Video summary
In this episode of Testing the Tips, the host explores two key driver secrets revealed by Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods to improve consistency and power. The first principle focuses on creating a straight line between the lead arm and the clubhead during the swing, eliminating wrist breaks and steep angles of attack that often plague amateur golfers. By maintaining this straight alignment from address through impact, the golfer avoids dropping the club inside too early or rolling the wrists excessively, which leads to a more stable plane and a higher launch with a desirable draw curvature. This setup encourages a uniform takeaway where the body naturally engages once the arms reach their limit, fostering a swing that relies on stability rather than erratic wrist manipulation.
The second secret involves generating explosive power from the lower body rather than relying solely on arm strength, a common mistake that wastes energy and limits distance. Rory describes using medicine ball drills, similar to shot put techniques, where the golfer bends onto the right side, stores energy, and then explodes through to the left side while pushing off the right foot. This movement mimics the kinetic chain needed for maximum distance, ensuring that the hips and torso drive the swing instead of just the arms. The host demonstrates this by practicing these explosive pushes without a club first, realizing that many golfers fail to utilize their lower half effectively, resulting in high swing speeds that do not translate into ball speed or distance.
After applying both techniques—straight arming for consistency and lower-body explosion for power—the host hits a significantly improved drive that launches higher and travels much further than his initial attempts. Although he admits the shot was partly an effort to impress the camera, he acknowledges that the feeling of explosiveness through the swing is fundamentally different from his usual approach. The video concludes with a strong recommendation to keep these drills simple by practicing straight-arm swings and throwing medicine balls in the backyard, suggesting that mastering these basic mechanics can lead to dramatic improvements in one's game without needing complex equipment or advanced theories.
Read the full video transcript
All right, welcome back to the new and
improved Testing the Tips, where I, as
[music] an average golfer, test out all
the theories, the drills that are
provided to you by the leading YouTubers
out there. And I'll be determining
whether or not I think they're going to
help my game and ultimately yours. I'm
also pleased to announce that this
series is brought to you in partnership
with Seed [music] Golf. And a few days
ago, I watched a video from Rory McIlroy
and Tiger Woods. They're not bad, either
of them. And [music] Rory explains how
he
how he's a bit more consistent with his
driver than he used to be. Two basic
principles that you adopt into your game
would probably translate into mine and
to yours. Now, I'm not suggesting by the
end of this video you'll be driving a
ball like Rory McIlroy, but what you
will, hopefully, do is recognize some
errors that are in your current swing
[music] and maybe be able to put some
simple corrections in place. We'll tee a
ball up, ready for the absolute monster
that I'm about to hit. But before we get
there, what's it all about? Well,
Rory talks about, ironically explaining
to Tiger, how he drives the ball more
consistently. And what he does with he
starts off with creating what he calls a
straight line
between his lead left arm and the driver
head.
So, for me,
at least what I think I'm adopting is
something very similar.
So, there's no break in the wrist,
there's no club before ball. At this
point, he's got a club behind ball,
rather. He's got very much a straight
line that he adopts
down his forearm into his driver head. I
think that's pretty simple and
straightforward.
And what he tries to do, what he
explains, is what that gives him
is a very
He used He talks about how he used to
swing the ball to the top of the
backswing, drop inside, and hit that
sort of drive from the inside, which
we've seen a lot.
And it produced variable results, as he
explained. Whereas with this, the club
head stays on the same plane. So, he's
not looking to drop it inside, he's
looking to keep that on a plane, and to
be honest with you, when you just get
into this very basic position and work
on a very, sort of, I don't know, half,
quarter swing, you can see the sort of
logic. If I was to just hit the ball
now, I'd probably hit it further than
the most of the times I try and hit
driver because I'm keeping on a very
single, level plane,
there's no wrist movements, I'm not
trying to roll wrists, I'm not trying to
make things happen during impact, and
I'm certainly not to change the swing
plane when I start the downswing.
So, I really love that concept. I've
even hit it with some wedges, uh, and
nine irons on the previous hole while I
was just getting warmed up for this, and
it relates back to all the game, in my
opinion.
So, all you're doing
is simply setting up straight arm,
and the takeaway becomes nice and
uniform between your arms, this V shape
that it forms in your arms.
It sort of engages the body because we
get to a point where we can only go so
far, and we're starting to turn.
And it's very much a very simple setup
for driver
that allows you to go into that takeaway
position and start things off in a very
stable position. I'll hit a ball in a
minute, don't get me wrong. In fact,
let's hit a ball now with just adopting
that sort of straight arm situation, and
let's see what happens. Right. So,
straight arming. He plays the ball again
very much off at the inside of his lead
foot.
He talks about the other thing that this
does
is the way he delivers the ball is
consistent in terms of angle of attack.
What a lot of golfers will do, at our
level that is, is pick the driver up
quite quick and quite steep, which often
means we'll be delivering it quite
steep, as well.
As you know, with driver, we're trying
to hit with a bit of an upward blow. And
if you do your practice swings,
those half swings, you'll soon start to
get a feeling with it might be very
different to the one you currently
adopt. So, it also helps with the way we
attack or the angle of attack. So, we're
straight there.
We're back.
And we're through the ball.
And the ball flight is really a positive
ball flight in terms of it's high
launching ball
with a bit of right to left curvature.
That'll be down to me still getting a
bit overactive with those wrists.
But all in all, not a bad drive. I felt
very comfortable at address. And maybe
more importantly, you try it and see
what it does to you and see how
different it is to your current setup.
But there is a phase two to how Rory
creates his power. And once again, we
ain't going to be driving 330 yd on the
fly, but we are going to realize how he
gets from his right foot through the
ball, engages the hips, and generates
the power and the distance, which
doesn't come from swinging all your
arms. It very much comes from the lower
half, the whole body and top half
engaging. And that's the bit I'll
explain to you next. Right, phase two,
we don't need a golf club. We ideally
need a medicine ball or a ball a
football of some sort. Shot put if
you've got one knocking about. But the
basic principle is let's use that shot
put as an example as how a shot putter
will bend down onto his right half,
generate the power, store the power, and
then explode onto the left side. And
that's very much what we see in the golf
swing. Rory talks about in the gym he'll
he'll train with a medicine ball in his
chest. He'll swing to the right side,
and then he'll step up, and he'll really
push off that right foot onto the left
side, and generate that explosive power.
And again, if you stand still,
forget your golf ball, get into the back
garden. Forget your golf club rather,
get in in back garden. Get your address
position,
then get yourself You don't even have to
carry anything. Let's be honest with
you. Turn onto your right side and then
explode onto your right. So, we're going
to really turn and then throw.
Then, work out if you had a golf club in
your hand, is that the kind of movement
you're making with driver?
Because
what I've seen for years is most people
swing like this.
So, it'd be all arms.
They'll have a lot of energy and they'll
wonder why the ball goes 150 yd and yet
they're swinging at 95 mph.
Well, that's because they're not storing
any power. They're not using the lower
body. They're not engaging the torso.
They're letting so much go to waste in
terms of that energy resource.
So,
that's it. You don't have to watch
anymore unless you want to just hang
fire cuz I want to see if I can adopt
both. First drive went down the
left-hand side. Let's see if we can make
a correction
and get a drive that is worthy of Rory.
So, straight arm.
Back
and then we're going to
really try and get into this one. So,
back.
Oh my word and
that's a drive.
That's still
I hope the rear camera picked that one
up cuz we've absolutely launched that
thing.
And if I'm honest with you, that was a
lot more effort in terms of that push
through than I would normally try and
adopt as well. That was definitely for
the camera, but I certainly realized
that that's what I need to be doing.
That's a bit of a shocker.
I almost wish we had some kind of
flightscope launch monitor connected to
see how far that went. But, hopefully we
picked up the ball flight.
Started center, moved a little bit onto
that left-hand side. That's a whopping
drive and you know yourself when you've
generated power. That was far different
than the first shot we hit.
And to be able to sort of feel that
explosiveness through the swing is a
very different feel than I would
normally have.
That's it. Nice and simple. Try and keep
it straightforward. I hope the
explanation It's simple, isn't it?
Straight left arm.
Get that forward. Start practicing
throwing a medicine ball in the
backyard.
And all of a sudden, you'll be world
number one. It's that easy. Thanks for
watching. See you soon.