R.P.B. for Long Drives
I suspect that I’m one of the few players – pro or amateur – who doesn’t have a lot of swing thoughts. On most shots, the only thing I tell myself as I take the club back is ‘rhythm’. But now and then, when I’m trying to play a special sort of shot, I will call up an image or thought for extra encouragement.
When my mission is to get maximum distance on a tee shot, in order to reach a par five in two, I’ll tell myself: ‘R.P.B.’ Those initials stand for ‘right pocket back’, a reminder for me to make a full hip turn in which my right front trouser pocket rotates around toward my back as far as possible. When I make this maximum hip turn, my shoulders also turn fully and I finish the backswing with a full coil that unleashes powerfully on the downswing and into the ball. The principle is the same as with a sling shot – the farther you can pull it back, the faster it will snap through, and the longer the shot will fly.
