Do you want more distance with the driver? Hitting your driver farther, in terms of the total distance from the tee, is possible if you master club speed. Club speed is a golf term that stands for "Clubhead Speed" and measures how fast the club swings at impact.
The best long hitters in the world, such as Bryson DeChambeau, generate insane clubhead speed. DeChambeau recently stated that he has a clubhead speed over 200 mph which tires him out.
The result? DeChambeau has hit drivers well over 350 yards, and some of his drives have hit 400+ yards. That's insane!
Imagine hitting 320-meter drives on your golf course. You'd be almost on the green on most par-four holes and could rely on your wedges to hit birdie putts.
The following tips outline various techniques to keep hitting your driver this season, so take notes and put these tips into practice.
Tip 1: Increase the angle of attack
The first tip for getting more distance with the driver is to swing into the golf ball with an upward angle. This creates the launch and helps get the golf ball higher in the air.
Many golfers could easily add more distance to their drives by hitting higher drives that create more carry distance (time in the air before landing).
The driver is the only club in the bag that shouldn't have a negative angle of attack. It should be neutral or positive when tracking your angle of attack with a launch monitor, trackman, or other swing tracking technology.
Visit a club-fitting professional for initial analysis to learn more about your current launch angle and the angle of attack of your driver into the golf ball.
Tip 2: Tee the golf ball higher
Sean Foley, a professional golf swing coach who coaches many PGA Tour players, once had a great quote about hitting the golf ball higher for your driver: "If you launch the ball higher, you have a better chance of swinging it up and hitting the top of the face, which sends the ball flying higher and with less distance-robbing spin."
Try this tip and make adjustments to find the right ball height to yield a better launch and contact.
Another tip: Try to alter this difference in driver swing. The ball is not in the middle but further to the left in the starting position. A position just in front of the left foot is ideal. This ensures that the ball is hit upward during the swing. The result is a more incredible expanse.
Tip 3: Keep moving the golf ball toward your lead foot
This golf swing technique, in which you position the ball forward in your stance (more to the left foot for right-handers), also helps improve the angle of attack. In this way, you can enable the driver to hit the ball much more on the upswing.
If the ball were in the middle of your stance, the driver would be more likely to hit the tee below the ball since it's at the bottom of the swing.
Then, after the bottom of the swing, the driver begins the backswing again, and therefore front ball placement near the front foot in your stance can help give the driver a chance to hit the ball on the backswing.
The foot stance is wider than in a single iron swing. Because of the greater speed of the clubhead, the golfer needs an even better stance. This is especially important for players who tend to "hook," which means involuntarily launching the ball to the left, turning it around, and not completing the golf swing to the end. This causes the driver's face to close too quickly, i.e., pointing too much to the left at the moment of impact.
Tip 4: Slightly lower your shoulders
This minor spinal adjustment helps your front shoulder (left shoulder if right-handed) point more toward the sky as you drop your back shoulder (right shoulder if right-handed). It also creates the opportunity to hit the ball with a higher angle of attack. Be careful not to overdo it!
Check your spine angle and shoulder position in a mirror. Practice this attitude at home until you feel comfortable with the new position.
During the first swings of the day, there is often a tendency not to turn your upper body as far as is necessary for an excellent golf swing. The following can serve as a guide: Reach so far that your left shoulder is behind the stationary ball. Then you are usually on an optimal swing path.
Similar to the idea that the left shoulder should be positioned behind the stationary ball, at the same time, bring your right shoulder into the position so that your back points towards the goal. If you neglect this, there is a high risk that you will play a slice, so the golf ball will involuntarily launch to the right and continue to veer.
Tip 5: Increase your swing speed
You don't necessarily need more power for the perfect golf swing with the driver. Compared to hitting with an iron, the golf swing with the driver initially requires a speed change.
The faster your swing speed, the farther you can hit the golf ball. Working on the mechanics of the golf swing and the timing of body rotations from the shoulders to the hips to the wrists can affect how fast the clubhead swings at impact.
Don't just try to swing harder. Keep your body in control and rhythm. The closer you are to the rhythm, the more power you can generate with your legs, arms, and hands as they disengage from the twisted backswing.
Ensure an optimal swing rhythm by keeping the clubhead speed constantly high. Anyone who picks up speed with the driver late runs the risk of acquiring a dirty and uncontrolled swing. As with the previous tip, keep the pace to the end of the swing motion to get a solid driver shot. It's the mix of control and speed that counts.
Wide Variation in Golfers' Distances
Some golfers like to play with open-faced drivers (that is, without much loft), although the best results are achieved with the classic closed face. For example, if you hit a ball off any iron lying in the grass at your home course's driving range, you will find that it flies high and lands softly after only five or six meters. This means that this clubface can help generate maximum speed when compared to other types of driver's faces.
The softer material of the golf ball (for example, Urethane versus hardcover) affects how far you can hit it. A urethane-covered ball travels further than a harder ball because more elastic energy travels through the body during impact. When clubs are too heavily built and stiff, you can also expect a lower drive velocity and increased chance of mishits.
For example, if golfers hit less than 150 yards with their irons (no matter what distance is realistic for them), switching to a deeper-faced driver head that helps generate more swing speed can help to achieve greater distances.
The same principle applies when the golfer hits the ball only 100 meters with his irons: He should switch to an even shorter driver because this could provide him with the added punch he needs to reach his goal of hitting longer shots. You see: Ultimately, it's all about comparing your actual strengths and weaknesses and making the right decision based on these facts alone.
Learning Your Yardages
As in any sport, the length and quality of your drives depend on dozens of different factors. If you are looking to get one thing right away, focusing on learning how to properly contact the golf ball with your driver is a good start. The ball should land within 6 inches from where it took off so that you can control your distance. A proper grip, stance, swing path, clubhead speed are all important components of an effective drive.
The correct placement of the hands at address can have a significant influence on your ability to hit long shots. During the swing sequence prior to impact, if you ensure that both of your arms remain fully extended until after contact has been made with the ball then you reduce the risk of making a mistake.
As for the golf ball itself, it becomes more difficult to achieve greater distance if you are hitting with a softer material because these balls deform much faster at impact compared to harder materials. This means that they do not travel as far as balls made of solid urethane, which is why golfers looking for distance tend to prefer harder surfaces.
Knowing your Yardages
Most people have trouble estimating their own yardages. It's much better to know exactly how far you can hit your clubs so that you won't be forced to make unnecessary decisions on the course. A good idea would be to always carry around 2-3 clubs less than what many players carry during each round (for example, instead of having 3 wedges, carry only 2).
The best way to get reliable yardages is to play enough rounds so that you can learn the exact distances for each one of your clubs. This will allow you to have a good chance at being within 3 yards of your chosen target when using longer irons and wedges.
Swing speed is primarily what determines how far you hit the ball with each swing. The faster your backswing and downswing, the more energy will be transferred into the golf ball and the greater distance it travels (provided that everything else in your form is right). You should also pay attention to how much weight you shift from side-to-side during impact if you want to add distance.
When hitting long shots, it is necessary to transfer your body weight from the left side of the ball into the right side in order for most golfers to generate a faster swing speed. The more weight is transferred, the faster the club head will travel and the longer it will go after impact with the ball.
Learning how to hit long shots requires a lot of practice and patience before you can see good results. It's not uncommon to only see an improvement in yardages when you start using fairway woods or hybrids instead of long irons because these clubs have smaller heads that are much easier to control. Relaxing your hands during impact is crucial if you want to increase your distance with each shot so make sure that this part of your form is accurate prior to making any conclusions.
Driving in the Wind
One of the greatest factors when learning how to increase your driver distance is how windy it is outside. If you are playing when there's a strong headwind, then you can forget about hitting anything far because this means that you will have to swing much faster in order to make up for lost yardage.
It may sound counter-intuitive but hitting into a headwind actually requires less effort than swinging with a tailwind because the wind will be pushing against you as you hit (which decreases clubhead speed). This doesn't necessarily mean that it's easier to hit long shots under these conditions but it definitely increases your chances of getting closer to your target each time.
The best way to learn how to increase your driver distance in wind would be to ensure that you have a complete understanding of the weather conditions outside. If it's especially windy then you should choose another club or just putt instead of hitting a drive until the wind dies down. Golf is a sport where it pays to always adapt your gear and strategy to match what Mother Nature has in store for you at every moment during the round.
Conclusion
The golf swing with the driver is considered one of the most challenging hits. We hope that this collection of tips from the masters will help you perfect your driver distance and improve the quality of your swing.
Mike Regan
Mike is a weekend golfer from Connecticut and a devoted fan of the game who turned his passion into the writing experience. Any day he keeps it under 80 is a cool day. When he's not writing about golf his is playing it.