The driver is one of my favorite golf clubs in the bag. As fun as making a putt, there is something special about hitting a drier 250 yards straight down the center of the fairway.
If you are struggling with how to hit a driver, chances are there are some small steps you can take to become much more effective. Having played this game for close to 30 years, my golf game has gone through every different type of driver mistake one can make.
At this point, I know how to hit a driver, and I can help you learn as well. Let’s take a closer look at how to hit a driver dead straight and long.
How do you hit a driver?
To hit a driver, you need to have a ball placed in the front of your stance, teed high, and in a position where you can swing up and through the shot to make contact with the golf ball. Golfers that can accomplish this will hit a long shot straight down the center of the fairway.
Hitting a great golf driver is more than just players with fast swing speeds. Even those that struggle will notice that they can learn to hit a golf driver. The key is to have an approach to this process. Unlike other golf clubs, the driver needs special attention.
How to hit a driver: A Detailed Step by Step Guide
Many golfers consider their driver to be the most challenging club in the bag to hit. However, this does not need to be the case. If you follow these detailed step by steps and start to work on your driver game a bit more, you may find that it’s one of your favorite golf clubs in the bag to hit. Let’s look at this step-by-step process of hitting a driver dead straight and long.
Step 1: Choose The Correct Driver
One of the essential parts of this process is making sure you have the right golf club in your hands. If the driver you are swinging is not fit for your particular swing, then you may not have much luck hitting the ball in the fairway.
Most golfers are looking into custom golf fittings to see if their driver and other clubs have the right shaft, launch, weight, etc., to match up to their game. Only some people can go for a custom golf fitting. However, there are some ways you can be sure you have the right driver.
The most important is to consider the loft. Golfers with slower swing speeds need more loft to hit great drives. If you have a driver with 9.5 degrees, consider looking at 10.5 or even 11 to make sure the launch angle is correct.
Next, you must choose the right shaft. The shaft flex of your driver needs to match the club head speed as well. Faster swing speed players need a stiffer shaft. Slower swing speed players should consider a senior or regular shaft.
Step 2: Setup and Positioning
Once you have the golf driver worked out and are confident that you are using a club that will work for your game, you must get set up in the right position to hit a driver.
The stance is wider with a driver to give you a base of support. Most golfers swing the driver with extra club head speed, and the wider stance helps to get that done. However, you want to keep your feet just slightly wider than shoulder width.
Next, make sure that the ball is being played off the front foot. If you put a golf ball in the middle of your stance to hit a driver, the ball will not have the proper trajectory.
Always ensure your weight is correctly balanced between your toe and heel and balanced in the center of your feet.
Keep your shoulder, hip, and toe line parallel to your target, and ensure that they are all pointing in the same direction. Having your feet open and your shoulders closed will not help you properly line up to the target.
Step 3: The First Move
The first move away from the golf ball has always been the most important for me. If you get this move right, chances are the rest of the golf swing will fall into place for you. With the driver in your hands, extension is key.
The wider you can get this swing, the better the chance you have of hitting the ball solidly. Golfers should think about taking the club back low and slow with a turn of the lower body. Don’t start a driver swing by pushing your hands or arms up into the air; you will never be able to get your body working together again.
Instead, feel a slight turn of your hip back and let the arms stay extended on the backswing.
This takeaway move should be practiced often for all golf clubs. It makes the rest of the game considerably easier if you can get this down.
Step 4: Transfer of Weight, Balance of Power
Weight transfer and balance are two of the key features of a driver swing that allow golfers to get more distance. Let’s face it as crucial as it is to hit a golf ball straight, it’s equally as important to hit it a long way.
Golfers need to make a turn that involves loading weight up onto the right side of the body and then transferring that weight to the left side of the body. When your weight gets to the right side (for right-handed golfers), you can then push off of this side and transfer to the left.
This process takes a bit of practice, but if you want any professional golfer, load up this weight so that they are hitting the ball with much more force and torque. The key here is to remain as balanced as possible while still realizing that hitting a driver long and straight requires more than just arm movement.
Step 5: Steady At Impact
The impact is the most important part of this entire process.
To keep your driver heading straight down the fairway, you must make sure you are steady at impact. Make sure there are no large movements of your head or body, and keep everything controlled and stable.
I always like to think about keeping my head behind the ball until I make an impact. This has helped me to gain tremendous power in the swing through the years. If I let my head move left of the ball at impact, the loss of power would be significant.
Look at pictures of professional golfers at impact with their driver; they are very clearly behind the ball at the moment of impact.
Step 6: Throw it To The Target
Once you have made an impact with the golf ball, you will still have plenty of built-up energy and power. I like to think of the concept of throwing all of this out toward the target. That same extension you had on the backswing should continue to the follow-through.
Some golfers wonder why the follow-through matters with the golf ball already traveling towards its target. This is a good question.
With most golfers swinging the golf driver at more than 80mph, you can’t stop the club at impact or shortly after unless you have started slowing down on the downswing. The key is to put as much energy and force as possible into that downswing.
To do so, you must always keep the golf club traveling toward the target. Don’t decelerate coming through the ball; accelerate! You will notice a major difference in the way the golf ball travels if you can perfect that follow-through and finish.
Step 7: Balanced and Controlled
It’s essential to stay balanced and controlled throughout the entire golf swing with a driver. We know that to hit a driver long, you may need to feel like you really go after the ball. This is a common thought and theory.
However, if you are not in balance, you are not going to gain distance consistently. Sure, you may hit one really long drive, but to repeat this would be nearly impossible. Instead, learn to keep yourself controlled but powerful.
I have found that cross-training and becoming a better athlete overall have helped me improve my overall balance and the ability to hit large drives.
Step 8: Mental Thoughts, Consistency, and More
Would be remiss not to mention the mental side of hitting a driver dead straight and long.
Of course, you will need to find a swing thought that works for you and something that allows you to repeat this process. However, the takeaway and the follow-through are the ones that I found to be most helpful for me.
For the takeaway, I try to think about staying extended. For the follow-through, I get to a position on my left side where I’m in balance and watching my golf shot. If I can check these two boxes on each swing, I know the results will be good.
Avoid thinking about too many things. This can cloud your mind and restrict your ability. Be positive about how you hit your driver; if you start becoming negative about the inconsistency in your golf swing, expect some poor results.
Tips to hit a driver farther and higher
Now that you have the steps necessary to hit a driver straight and long, you may want to take things to the next level. Most golfers have yet to max out on their full distance potential. This is understandable, considering the process of hitting it straight is hard enough. Here are some tips for hitting a driver farther and higher.
Tee It High
The driver should always be teed up high. There was a misconception in the game of golf for many years that if you tee the golf ball low, you could get a lot of distance and roll from the shots. This is just not true.
The longer the golf ball stays in the air, the better your results will be. Keep this in mind as you tee up your golf driver. At least half of the ball should be over the top of the club. If you tee it lower than this, expect the golf shot not to travel nearly as high or far.
With these large 460cc clubheads, choose the longer golf tees when you purchase them.
Work On Speed Training
Speed training is a relatively new concept to help golfers gain more distance from their drives. To hit a golf ball far, you must have a lot of clubhead speed. Speed training allows golfers to gain that extra speed and really go after the ball while staying in balance.
With speed training, you learn how to get your golf club moving faster without feeling like the club is losing balance or control. Go after the ball with full force using a speed training system like this, and you will be impressed with the yardage that you can gain.
Get Fit and Use The Proper Settings
Most golf drivers are now adjustable. The adjustable head of the driver makes it considerably easier to set up for your drive with complete confidence. The settings on the driver are easy to adjust; you just need to know what works best for your game.
Going for a golf driver fitting is worth the money.
You will learn about your golf game, where your strength and weaknesses lie, and what equipment is out there to help you. In the end, the golf club fitting makes sense, and even if you don’t want to purchase the driver through the fitter, you at least have the information you need.
Play With the Right Golf Ball
The golf ball you play with can have a huge impact on the type of golfer that you are. Playing with the right golf ball is so important and can easily impact the results of your golf swing by at least 10 yards.
If you play with the right golf ball, expect a higher launch, more roll, and greater carry distance. Many golfers find that compression rating is one of the most important features they can look for when choosing the right golf ball.
Higher-swing speed golfers need a higher compression golf ball. Lower-swing speed golfers need lower-compression golf balls. If you are not fully compressing the ball on your drive, it won’t go as far as you need it to.
Control Swing vs. Power Swing
I have always worked on two different swings with my golf driver. I have one swing I can use when I need to go after the ball and one I can use to keep things more controlled. Essentially the power swing allows me to get full distance, but it opens the doors for higher levels of dispersion.
The controlled swing is the one I use when I know I have to hit the fairway. This may cost me 10 yards or so, but it puts the ball in a place that I can easily play from and score well on the hole.
Practice two different approaches to the ball so that you have options when you are standing on the tee box.
FAQs
Here are a few of the most common questions about hitting a driver dead straight and long. As great as this information is, you will need to spend some time on the driving range working on it in order to become a great player.
Conclusion:
Hopefully, you now have the tips and advice you need to hit a golf driver dead straight and long. You will be amazed at how much your golf game changes when you learn how to hit the driver correctly. Starting every hole with a club you have complete confidence in is a game-changer. Take some time to work through these steps on the driving range; you never know what small tip of advice could be the key that gives you the results you need.
