Maximizing your driving distance requires accelerating into and through the ball. One key difference between pros and amateurs is that the pro's swing appears to be fastest after contact, while the amateur's reaches top speed before impact.
Here's a great drill to make sure you're accelerating into and beyond the ball.
1. Tee up a ball for your driver, then place a second tee (without ball) in the ground about 8-12 inches in front of your ball, on the target line.
2. On the downswing, imagine that you're trying to hit a ball on the second tee. Be careful not to move your eyes and head toward the second tee – focus on the ball just as you would for a normal drive.
By “chasing” the second tee with the clubhead, you'll naturally accelerate at the proper time, maxing out in those critical inches just before and after impact.
The transition from the driving range to the course can be a tricky one, but there is no reason you can't perform well on the course as long as you have the right mindset. Golf is a game that requires confidence, so do your best to believe in yourself even if you aren't the best player in the world – or even the best player in your group.
With any luck, the two tee drill should help you to quickly add at least a few yards to your tee shots. In addition, it should be able to help you move your technique in the right direction, as staying down through the ball is something that can benefit all players. Since this drill is so easy to use and requires no extra equipment from what you already carry in your bag, it should be an easy one to add to your regular practice routine. Good luck and enjoy your newfound power!
Add Driving Distance with Two Tee Drill
Would you like to hit longer drives? Asking that question to a golfer is like asking someone if they would like free money – of course they would. All golfers would love to add distance to their tee shots, but actually accomplishing that feat is easier said than done. You have likely pursued many different options already in an effort to add distance, such as working on your physical conditioning, buying a new driver, fine tuning your mechanics, and more. In this article, we are going to look at a simple yet effective method that just may be able to help you tack some yards on to the end of your average drive - the two tee drill.
Drills are a great way to improve in golf. You can spend all day listening to a golf instructor or watching golf tips on TV, but you might not actually be any better in the end. Why? Because, for many people, improvement in golf is only going to come through doing, rather than just listening. With drills, you are able to get involved in the learning process by feeling a specific move that you need to make in the swing. When you transition back to your normal swing from the drill, you will still have the feeling of the drill in the back of your mind – meaning that the adjustment you made is more likely to stick for the long haul.
When looking for drills to use in your golf game, you want to focus on those that are simple and easy to perform. Some golf teachers make a habit of developing incredibly complicated drills, but those drills are only going to confuse you and overwhelm your mind during practice. Simple is always better in golf, and that certainly is true in the case of practice drills. Fortunately, the two tee drill fits nicely into the simple category. As you will see when we get into the details of this drill below, you need very little in the way of equipment for this drill, and the setup takes only a moment or two. Everything you need for this drill should already be in your golf bag.
Before we get started on the specifics of this drill and what it can do for your swing, we should take a moment to emphasize the fact that distance is not the only important part of your driving performance. In fact, it is not even the most important part, as that honor goes to accuracy. Accuracy will always be more important than distance off the tee, as keeping your ball in play is the number one thing you can do to produce lower scores. Adding distance from the tee can be a big help, but never sacrifice accuracy in the process. Only when you have both of those elements working together will you truly be satisfied with your driving performance.
All of the content below is written from the perspective of a right handed golfer. If you happen to play left handed, please take a moment to reverse the directions as necessary.
Performing the Drill
We are going to jump right into the specifics on how you can use this drill during your own practice sessions. Later in the article, we will discuss why this drill is beneficial to your swing, and exactly how it can lead to improved driving distance. Before any of that is relevant, however, you need to know how to use the drill out on the range. To give this a try for yourself, simply follow the steps listed below.
- Head to the driving range with your normal collection of golf equipment in tow. For this drill, you are only going to need the following – your driver, some range balls to hit, and two golf tees. That's it.
- To set up for the drill, place a ball down on a tee in front of you and select a target for the shot. You are going to be hitting a driver, of course, so make sure the target is well off in the distance. The target is going to play an important role in this drill, so do not skip over this key step.
- Once you have a specific target in mind for your shot, stand back and look directly down the target line (an imaginary line between your ball and the target). This is where the second tee in this drill is going to come into play. The second tee is going to be placed directly on the target line, approximately one foot in front of the first tee (closer to the target). As you stand over the ball in your address position, you should see the second tee about one foot to the left of the first tee. With this setup completed, you will be ready to hit your first shot.
- The goal of your swing in this drill is simple – to hit the ball toward the target while thinking about swinging down the line and through the second tee. You need to keep your eye on the first ball, of course, but the feeling of swinging through the second tee should be in the back of your mind. As you head through impact, 'chase' the ball down the line so that you driver head moves in the direction of the target for as long as possible. After you have swung aggressively down the line, continue your swing on up to a balanced finish as you watch the ball fly.
As you can see, this is a very simple drill. There are only four steps involved, and one of those steps is the act of taking yourself and your set of clubs out to the driving range. Even for a beginning golfer, this drill will be very easy to set up and execute. Feel free to hit as many shots as you would like while using this drill before going back to your normal setup for a practice drive.
The Benefits
It is one thing to go through the process of performing a given drill on the driving range – it is another thing to have that drill actually help you play better golf. So, how does the two tee drill make you a better player? And specifically, how does it help to add distance to your drives? As you will see in the list below, the two tee drill actually has a number of benefits that can be enjoyed when you use this practice drill regularly.
- Staying down through the shot. One of the biggest mistakes that amateur golfers make in the golf swing is to come up out of the shot early. That means that the head and shoulders move up and away from the ball before impact has even occurred – and the club head is pulled back off of the target line as a result. Obviously, this is a mistake. You need to stay down through your shots all the way into the follow through if you wish to strike powerful, accurate drives. By focusing on swinging through a tee that is a foot in front of the ball itself, you will be forcing yourself to stay down. There is no way to complete this drill successfully if you are coming up and out of your swing. While staying down might feel uncomfortable at first, it is sure to take your swing in the right direction after a bit of practice.
- Continuing acceleration. Another common problem experience by amateur players is decelerating the club head through the hitting area. As you swing down, you might be tempted to 'ease up' on your swing just prior to the moment of impact. Many golfers do this in an attempt to guide the ball into the fairway. Of course, decelerating the club before you actually hit the ball is going to cost you distance, and it is going to make it harder to control your shots as well. You should be accelerating through impact on every shot you hit throughout the course, and that certainly included those struck with a driver off the tee. In the two tee drill, you will be focused on swinging aggressively through the ball and beyond, meaning the club head should be accelerating nicely. Remember this important point when hitting shots out on the course to avoid the dreaded deceleration mistake.
- Chasing the target line. Golf is a game that is all about targets. If you are not hitting your targets, you are not shooting low scores – it's just that simple. In this drill, you are going to be working on moving the club head down the target line for as far as possible through impact. Staying on the target line is going to give you a better chance to actually hit the target in the end. It doesn't matter whether you are trying to hit a draw or fade with your tee shot, chasing the club down the target line is going to improve your consistency and keep the ball in the fairway more often.
- An aggressive mindset. This is a point that falls in line with the point above regarding accelerating the club through impact. It is far too common for amateur golfers to swing their driver with a scared, timid attitude in mind. Hoping not to make a mistake, many golfers slowly brush the drivers through the hitting area, trying to steer the ball out into play somewhere. Needless to say, this is not how professional golfers approach the task of hitting a tee shot. On the tee, most pros are aggressive and confidence. They turn the club loose through the ball and expect to see it flying high down the middle of the fairway. While you might not possess the power, or even the consistency, of a professional golfer, you can still copy their mindset. Thinking confidently on the tee can add yards to your drives, and it can help you to perform better under pressure. By using this drill, you will force yourself to swing aggressively, and you just might change your mindset in the process.
You have a lot to gain by using this drill during your upcoming practice sessions. Since it is such a simple drill, it should be easy to incorporate into your practice routine without wasting time or effort on complicated setup procedures. Leave those other complicated drills for someone else and stick with simple options like the two tee drill for rapid improvement.
Avoiding the Slide
Unfortunately, you can complete this drill successfully while still swinging the club the wrong way. This has to do with making a sliding action toward the target, rather than rotating properly. In an effort to stay down the target line for as long as possible, you might find that you are tempted to slide your body to the left throughout the downswing. Of course, that is the wrong way to stay down through your shots, as your downswing should consist of rotation rather than a sliding action.
So how do you know if you are sliding too much in your downswing? Watch your finish position. When the swing is complete, are you nicely balanced over your left leg? If so, you have done a good job of rotating on the way through impact. However, if you are leaning so far left that you have trouble holding your finish position, it may be that you are sliding excessively on the way down. Sliding to the left will move your weight to the outside of your left foot, and it will be nearly impossible to recover from there. Work on using rotation rather than lateral movement to swing the club through the ball and your balance should quickly improve.
You will soon notice while rotating rather than sliding that you need to extend your right arm fully through impact if you are to stay on the target line. This is another point that comes along with being aggressive in the swing. You might be tempted to pull back slightly with your arms through impact as the downswing continues, but that action is only going to limit your power. As the club whips through the ball, feel like you are using your right arm to chase the ball down the target line for as long as possible. This kind of full release with your right arm, along with great body rotation, is going to lead to an impressive combination of power and accuracy in your tee shots.
The nice thing about working on the rotational aspect of your swing through the use of the two tee drill is that this work will help you throughout the rest of your bag as well. This is not a move that is limited only to the driver – you need to be rotating rather than sliding with all of your clubs. By putting in the work with your driver, you should soon see that the performance you experience with the rest of your set is improved as well. The ability to rotate rather than slide is one of the things that separates accomplished golfers from their less-capable counterparts, so be sure you teach yourself how to rotate correctly as soon as possible. The two tee drill can help you do just that, as long as it is used properly.
Taking It to the Course
Working on your game at the driving range is an important step in the process of improving your performance, but the real test comes when you head back to the course. Your time on the range will only have been well spent if you manage to carry over your improvements from the tee line to the tee box. Many golfers have a great deal of difficulty with this step, so it is important to think about how you are going to make the transition properly. Before you play your first round of golf after working with the two tee drill, read through the following list of helpful tips. These tips should make it easier for you to see the results you achieved on the range actually show up on the course as well.
- Pick a spot. If you have been using the two tee drill with great success on the driving range, there is no reason you can't carry over that same concept out onto the golf course. While it would be against the rules of golf to place a tee out in front of your ball as a guide, you can look for a spot on the ground to serve the same purpose. As you tee up your ball for a driver shot, look out in front of the ball by about a foot to find a spot on the ground that you will be able to see at address. This spot could be a small clump of dirt, a bare spot in the turf, or just about anything else that will catch your eye. Make sure that spot is directly down your target line, and then use it as you swing just as you were using the extra tee on the range. This is a perfectly legal method to use during a round of golf, and it can be a great help as you try to replicate your driving range results on the course.
- Maintain your aggressive mindset. It is easy to be aggressive with your swing on the driving range, as there are no consequences for a poor shot. If you hit a bad drive on the range, you simply reach for another ball and try again. The story is different on the course, where a bad swing will cost you a stroke or two on the scorecard. However, even though there are now consequences for your bad swings, you still need to be just as aggressive as you were on the range. A big part of maintaining your aggression is knowing when to keep the driver in the bag. If you are feeling nervous prior to a tee shot because the fairway is narrow, for instance, you might be better served to hit a three wood or hybrid instead. By only using your driver on holes where it has plenty of room to work, you can improve your confidence and your swing should become naturally more aggressive as a result.
- Have a specific target in mind. Unfortunately, this is a point that countless amateur golfers ignore. Rather than picking a target for their tee shots with the driver, many golfers simply aim for the middle of the fairway and hope for the best. Don't put yourself in that category. A lack of a specific target will often lead to a lazy, unfocused swing. Find a specific target in the distance that you want to use for your drive, and do your best to hit that target precisely. It will take some patience and focus to select a target for all of your tee shots, but you will be rewarded for your efforts with better performance.
