Instruction – Hitting Bombs with the Driver

How would it make you feel to hit longer, straighter drives? Well, these tips will help you with that! Many golfers struggle hitting their driver consistently because of how they stack their upper body over their lower body in their swing. When players stack their upper body over their lower body in the swing it tends to create an upper body dominant transition on the downswing causing them to hit down on the ball too much, reducing their chance of hitting longer drives. When the upper body gets out of position on the backswing and is stacked more on the lead leg, it makes it easier to top and slice the driver.

I can’t tell you the number of times I see students lean their upper body too much towards the target with their driver, causing many misses and making it very hard to have a consistent impact.

With that being said, if we can allow more time in our downswing, it will not only help us have more consistent impact by giving us more time to square the clubface, hit more up on the ball, gain distance and help eliminate the dreaded slice. Now, how do we do this?

To do this, you need to have a better setup. Start by tilting your spine away from your target at address as seen in the correct picture below. When you make your backswing, focus on making a full turn with your lead shoulder going back (left shoulder if right-handed) and keeping your spine angle leaning away as shown in the first picture above. When you do this correctly your back should be facing your target, trail leg slightly straightened and weight on the inside of your trail foot instead of on your lead foot. You are now “loaded” at the top of your backswing and ready to use your body properly on the downswing. This position at the top of your backswing will take away the upper body dominant setup and allow you to use both upper and lower body.

When you start your transition, start by rotating your lower body to start the downswing (lead hip) and make sure to keep your spine slightly tilted away so that you can hit up on the ball.

Here’s a tidbit to help you on the course during a difficult round. I find when most golfers are having a rough round they tend to get faster and faster with their rhythm and their backswing tends to get shorter and shorter due to their frustrations making them hit the ball worse and worse. It’s tough to hit a good drive when you are making a snatchy move to the top of your backswing.

When you find yourself in this situation during a round, focus on making a full shoulder turn with your lead shoulder and getting your lead shoulder behind the ball while having a good rhythm (smooth tempo). This thought will help you make a full rotation on your backswing, instead of stopping your backswing short and allow you to load easier at the top of your backswing.

You are now ready to hit up on the golf ball and have a more consistent impact with a squarer clubface. Get ready to say goodbye to the rough!