It's good for your game

It's good for your game

2-to-1 key to power

It may sound like a baseball score, but 2-to-1 is the key ratio that produces power in the golf swing. And it's something you have to work at to achieve.

Your muscles are like lazy houseguests: They won't do anything unless you make them. It's much easier to skip turning your shoulders and simply lift the club up to the top of the backswing. But it's also the wrong thing to do because, without turning your torso, you lose coil and therefore power.

The proper twisting or "coil" has two main components. First, the trail hip rotates over the trail heel. This ensures that there has been a correct weight shift and that you have turned behind the ball with the pressure on your right foot "heavy" on the heel.

The second component of a good coil is turning the shoulders twice as much as the hips. The ideal is 90 degrees of shoulder turn with 45 degrees of hip turn, but each player's maximum is dependent on his or her flexibility. The important thing is to be guided by your flexibility to achieve the proper coil ratio of 2-to-1.

This player’s goal is a 2-to-1 ratio between his shoulder turn and hip turn. Given his flexibility, he should shoot for 80 degrees-to-40 degrees. He needs more hip rotation here to attain his ratio. If he were my student, I’d encourage him to let that front heel come off the ground to promote more hip rotation.

PGA Tour pro Justin Leonard demonstrates a perfect 2-to-1 ratio between the amount of turn he has achieved in his shoulders and his hips at the top of his backswing.