How to get more power out of my driver...

[DGart09]

Hey guys,

I just recently got some new clubs and have finished taking lessons, and I think I'm having a bit of a problem with my driver. I play the Taylormade r7 Superquad. My swing speed is pretty moderate, and though I hit the ball straight, I only get about 200 yards on the carry. Is there anything I can do in my swing that will give me some more power without sacrificing accuracy?

Thanks in advance,

Dan

[jambalaya]

How far do you hit your 7 iron? How did the lessons go for you?

[DGart09]

The lessons went very well for me. We focused mostly on my ball striking with my irons and my short game, (i.e. chipping and putting). It's done miracles to my game. Before the lessons I was shooting a 130ish, which is awful. Now I'm close to shooting a 90. With a normal swing, I can get my 7 iron to about 150-160 yards. Any thoughts?

[extremeld]

not much info there, but i would imagine that more loft and a softer flex may help you, did you have your driver fitted or just buy it of the shelf?

[jambalaya]

Your 7 iron distance is good so there seems to be no reason you cannot hit your driver a little longer. Here is what I did when I was having trouble with the driver. I looked at every article and video I could find on hitting a driver. What I found out is the finer points of setup for a driver as opposed my other clubs. I now take a different approach to hitting my driver than with my other clubs. Ball position: As a rule the ball should be lined up with the heel of the front foot. I see too many golfers with the ball at or near the middle of the stance. Check it next time you play because many times you think you have the ball forward enough but actually don't. Address the ball and have someone lay a club on the ground between your legs perpindicular to the target line and touching the tee. If the club is not up against your heel you want to adjust your stance or ball accordingly. Club shaft: Your shaft should not lean forward with your hands in front of the ball at address. The club shaft should be straight up and down or can even lean slightly back. Both of these first two setup principles are done so that club hits the ball on an ascending blow, not down on the ball. We hit down on the ball with the irons, we sweep the ball off the tee with the driver. Hitting down on the ball with a driver causes problems. Because you have the ball and shaft of the club forward, your spine should tilt towards the rear slightly. Why? This is because you are reaching down and forward to put your bottom hand on the club. If you don't tilt straight back a little you have a tendency to move the right shoulder forward and open up your shoulders. Finally, tee the ball high. If you have one of those big headed drivers we all use these days, tee the ball so at least half of the ball sits above the top of the clubhead at address. Experiment with this a bit. There are other aspects to look at too. Some people lay the club on the ground right behind the ball at address. Some hover the club just off the ground, this is recommended by quite a few people, at address. Some people have the clubhead a few inches behind the ball at address.

Hope this helps. Oh, and what extremeld suggests is good advice. If you are in the market for a driver go somewhere where you can test drive it. Shaft flex, kick point loft and other design issues for a driver can have an effect. Get one fitted for you and it will give you an advantage. By the way, what is the loft on your driver?

[DGart09]

Your 7 iron distance is good so there seems to be no reason you cannot hit your driver a little longer. Here is what I did when I was having trouble with the driver. I looked at every article and video I could find on hitting a driver. What I found out is the finer points of setup for a driver as opposed my other clubs. I now take a different approach to hitting my driver than with my other clubs. Ball position: As a rule the ball should be lined up with the heel of the front foot. I see too many golfers with the ball at or near the middle of the stance. Check it next time you play because many times you think you have the ball forward enough but actually don't. Address the ball and have someone lay a club on the ground between your legs perpindicular to the target line and touching the tee. If the club is not up against your heel you want to adjust your stance or ball accordingly. Club shaft: Your shaft should not lean forward with your hands in front of the ball at address. The club shaft should be straight up and down or can even lean slightly back. Both of these first two setup principles are done so that club hits the ball on an ascending blow, not down on the ball. We hit down on the ball with the irons, we sweep the ball off the tee with the driver. Hitting down on the ball with a driver causes problems. Because you have the ball and shaft of the club forward, your spine should tilt towards the rear slightly. Why? This is because you are reaching down and forward to put your bottom hand on the club. If you don't tilt straight back a little you have a tendency to move the right shoulder forward and open up your shoulders. Finally, tee the ball high. If you have one of those big headed drivers we all use these days, tee the ball so at least half of the ball sits above the top of the clubhead at address. Experiment with this a bit. There are other aspects to look at too. Some people lay the club on the ground right behind the ball at address. Some hover the club just off the ground, this is recommended by quite a few people, at address. Some people have the clubhead a few inches behind the ball at address.

Thanks for the advise. I will try doing that. By the heel of the foot, do you mean the left or right side of my left foot, for a right handed golfer? Also, I have had my driver fitted to me. It's a Regular flex, 460 cc, 10.5 loft Taylormade r7 Superquad with a 65g Reax shaft. I also am teeing the ball like you said, high and with half the ball above the driver. I'm not having a problem with getting the ball in the air, it's more about getting more distance, like 30-50 yards more. Thanks for your help! Is there anything else you can help me with, like something I can do in my swing, like wrist cock or anything like that?

[denver_nuggs_15]

I too have the superquad, and find that if you tee the ball lower, you'll get more distance and control. I found that when the ball is struck above the sweet spot, you lose a good amount of yardage. However, shots lower than the sweet spot seem not to lose much distance.
You could always use one of those ghost tapes to see where you are hitting the ball. You could be missing off of the heel or toe.

[jambalaya]

[QUOTE=DGart09;182650]Thanks for the advise. I will try doing that. By the heel of the foot, do you mean the left or right side of my left foot, for a right handed golfer? Also, I have had my driver fitted to me. It's a Regular flex, 460 cc, 10.5 loft Taylormade r7 Superquad with a 65g Reax shaft. I also am teeing the ball like you said, high and with half the ball above the driver. I'm not having a problem with getting the ball in the air, it's more about getting more distance, like 30-50 yards more. Thanks for your help! Is there anything else you can help me with, like something I can do in my swing, like wrist cock or anything like that?[/QUOTE

Ball lined up with inside of front heel or left heel for you. Are you hitting the ball straight and consistent? I would hesitate to say anything specific you can do without seeing your swing. There are some guys on this site that can give you a really good analysis if you post a swing video of a down the line and head on shot. Have you ever hit a drive 250+ yards? If so that just tells me practice and timing will get you more yards eventually.

[DGart09]

[QUOTE=jambalaya;182662]

Thanks for the advise. I will try doing that. By the heel of the foot, do you mean the left or right side of my left foot, for a right handed golfer? Also, I have had my driver fitted to me. It's a Regular flex, 460 cc, 10.5 loft Taylormade r7 Superquad with a 65g Reax shaft. I also am teeing the ball like you said, high and with half the ball above the driver. I'm not having a problem with getting the ball in the air, it's more about getting more distance, like 30-50 yards more. Thanks for your help! Is there anything else you can help me with, like something I can do in my swing, like wrist cock or anything like that?[/QUOTE

You know, I bet that is it. Every once in a great while I will. I'll hit the driving range sometime soon and check it out. I've got some other things to be working on anyway...as my handicap implies.

[m11]

When you say the ball carries 200 yards...what do you mean by that? Are you suggesting that when you make perfect contact on the sweet spot of the club...it carries 200?

That situation is pretty unlikely, and the case is that you are likely not catching it on the sweet spot. The club is designed to hit the ball a long way...and what you are really looking for is solid contact. Solid contact will get you those 50 yards.
No power tips will help you if you cant make solid contact with the ball every time.

First thing is your setup. You create a good shot without good setup. Fun story about me...i didnt have a proper setup...on the first day my instructor asks me to show him my driver swing. Ugly worm burner off the heel that goes about 160 yards. 15 minutes of him helping me with my setup, I picked up the club and caught one 270 of carry. So yes, setup is very important.

-You want your feet slightly wider than shoulder width. (You may hear 'make your stance wider for more power' but thats not that helpful if you cant make a consistent powerful swing to begin width).

-Your shoulders and toe line must be parallel to the target line and you really need to make sure this is the case. Also, you need to really make sure that your clubface is completely perpendicular to the target line. Some people really take this for granted. They set their club down and swing. Then they wonder why its slicing or hooking. You then look at how they sole their club and its different every time. You cant expect consistency without a consistent setup.

-You also need proper posture and need to be tension free. Im not going to really get into this because without seeing what your posture is, its pretty useless to say knees flexed etc because to you, "knees flexed" may be more or less flexed than what is considered ideal for you.

That said, its pretty tough to impossible to help you out with your swing without seeing it....but you know what to do...uploaded video from swing academy.

But go ahead and watch your setup...it sounds basic...but take complete awareness that every time you swing...your shoulders and feet are parallel to the target line...and your arms are hanging loosely (they dont necessarily need to be straight down...i'd recommend holding your hands a little further away from your body than you would with your mid irons).
And most importantly, make sure your clubface is pointing where you want it to go. When you line up your shot : Stand behind the ball. Pick a spot a few feet in front of your golfball..that if you hit your shot over that little spot...the ball would fly towards your target. Align your clubface so that the ball will fly over that spot.

Try that out. Make sure your setup is consistent. From there, we can check out your swing.

[DGart09]

Thanks m11!

I will get to it next time I am on the range, which will be Thursday, hopefully.