Driving distance is a combination of many factors. You can't simply overpower the golf ball by using big muscles to force it down the fairway. Instead, you have to swing the club in a technically correct manner so that the speed can build naturally from the top of the swing down to impact. Golfers who try to overpower the ball in order to hit long drives are going to be frustrated and disappointed with the results. Take the advice provided above and head to your local driving range to work on your technique as well as your mental approach. Remember, the additional yards that you are looking for are unlikely to appear all at once, so be patient and pat yourself on the back each time you notice a couple of extra yards showing up at the end of your drives. Over time, your technique and mental game will consistently improve, and you will eventually be able to hit consistently longer shots with your driver.

The pursuit of distance can be a good thing for your golf game, but it is important to remember that it should not come at the expense of your basic mechanics. If you have to go outside of the realm of your normal golf swing in order to produce more power, you should avoid making that trade. Accuracy will always be more important than power in golf, even if it is fun to launch your driver as far as possible. Losing track of the mechanics that make your golf swing work is a critical mistake, as that can cause trouble for you not only off the tee, but with the rest of your clubs as well.

Distance is a topic that always seems to come up when talking golf with other players. How far do you hit your driver? How far can you hit a 7-iron? Whatever club it may be, it seems that many players want to focus on nothing but raw power. And while it is important to note that there is far more to playing good golf than just hitting the ball hard, it certainly is an advantage to be a powerful player.

In this article, we are going to cover the topic of distance from a variety of angles. First, we’ll talk about why distance is important and why it is worthwhile to pursue those few extra yards. Later, we’ll get into some tips that may help you add distance, as well as some miscellaneous points regarding things like distance control and distance gapping. Finally, the short game will be discussed, as the distance of your shots in that area is crucial, as well.

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.


— Why is Distance Important?

If you have any experience at all in golf, you already know that accuracy is extremely important. If you are going to get around the course with a good score, you have to be accurate with your shots more often than not. Missing your targets by a wide margin is a sure way to end up in trouble, whether that trouble is the rough, a sand trap, a hazard, or anything else.
So, we know that it’s important to be accurate. But does that mean you should ignore distance and just focus on learning how to hit targets? Not exactly. It might not be as important as accuracy, but the ability to hit the ball a long distance can pay off in a big way. Let’s take a look at three benefits you can enjoy when you add distance to your game.

• Shorter approach shots. This is the big one. If you hit longer tee shots, you’ll obviously have shorter approaches into the greens – and shorter approach shots should mean more greens hit in regulation and more birdie chances. For one thing, it’s just easier to be accurate when you are closer to a target, no matter what kind of game you are playing. Just like a basketball player shooting a jump shot, success should go up as you get closer to the target. Also, your shorter clubs fly higher in the air and place more backspin on the ball, so it’s easier to stop your approaches after they land. This is especially important if you play golf on courses with firm greens. Any way you look at it, hitting your approach shots from closer to the target is going to make your life on the course easier – and your scores should go down as a result.
• More options for strategic decisions. Just because you have the ability to generate a significant amount of power in your swing doesn’t mean you have to use that power at each and every opportunity. Sometimes, the better decision will be to lay back off the tee and play for position rather than trying to maximize distance. With that said, those players who do have significant power enjoy the advantage of making those decisions. For instance, if you can generate a lot of power with your driver, you should be able to hit your three wood a good distance, as well. That means it becomes a viable option off the tee on many par fours, so you’ll be able to assess the design of the hole and the conditions before making a swing. Some golfers are unfamiliar with the strategy side of golf, as they are used to simply swinging away with the driver on every par four and par five. Not only is golf more fun when there is some strategy involved but using strategic thinking can open up the possibility of lower scores.
• Deal with wind. It’s a fact of life on the golf course that some days are going to be windier than others. Playing golf in the wind can certainly be a challenge, but it’s a little easier when you have plenty of power available in your swing. Does that mean you should swing as hard as possible on a windy day? No – quite the opposite, in fact. It’s a good idea to make softer swings in the wind, as this will keep your spin rate down and make it easier to control the golf ball. So, if you are starting from a position of being a powerful player, you can turn down the effort to reduce spin without hitting the ball so short that it just isn’t playable. Learning to play well in the wind is a skill that can take years to develop but know that adding power to your game should make progress in this area a little easier.

This list could keep going, but you should get the point by now – hitting the ball a long distance is extremely helpful as you strive for lower scores and better overall play. In addition to opening up more opportunities on the course, hitting long drives is simply a fun thing to do. If you can smash a drive right down the middle and watch the ball bounce and roll past your playing partners, you’ll certainly get hooked on that feeling.


— Adding Power to Your Swing

So, now that we understand why distance can be helpful in your game, how do you go about picking up yards off the tee and with your irons? Should you rebuild your entire swing technique in the hopes that you will start hitting the ball harder? Probably not. Unless you are a full-time professional golfer who can dedicate hour after hour to a swing change, making dramatic changes is just too difficult. Instead, what you can do is make a series of small changes aimed at boosting your power.
We have listed a few ideas below for you to consider. Each of these may not be right for your technique, so pick and choose which ones you apply based on your swing’s needs.

• More time to turn. Most golfers know that a big shoulder turn can help to create speed. However, what you might not know is that it takes time to perform a good turn in your backswing. If you are rushing your backswing in an effort to get to the downswing as soon as possible, you might be cutting yourself short. To add to your turn, consider simply trying to take a bit more time as you turn away. It will feel odd at first to take longer in your backswing, but you should get used to it as you practice. Work on this new rhythm and you might find that you are able to unlock some previously untapped power just by giving yourself extra time.

• Strengthen your grip. There are a variety of reasons to opt for a stronger grip. If you aren’t familiar with this turn, strengthening your grip means rotating your hands to the right on the handle, as you look down from address. It’s certainly possible to play good golf with a weak grip, but you may struggle to generate power if you don’t have a strong grip to help you make more effectively use of your hands and wrists. We need to warn you on this point – it’s hard to change your grip. If you decide to give it a shot, expect to put in plenty of work and plan to go through a period where you struggle to make solid contact. You’ll feel uncomfortable with your swing for a while as you work on a new grip, but it might pay off in a big way if you stick with it.
• Relaxed grip pressure. It might feel like the best way to hit the ball hard would be to hold onto the grip as tight as possible before swinging away. Unfortunately, that’s the opposite of what you should be doing, and holding on so tightly could lead to trouble. With a tight grip, it will be hard for the club to release fully through impact, meaning your swing speed could be held back. If you really want to produce a significant amount of speed, use a lighter grip to allow the swing to flow freely. The best way to adjust to a lighter grip pressure is to start small by hitting short shots before gradually working your way up into bigger swings. Start at the chipping area, hitting short pitches with light grip pressure. As you gain confidence, move back to the range and start hitting full wedges with your light grip pressure, and go from there until you all the way to the top of your back with the driver. Of course, you need to remain in control of the club at all times, so don’t allow your grip to get so light that the club may fly out of your hands.
• Add extension. There is often a direction relationship between the extension of a swing and the speed that swing can produce. With a swing that achieves good extension, you’ll have more room between the ball and your club at the top of the backswing – and that means you will have more distance for the club to accelerate before it contacts the ball. Where many amateur golfers lose extension is early in the backswing, so focus on this part of your technique to improve overall extension. Don’t allow your hands and wrists to get too involved early in the takeaway. Use your shoulders to turn the club away from the target, causing your upper body to rotate while your hands stay quiet. If you can execute this move effectively, there should be plenty of extension in your swing, and you should add to the potential power that you have available.

It’s not easy to add power to your swing. Of course, it’s not easy to do anything in this game. Golf is hard, and you’ll have to put in plenty of effort during practice if you want to make meaningful progress. Pick out one of the points above that you think will benefit your swing and get down to work. The sooner you get started, the sooner you can see results show up on the course.


— Miscellaneous Distance Points to Consider
When the conversation turns to distance, it’s not all about learning how to hit the ball as hard and far as you can. There are other topics in the distance discussion, and those are what we are going to tackle in this section. These points aren’t aimed at helping you hit the ball farther, but rather they are related to managing distance in a way that will help you play better golf.

• Consistent distance control. With your irons, distance control is the name of the game. Perhaps even more than controlling the ball from a left and right perspective, controlling your distance is vital to getting the ball close to the hole. Of course, you’d prefer to have both pieces of the puzzle in place, but controlling distance is often at the top of a pro golfer’s priority list because of just how important it is. So, how do you control your distances successfully on the course? For starters, try to keep your effort level consistent. Rather than swinging hard sometimes and soft others, try to use a consistent level of effort for as many shots as possible. That won’t always be an option, as you have to adjust to things like conditions and odd yardages, but keep it in mind that you want to maintain your swing effort on as many shots as you can. Also, making solid contact with the ball will help to regulate your distance, and you can work on improving that aspect of your game just by practicing more. Hitting more balls on the range should make you a more reliable ball striker, and you should be able to more accurately predict how far your shots are going to go as a result.
• Even distance gapping. This is a topic that doesn’t get a lot of attention among amateur golfers, but it’s an important one in your development as a player. Distance gapping refers to the number of yards between each of your clubs in terms of their average carry distance. So, for instance, if you can hit your 6-iron 165-yards, and your 7-iron 150-yards, your gap between those two is 15 yards. The key when building your set is to keep your gaps as consistent as possible so you don’t have huge holes in the yardages you can cover. If you have something like 20- or 25-yards between two of your clubs, you are going to be in big trouble if you land on a yardage right between those two. The gaps will naturally get a bit larger as you work your way up toward the longest clubs in your bag but do your best to assemble a set that helps you cover as many possible yardages as possible on the course.
• An adjustment option. Even with good gapping in your set, you are still going to run into awkward yardages during every round – it’s just how the game works. To be ready for those tough yardages, it’s a good idea to have an adjusted swing you can use to knock a few yards off of your normal iron shot distance. So, for instance, if you hit a normal 7-iron shot 150-yards, it would be good to have a swing that you can turn to in order to carry the ball 145-yards or so. That’s not a huge difference, but it will help cover up the holes in your gapping. One of the best ways to cut down a few yards is simply to choke down on the grip of the club at address. Moving your hands down will shorten the length of the swing, and it should pull a bit of speed out of the swing. It’s important to note that you need to work on this shot in practice before putting it to use on the course. You’ll use your same basic swing technique, but you are going to have a different feel during the swing – so it’s good to work on this at the range.

It’s a great feeling when you know you can control the distance of the ball. You will have an easier time setting up birdie putts when you hit the ball the right yardage on a consistent basis, and it’s also easier to keep your ball out of trouble. Even if you want to work on adding distance, set aside some time to work on controlling how far you hit your shots and how many different yardages you can handle.


— Distance in the Short Game

When it comes to the short game, you obviously aren’t going to be too concerned with maximizing your power. It’s right there in the name – ‘short’ game – these aren’t long shots and they don’t require big swings. So, the issue of distance in the short game is a matter of managing how far the ball travels on your chips and putts. If you can consistently control your distance in the short game, you’ll be sure to shave strokes off your game.

How do you go about controlling distance on your short shots? Let’s take a quick look at some tips.

• Make clean contact. You might not think about this point right off the bat when working on the short game, but solid contact on the center of the face is a big deal here. You can’t accurately predict how quickly the ball is going to come off the club if you don’t know where you will be making contact. Work consistently on striking the ball with the center of the face – whether you are using a wedge or a putter – and your distance control will quickly improve.
• Warm up thoroughly. One of the best ways to improve your distance control is to spend some time before each round getting comfortable with the conditions. Specifically, there are two variables you’ll need to nail down. For one thing, you need to get familiar with the speed of the greens that day. Don’t assume the greens will be the same speed as the last time you played the course, as green speeds can and do change regularly. Also, find a spot where you can warm up chipping, so you can get a feel for the firmness of the ground. If the ball is going to bounce hard when it lands, you need to know that, so you can plan your chip shots accordingly.
• Read elevation. When reading short game shots, golfers tend to become obsessed with the side-to-side slope of the ground. And that piece of the puzzle is important, of course, but it’s not the whole story. You also need to read the elevation change, in terms of uphill or downhill. Walk off to the side of your line, roughly halfway between the ball and the hole, so you can judge the elevation change and decide how hard you’ll need to hit the shot. As you get used to reading elevation in your short shots, you will get better and better and dialing in your distances.

We hope you have enjoyed this discussion on the topic of distance in golf. Whether you are obsessed with the idea of hitting the ball as far as possible, or you just want to squeak out a few extra yards to keep up with your buddies, always remember to stay focused on your fundamentals and don’t sacrifice technique in the pursuit of power. With any luck, your efforts will lead to a future filled with long and straight shots, both from the tee and out of the fairway. Good luck!