Table of Contents
Introduction
Golf is a very unique and exciting game. It has many special features that set it apart from other sports. One of these features is the number of personal equipment required to play the game. If you are an amateur golfer, you already know the golf clubs that are in a golf set, and you know that the most important club in any golf set is the driver. The driver is popularly referred to as the 1-wood, and it is the longest club in the golf bag. It has the most massive clubhead, and it is always designed with a large sweet spot. The purpose of a driver is to hit the ball far towards the green, and it is typically used for the first stroke. Bombing your drives deep into the golf course will help give you a lower score and improve your golf performance. Amateur golfers are always willing to practice drives because of the satisfaction that comes from outdriving their opponents on the golf course. However, hitting better drives requires constant practice, and if you want to start hitting bomb drives, then following these steps will help you. Enjoy!
Practical Steps to hitting big drives
If your goal is to hit straighter and farther drives, then following this step-by-step guide will help you achieve that goal.
Use the appropriate driver
If you want to hit your driver better, you have to start by using a driver that suits you perfectly. When getting a driver, you have to consider the loft variations, the length of the shaft and the flex of the shaft.
The face angle of the clubhead is referred to as the loft. You have to know which loft is right for your game so you can easily adjust your driver and hit it better. One way of knowing which loft is suitable for you is by assessing your clubhead speed. A low clubhead speed means that you would need more loft and a high clubhead speed means that you need a driver with lower loft. Most amateur golfers have a low clubhead speed and using a driver with a higher degree loft will make it easier for them to lift the ball and hit it upward. Your loft should fall between 9 to 11 degrees.
The driver is the longest club in the golf bag, and if you don’t use a driver suited for your stature, it will be too long for you. This will make it harder to control your swing and impact the ball at the right angle. You have to get a driver with the correct shaft length.
The degree to which the shaft of a driver bends is referred to as the shaft flex. The shaft flex of your driver will go a long way in determining the quality of your drives. Since the driver is the longest club in the golf set, you have to make sure you pick one with a shaft flex that suits you. If you have a high swing speed, then you should use a driver with a stiff shaft flex, and if you have a slower swing, your driver should allow for more shaft flex. Amateur golfers have slower swing speed and should pick out drivers with regular flex.
Use the right golf ball and set it on a high tee
If you want to hit your driver better, then you should create the perfect condition for that outcome. The golf ball you use when driving is important because golf balls are designed for various purposes. Some are designed for a spin while some are designed for distance. The height of the tee is also critical because it will determine the ball trajectory. If you place your ball on a tee high off the ground, the ball will travel on a higher plane than another golf ball placed on a lower tee. Since the objective is to hit the ball far and long towards the green; you should place your ball on a high tee. This also helps you to make a more solid impact and avoid hitting the ground during your swing. The only time you should place your tee low when driving is if you don’t want your golf ball to come across strong wind mid-air.
Take a wider stance
Your stance is one of the most important parts of your swing. When you want to hit a drive with your driver, you should note that the driver is longer than other clubs and that will require you to adjust your stance. You would need a wider stance to maintain your balance and stay grounded throughout the swing. The correct stance will have your feet a little wider than your shoulder, knees slightly bent and arms hanging out. This stance will make weight shift very easy, and it will help you to impact the ball with accuracy. Adjusting your stance means you don’t have to adjust your swing speed or change your body position at any point.
Place the ball in the right position
If you want to hit bomb drives, then you have to hit up at the ball. If you set your ball on a high tee and you position the tee in the wrong place, you won’t get the desired results. You are going to hit down on the ball, and this would result in a low-ball trajectory. If the ball is directly in the middle of your stance, the driver will impact the ball before the downswing is completed. The best place to put the ball when hitting a drive is in front of your front foot. This will allow the driver to impact the ball at the right time and send it far towards the green.
Hold your driver with a light grip
You should always stay relaxed throughout the swing and avoid anything that can throw off your swing rhythm. One of the common mistake amateurs makes gripping the driver to tightly. They somehow believe this will allow them to hit the ball with more force and gain more distance. This is far from the truth. When you hold your driver with a tight grip, you are exerting more tension on your arms, and this will affect your swing. Holding the driver with a light grip will allow you to perform your swing more comfortably and impact the ball with force.
Adjust your shoulders
When you want to hit a drive, you not only have to adjust your stance and position of the ball, you also have to adjust your shoulders. When you changed the position of the ball, the angle of attack also changed with it. This will require you to raise your front shoulder a little higher than your back shoulder. This will allow you to hit up on the ball.
Address the ball slowly
At this point, you are ready to swing a bomb drive. However, it is important to make sure that your golf club and your golf ball are perfectly aligned. This is why you need to address the ball slowly. When you place the driver behind the ball, move it back a little and move it closer again to see if the ball is resting on the clubface. Make sure the clubface is not open because this could lead to you hitting a fade or another type of shot. You want to hit your ball straight and far, and your golf clubface should point at the target directly. When addressing, finally, make sure your clubface is a few inches away from the golf ball.
Keep your club parallel at backswing
This is where most amateur golfers make a mistake. After addressing the ball, they tend to extend the backswing farther than necessary. This is bound to affect their downswing and the impact on the ball. Your driver is meant to be parallel to the ground at the top of the backswing. Placing it in this position allows you to stay focus and maintain balance. The only time you should accelerate the driver is when during the downswing just right before you impact the ball.
Hit the ball with a fast swing speed
If you have a slow swing speed, then there will always be a limit to where your shot can reach. If you want to hit your driver better and gain more distance on your shots, then you have to work on increasing your swing speed. There are a lot of drills that you can practice to increase your swing speed. We recommend that you find one that works for you and get on with task of increasing your golf speed. With time, you can add more than fives miles per hour to your average distance.
Conclusion
If you want to lower your score, improve your game and become a better golf player, you have to learn how to hit bomb drives. Hitting long and straight drives will save you a lot of time on the golf course and allow you to enjoy the game better. Golf is like any other skill, and it requires constant practice to master. It is good that you have decided to start hitting your driver better, and the instructions in this article have been tailor-made to help you do just that. Cheers!