Free Golf Tips Online Archives

Golf Driving Tips

The following adjustments to your position at address are easy to make, and will quickly improve the striking, trajectory, and distance of your drives. Really, it will. And if it doesn't, go back and re-read this!!!!

Tee the ball a little higher than normal (i.e. get BIGGER tees!!!), and play it forward in your stance, opposite the instep of your left foot (REMEMBER!!! On drives, your feet do not point directly ahead, i.e. they don't point towards where you eyes are looking. They should be slightly spread apart for BALANCE!!).

Widen your stance slightly, and put 60 - 65% of your weight on your right foot AND side. Your head and your hands should be placed slightly behind the ball (this insures everything is set up correctly).

AS ALWAYS, maintain a light grip pressure, relax your body and don't ground the clubhead - hover it slightly above the turf. This is extremely difficult to do, I realize, but there is a reason. I am not sure what it is, but it just does work better. This is probably the HARDEST STEP in this process!!

The grip must be in your fingers, not in the palm.

Combined, these adjustments will make it a lot easier for you to make a full and free shoulder turn, create a wide arc and get your body fully turned behind the ball at the top of your swing. You should be aware of an increase in the amount of coil that you create which will then enable you to move back to the left side and accelerate the club through impact with a more powerful ascending, sweeping motion.

Keep your head back (hit up the back of the ball) and attempt to sweep the ball away without removing the tee-peg. Work on this procedure wherever you can.

Pretty soon you may well be playing a game with which you are not familiar.

The most important aspect of this lesson is that you are hitting the ball while your clubhead is going UP!! You should always swing THROUGH the ball. This is most easily accomplished by trying to hit a spot two inches in front of the ball.

Proper Balance!!!!

By having poor balance at address, you'll lose power. Take your normal stance, then imagine: if someone gave you a little push in the center of your back, or in the middle of your chest, would you fall over? What if someone tugged on the club-would you fall forward?

If someone could easily push you over from behind (or pull you forward by tugging on the club), you have too much weight toward your toes; if someone can push you over from the front, that means that you have too much weight on your heels.

Take a solid athletic stance, with your weight evenly distributed on the balls of your feet. Staying in balance will lead to better rhythm, more consistent shot making and longer shots.

Tip of The Week: Build Your Confidence!!

What can you do to build confidence? Here are some quick tips:

Approach each putt believing you'll make it.

But if you don't, be realistic: remind yourself that even the best players in the world only make about 50% of six foot putts.

Even if you feel that you need to be aware of what you're doing wrong, don't lose sight of what you're doing right.

After each shot, go over what went well. Say things to yourself like, "Contact was solid," or "My tempo was good," or "I planned that shot well."

Keep a daily diary of the positive aspects of your game. Review the diary weekly, and visually recall what you did well (well, maybe not daily. I know I don't have the time to play that often, but too late, I already wrote this, and it is easier to keep typing then to erase).

Become more aware of the conditions under which you achieve optimal performance (as if there may be such a thing). Be especially attuned to your state of mind: e.g., do you play better when you're energized or when you're relaxed? The more you understand about yourself as a player, the easier you'll find it to create confidence-building experiences for yourself.

From our Readers:

Josephine P. of Carmel, Indiana asks:

"How can I get my ball, when I am driving, to get more loft? It just goes straight out, sometimes hard, sometimes not..."

Well, we hope the feature article fixed that problem. It should certainly get your ball airborne!! If it doesn't, remember another of the 1,000 basic golf rules: Keep your head down!!

To many of us start looking at our drive before we finish our swing. If you swing properly, your head will come up NATURALLY anyway. And it's never fun to golf alone, so etiquette would demand that your partners spot your ball for you. There, no more excuses!!