No power!

Question
Hi! I've been playing golf for 3 years and hit it pretty solid and straight but with little power! My handicap is 24 because I just cant reach greens in the regulation number of shots! I've tried rotating my wrists through impact,bumping my hips at the target,keeping the angle on the downswing...everything!
In fact the only thing that almost works is the golfing machine theory of hitting the back of my right hand into the ground outside my right foot.This makes solid contact nearly every time but still my driver goes 180 yards!
Help!!!

Answer
Hi Damian:

Find the best, qualified, PGA instructor in your neigborhood and go get some help.  You won't find it in a sentence or two.  You need good, one on one, private golf instruction and guidence.  Hitting the ball farther is a combination of all the things mentioned, yet, you must be doing things correctly to get it.  I question everything you said, yet I understand why you would try "what you have read or heard" about each of those.  Power comes from center face contact (which you say you get), speed (which apparently you are lacking), strength and flexibility (don't know if you have this) and a coordination of the movements (timing).  Your golf clubs also must be professionally fit for you, making sure you have the right combination of shaft and clubhead to fit your stats and gain maximum launch and roll.  

Fact of the matter is if you want to hit it farther, you'll need to swing the club faster.  If contact is good, then you need speed.  The fastest part of the swing (where the club is moving it's fastest) should be 1-2 feet past the ball.  Chances are you are just hitting at the ball.  Tour players hit the ball first, pinch the ball against the turf, then take a divot past the ball.  Check to make sure you are hitting through the ball and not at it.  A good drill for that is to place a tee in the ground about 3-4 inches in front of your ball directly on the target line.  Then, make sure you strike the ball and that tee before coming up into the finish.  It gets you to swing past the ball, not at it.  

Best advice I can give you is to go get some competent help.  Not from your buddies or someone who plays better than you.  Go pay a real good PGA instructor to help you.  For as long as you'll be playing golf Damian, it's a drop in the bucket versus a lifetime of frustration.  Good luck.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member