My Drill for Relaxing During Your Swing (Video)

Normally I wouldn't post two Rick Shiels videos in a row but this one reminded me of a swing tip that helps me stay relaxed. It can even help you develop more distance control. Watch Rick's video first...

Okay, it was his first tip -- the one about breathing -- that reminded me of this. I'm not sure I've ever mentioned it before and I don't know why I hadn't thought about it.

When I was younger I took a couple of years of Tae Kwon Do. You may know that Sei Young Kim is (I believe) a 4th-level black belt in that martial art, and a number of golfers have trained in it over the years. It's an extremely helpful martial art for golfers because of all the rotary motion involved.

One of the key things I learned during that time was how important breathing is to proper -- and powerful -- strikes and kicks. While Rick is correct that breathing during your address can help you relax, there's actually more to it than that.

Tae Kwon Do teaches you that, to punch or kick effectively, you need to inhale as you prepare to strike and then exhale as execute your strike. In fact, I actually learned to control how hard I punched or kicked by controlling the force of my exhale. And it's not difficult to do at all.

Here's a drill to help you learn to do the same with your golf swing: Simply inhale as you make your backswing and then begin your exhale as you start your downswing. Ideally, you want to exhale most forcefully as the clubhead strikes the ball. You do the same thing when you perform almost any physical motion that requires a lot of effort. When you try to lift something heavy, don't you take two or three deep breaths and then exhale as you make the actual lift? Same principle.

Use this drill on the range to get comfortable with that forceful exhale. Once you get used to it, you'll find it's not that hard to take it to the course. And with just a little more practice, you'll learn to use it as a way to control the distance of your less-than-full shots as well -- more forceful exhales for longer shots, less intense ones for shorter shots. It's an amazing technique once you get the hang of it.