Love in 2004 and measured at 476yds.

If you look at mechanics of how a punch is delivered, it is very similar to the action needed to provide a powerful blow to the golf ball. In order to fire the upper body, the lower body has to be "pressurized" into the ground to establish a stable foundation. It is this pressurization that creates the ability to accelerate the upper body, including the torso, then the arms, and then the club head. If the lower body is never pressurized, the beginning of this kinetic link is lost and a successful and efficient acceleration of the adjacent segments cannot occur. Consequently, power that should be efficiently developed is sought after inefficiently and often produces a shot that comes to rest under the trees.

To perform a punch towards lower scores and increased golf swing efficiency, try the below exercise that will help to train your lower body to pressurize and your upper body to fire around that spot and towards the target.

Perform 15 punches from a tandem stance position as shown in the related exercise!