You ever watch Davis Love make a practice swing with his driver? Man, it's a full-on swing, just like the real thing, so the club makes a big whoosh at the bottom. I love that. I want to hear that noise in my head when I have to crank one off the tee. It's a great image for keeping a nice flow and getting the fast point of your swing at the ball. But don't get ahead of yourself: You can't create speed at impact if you haven't set it up in the backswing. I try to go back pretty slow, really wind up, and then get to my front side as fast as I can. To me, the golf swing is a big turn back and a big turn through, and the ball just gets in the way. Impact is a result, not a position.
GO BACK WIDE
I want to make a slow, wide move off the ball, keeping the clubhead low to the ground for the first few feet. I sometimes pick the club up, and my arms move out away from me. When that happens, I don't get a full turn. If my takeaway is good, the club tracks to the inside and my arms stay close to my body at the top.
GET TO THE HEEL
When I swing back low and inside, my weight transfers to my right heel. This is a critical feel for me because it means my backswing has had the correct around-the-body shape. Then I can swing out to hit the ball. That feels powerful to me.
SWING OUT RIGHT
I like to play a draw with the driver, so my feel at impact is to hit the inside part of the ball. To do that, I have to be coming down from the inside. So my right arm and shoulder need to stay lower than my left as I get into the hitting area.
CLEAR THE HIP
For my right side to get through, my left side has to turn out of the way. Sometimes my left hip gets a little static, and the club can drop too far to the inside. If I shift to my front foot and then turn aggressively, the club stays on a good path. That allows me to start the ball just right of my target and turn it in.
KEEP ROTATING
The biggest thing for me at the finish is getting my right side all the way through. I sometimes stay back a little and flip the club through with my hands—that's no good. I want my weight 100 percent on my left foot, and my right shoulder and hip fully released.
LET IT BE LOOSE
When I get here, I don't want to feel stress anywhere in my body. If I do, it means I'm off-balance or holding something back. I think of it as a big, free-flowing move through impact, where the club just falls on my left shoulder. Then it's all about watching the ball do its thing.
