How To Drive The Ball 101

Just because it’s too cold for the course, doesn’t mean no golf. Now’s the perfect time of year to practice and hone your skills. So let’s go back to basics! You might not think it’s exciting, but the winter is when you should check in and make sure that the fundamentals of your game are there. Today’s we’ll take a look that exciting skill – Driving!

1. Check to see if your driver suits your swing by finding where the ball comes out of the clubface. Go to the driving range and bring a marker. Once you’re warmed up, take ten balls and mark a spot the size of a thumbnail on the back of each ball. Tee the ball up with the spot at the back of the ball. Hit all ten balls then have a look at the face of the club. Each ball should have left a mark. Find out where the average position would be and then mark that spot on the driver face. This is the spot which normally makes contact with the ball. Ideally it would be in the middle of the face but most often it is to one side or another. If the mark is a long way from the middle of the club, to the heel or toe, it might well be that the shaft of the driver is wrong for you and the general design. If this is the case, it might be time to find a new driver. If the marks are generally near the middle, you can adjust your tee height.

2. Make sure your setup is correct. This is the single most important swing fundamental in golf. At address your body should be parallel to the target. For driving, your feet should be about two inches wider than shoulder width. Your front foot should be flared toward the target from 20 to 40 degrees to allow the body to rotate toward the target on the downswing. The back foot should be square to slightly open to create the proper hip turn on the back swing. Ball placement varies by club. For drivers, the ball is played the farthest forward(three ball widths forward of center) in order to hit the ball on the upswing. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet, 60% on your forward foot, 40% on the back.Keep your hands a “palm’s length” away from your body. The most important thing about the driver stance is to lean back away from the target. This tilts the swing arc back enabling the golfer to hit the ball on the up.

3. Set the head back and to the right and keep it there until you hit the ball. This anchors the body enabling the golfer to hit against a firm left side which creates centrifugal force and encourages a powerful release of the hands through impact.

4. Swing to a full finish. Make sure you hit right through the ball to compress it to its maximum for extra ball speed. Finish with your right foot in the classic finish position with the right sole vertical and pointing away from the hole. The front of your body, or your belt buckle, should be facing the hole.

5. Commit to hitting the driver. Once you have decided to use a driver off the tee make sure you commit to if fully. Don’t back off and try to guide the club, its not designed for that. If you use a driver, swing to a finish and commit to it with conviction.

6. Check out this video from VideoJug for more tips!

So hit the range Rock Heads and practice!