Many years ago 12 times PGA Champions Tour Winner and I were featured on the golf channel to show the secret to power in the golf swing. Jim Dent knows a thing or two about power as he won the first three world long drive championships back in the early 1970’s, and hit a drive 426 yards at age 62 in a Champions Tour event in Atlanta, Georgia. I personally like to demonstrate the secrets to effortless power by driving the ball one handed, and have done so with pretty good success even now at age 64 hitting the golf ball close to 275 yards.
One of the favorite segments of the viewers was the sleeping rabbit drill demonstrated by Jim Dent. The concept is to take a long white towel and tie the end in a knot leaving two white ears. Not only does this knot make one end heavy but makes the towel look like a sleeping rabbit dangling down as a golfer addresses the ball. The drill is executed properly by keeping your elbows close to your side and start rotating to and fro to get the towel to sling up and slap you on each side waking the sleeping rabbit up. This drill gets you to feel how to use resistance of your legs to whip the towel up on back swing and through on the down swing the same as when swinging a golf club.
*Another drill used by a high majority of tour players as well as myself is to place a towel under both arm pits with the towel resting on your chest and the hit some 7 or 8 iron shots. This drill will give your arms and body working in harmony and together as you pivot.
*Possibly my favorite towel drill involves wetting the towel and then holding it in front of you as you twist it until the water rings out of it. It is this ringing of the wet towel that I would like golfers to image that their mid section or core achieves on the backswing as a result of their full and complete shoulder rotation against the resistance of their spikes grabbing the ground.
*Finally the towel snap drill which is well known in gym class will show you how the release of energy occurs in the golf swing. Golfers don’t throw in the towel; in fact use it to enhance your swing with these drills.
Rick Bradshaw
2004/2006 North Florida Section PGA Teacher of the Year
Director of Instruction, Dent/Bradshaw School of Golf
Heritage Isles Golf Club
