The smile on the faces of your students when you are trying to teach them golf is the most satisfying moment. Their faces just light up when after a few lessons, they start hitting the ball solidly and score well. Every now and then, some of the beginners that I coach give me the opportunity that makes everything worthwhile.

Most recreational golfers work hard on improvising long games rather than honing short ones. Almost every one of them tries to whack the ball a few yards long and straight. I have looked into the importance of the mind to produce better results. Every sport needs a combination of various things to achieve the best results. Let us look into the other more important aspect that contributes to better performance on the golf course-the sound technique. It is the best way to swing the club to hit the ball straight and long or just perform better in general.

Recently, I've been working with many golfers and found that most had common problems: no shoulder turn on the back swing, not dropping the right shoulder on the start of the downswing and not rotating the hips through the shot. Golf professionals can usually hit the ball up to 100 yards longer than most club golfers without much effort. They use their shoulders and hips to help hit the ball whereas the club golfers just use their hands.

For consistent results, one must turn the shoulders at least 90 degrees especially after reaching the top of the back swing. This magic move is dropping the right shoulder, then turning the hip to allow the club to come from the inside path increasing the chances of hitting the ball more solidly.

There are a few checkpoints to ensure the magic move: on the back swing, turn your shoulder until your left shoulder touches the chin. At this point your hands should not be higher than your shoulders.

On the down swing, right hand golfers should drop their right shoulder. To create a solid angle of attack in order to hit the ball, the shaft of the club needs to be parallel to the target at this point. Then turn the hip to bring the club head back to square position at impact. The hip turn can be crucial in hitting the target and remember to keep both hands straight before taking the swing up to the finishing position. This is the magic move that can help you generate more power and swing speed.

Deepak Acharya is a golf instructor and Golf Director at Gokarna Forest Golf Resort & Spa, Kathmandu. [email protected]