This golf tip is designed to help you hit the golf ball further than your playing partners.
To create more power we need to be able to hit the ball hard whilst still maintaining balance and tempo. In this tip we are going to help develop a simple way of maximizing club head speed, by becoming more dynamically explosive at set up and at impact. Problem - The set up position is pivotal in creating more power and energy through the golf swing. Incorrect set up can cause lack of power and result in lack of distance.
Fix - The width of the stance is so important at address to maximize stability and balance to create more power when hitting the driver. Think about the Eiffel Tower when taking your stance, with the base being much wider that the top of the tower. The inside of your stance wants to be just wider than your shoulders to maintain balance and power. If the stance is too narrow when trying to create maximum club head speed, your balance will be hindered, therefore decreasing consistency.
The ball position is also vital in the angle of attack when hitting the driver. Ideally we want to be hitting the driver on the way up, therefore we can place the ball position forward in the stance so that the ball is just inside the foot that is closest to the target. If the ball position is too central, the angle of attack will be far too downward hitting, therefore hindering the transfer of power into the golf ball. Another great way of creating more of an upward hit is to lean the body weight behind the ball at address.
Key points - Your sternum (middle of chest) ideally wants to be slightly tilted back away from the target at address and also at impact so that the golf club's angle of attack is hitting more up on the ball. Do be careful not to lean back too much at impact. Ideally, we would want to just have our head behind the ball at impact. Then continue to follow through as normal after the shot to create the correct weight transfer.
Top tip - Hold the club gently. Avoid strangling the golf club as this will restrict the correct hand action through the ball. This will help create more club head speed through the ball.
How to Bomb the Golf Driver Long
If you are an experienced golfer, you already know that there is more to this game than just hitting the ball as far as possible. To be a well-rounded player, you need to hit quality iron shots, you need to chip and putt well, and you need to make smart decisions. Low scores are not achieved with the driver alone, no matter what countless amateur players seem to believe.
With that said, it sure is fun to launch a drive way off into the distance. There really isn't any feeling like it in all of golf. When you manage to make contact perfectly on the sweet spot, a modern driver is capable of generating tremendous ball speed as the ball comes off the face. Assuming the face was square and you were swinging nicely down the target line, you'll get to stand there and enjoy the view as your ball gets smaller and smaller. It's a great feeling to hit a perfect #drive, and it's even better if the ball manages to bounce and roll out past the drives of your playing partners.
In this article, we are going to provide a variety of tips related to the task of hitting your drives as far as possible. Note – we are not suggesting that learning how to hit your driver long will make you a great player, or even a good one. There are plenty of golfers out there who can hit long drives, and many of them struggle to shoot good scores because they lack the other necessary skills. Still, if you would love to hit longer drives, this article is for you.
We are not going to venture into the equipment side of this issue with the content below, although using the right equipment certainly does play a role in determining how far you can hit the ball. It isn't necessary to buy the most expensive driver on the market, but you should go through the process of getting fitted for a driver so you can make up the club to your needs. Specifically, going through the fitting process is going to help you select the driver shaft that is the best match for your swing dynamics. Technology in golf has come a long way, and nowhere is that technology more on display than in the driver market.
All of the content below is based on a right-handed golfer. If you happen to play left-handed, please take a moment to reverse the directions as necessary.
Powerful Ingredients
Have you ever wondered what it is that makes a golf ball fly so far down the fairway when a player strikes a perfect drive? Is it all about swing speed, or is there more to it than that? As you might imagine, there is a lot more than just raw swing speed at work when you see someone hit a long drive. In this section, we are going to highlight a few of the keys that will need to come together if you are going to live up to your distance potential.
- Swing speed. This is not the only ingredient, but it is the main one. If you were writing a recipe for how to create long drives, you would start with swing speed at the top of the list. As your swing speed goes up, your overall driving distance should go up as well. Unfortunately, many golfers take this thinking too far, and they wind up searching for extra miles per hour without realizing that they are damaging their overall technique. You can't go into this process thinking about 'speed at all costs', because losing track of your swing fundamentals will negate any gains you achieve through added speed. Picking up swing speed with your driver is only going to be valuable if the rest of your technique remains solid all the way through the hitting area.
- Center of the face. In order to transfer as much of the power from your swing into the ball as possible, you need to do what you can to strike the ball on the middle of the face. This is where the most efficient transfer of energy is going to occur – if you hit the ball out toward the toe or in off the heel, you are going to lose some of your power as a result. Of course, to hit the sweet spot on a regular basis, you need to have solid fundamentals which repeat swing after swing. Specifically, you'll want to have rock-solid balance working for you. Players who are moving all over the place during the swing rarely have the ability to hit the sweet spot consistently.
- Spin rate. This is a 'hidden' distance element which is extremely important. In order to maximize your distance, you need to have just the right spin rate on your drives. If you have too little spin, the ball will struggle to get up into the sky, and your carry distance will be shorter than it could have been with a higher spin rate. On the other end of the spectrum, a drive with too much spin is going to balloon up into the air and come down short of its potential. The goal here, obviously, is to find the middle ground between those two extremes. Using technology can be quite helpful here, as you can measure your spin rate on a launch monitor and then make changes to improve your number. Those changes may mean new equipment, or they may involve altering your swing technique in some way.
- Launch angle. As the name would indicate, the launch angle of your drives is the angle at which the ball leaves the club face. Again here, just as was the case with spin rate, you are looking for a happy medium. And, again, a launch monitor can help you work your way into that perfect zone. The right launch angle for you will depend on variables like your swing speed and spin rate, so this is a complicated thing to nail down unless you have technology on your side.
- Swing path. The final ingredient we are going to highlight here is swing path. Ideally, you want to be swinging directly down the line when you make contact with the ball, for a couple of reasons. First, when you swing directly down the line toward your target, you will be making the moment of impact more efficient, since your contact with the ball will be a direct hit. Also, this method is going to minimize side spin, helping your ball to fly straighter toward the target (and not wasting energy moving side to side in the air). Most golfers thinking about swinging down the target line as something which is important for accuracy purposes, but it can also help you hit the ball farther.
As you can see, there is a lot to consider when thinking about how you can create power with your driver. This list doesn't even include everything that plays a role in determining how far your ball is going to travel. Other variables include your angle of attack through the hitting area, matching your ball flight to the weather and course conditions, and more.
Some Basic Technical Keys
Every golf swing is unique. Even if you try to swing the club in a similar manner to one of your favorite pros, your swing is still going to have its own unique quirks. However, while everyone has his or her own swing to work on improving, there are some basic keys which can be shared across the board. As you work on improving your distance off the tee, keep the following tips in mind.
- It's all about rotation. Golf is a rotational game, and you are only going to be able to create significant power if you make a great turn in your swing. You don't necessarily have to have the biggest backswing rotation in the game to hit powerful drives, but you do need to turn back and through consistently from shot to shot. Many amateur golfers allow their arms to control the swinging action while the core of their body just stays mostly in place. That type of swing is never going to produce the kind of power you desire. Focus your efforts to making a great turn in both directions and you will start to discover access to power that you may not have known was available.
- Stay grounded. When hitting a driver, you might get too excited and actually start to push up away from the ground and onto your toes. This is not usually the best way to generate power. Instead, you should focus on staying grounded, keeping your feet flat on the turf as your body rotates through the hitting area. Not only will staying down help you create as much rotational speed as possible, but it will also make it easier to achieve solid contact. Your left foot should stay down on the ground throughout the entire swing, but it is a good idea to let your right heel come up as you move into the finish.
- Lag the club down into the ball. This is one of the most important tips you can receive when looking for extra yards. During the downswing, you need to hold the angle between your left arm and the shaft of the club. That means you aren't going to release the club prematurely, but rather you're going to wait as deep into the downswing as possible before firing the club head with your right hand. This is an advanced move, to be sure, and it is one which gives many amateur golfers trouble. Practice your lag by hitting shorter shots, such as pitches or soft wedges. As you get more and more comfortable with how lag works and what it feels like in the swing, give it a try with your driver. This move is almost certain to take some considerable time before it feels comfortable, but the rewards for getting it right can be impressive.
- Swing from inside to out. If you can attack the ball slightly from the inside, you'll have a good chance to deliver as much power into the shot as possible. When you come from the inside as you swing through impact, you'll be in a strong position to accelerate the club all the way through the ball. Many amateur golfers hit across the ball by pulling the club down from the outside, and this method is never going to create the kind of power needed for long drives. Note – you don't necessarily need to hit a draw just because you are swinging from the inside. If you swing through from the inside with an open face, you can still create a fade. While many long hitters do use a draw, it is not necessarily required for big distance off the tee.
You want to keep things as simple as possible when in search of added distance with your driver. If you add complicated moves or thoughts to your driver swing, you aren't going to be happy with the results. This is a game which is best played by keeping things simple and executing the fundamentals as cleanly as possible. Get down to work on the keys listed above and we are confident that your drives will begin to make their way farther and farther down the fairway.
