How to increase distance with the driver

[mgolfer]

I have reached a point where every shot has the correct trajectory which is straight or has a slight fade on a normal hit. Are there any tips for increasing distance as I would like to be driving the ball over 240 consistantly. Would weights help me significantly or are there any drills to achieve maximum power?

Thanks.

[kehanra99]

My biggest driving gains have come from trying to use my arms less and my legs, hips, and shoulder turn more. Trying to use your arm muscles to raise power on a shot becomes counter-productive after a certain point because your muscles start to tense, which reduces the whip action in your swing necessary for distance. Focus on keeping your arms in synch with your body as you use your hips, legs and shoulders to turn on the downswing instead of trying to use your arms to help the club speed. You should see an immediate increase in distance once you get the coordination down.

[ks8829]

distance is hitting the club face square and solid with the ball with the maximinum club head speed you are capable of. I just recently gain distance by slowing down my back swing and taking a straight line back on my target line and up making a full body turn and releasing my right side staying behind the ball at impact. I also noticed that most players are not taking a full body turn on their back swing. I also notice that when I was using pilates once or twice a day my flexiblity gave me added distance.

To help me stay behind the ball my right shoulder (for right handed golfers) is slighted dipped lower than my left shoulder and my right hand is tucked in closer to my body that my left arm.


To summarize:
1) take away is slow to allow you to make a full body turn
2) take away with a wide arch without swaying
3) make sure your right shoulder is lower than your left (right handed)
4) tuck your right arm so it is closer to your body than your left
5) release to your left side

I recently gained about 10 - 15 yards with this new swing on my drives.

[golfnut_rlv]

There are a couple ways to look at distance. From an equipment perspective, and from a physical perspective.

Equipment:
There are 3 main Variables that affect distance when it comes to equipment.

1. Clubhead Speed
2. Angle of Attack
3. Centeredness of Contact

Clubhead speed is obvious. Angle of attack has to do with launch angle and and backspin. Too steep, and you hit the ball high, with lots of spin. Too shallow, and you hit the ball low, with roll, but no carry. There needs to be a balance between the two. This would tie directly to swing mechanics. Third, face it, on the sweetspot, more ball go far.

As for the physical, there can be many answers, but here are 5 big ones:

1. Strength
2. Flexibility
3. Leverage
4. Swing Technique
5. Muscular coordination

Of these 5 flexibility and leverage are the big ones. The cardinal sin with golf and fitness is to gain strength, and lose flexibility. You want to gain strength, but not without losing flexibility. A lot of golfers need to gain flexibility to increase distance. Flexibility exercises are vital to distance, and good technique. Moves such as seated trunk rotations, light dumbell side bends, back exercises, etc. I cannot possibly list all the possible exercises, but they are a great way to go in finding more distance.

Here is a simple one that has helped me a lot.

For this exercise you will need: Broom handle, driver, or other straight rigid object; a bench seat, or at least a flat, solid location. where your feet can be flat on the ground.

Hold the broom handle etc across your chest just below your collarbone. Cross your arms and hold onto the handle. Put you feet flat on the ground, and keep your lower body steady. Rotate your trunk both ways as far as you can, to the point of resistance. Hold it for 10 seconds, then turn back to center. Wait a few seconds, and turn the same way, see if you can turn farther.

Do this exercise twice a day, with at least 5 reps each direction. Hopefully, you should gain a little more turn in 2-4 weeks of consistent use.

You can also search the internet for exercise description, look at fitness, or personal trainign books, etc.

Hope this helps you!

[mgolfer]

Cheers for the tips guys, I will try these out!

[andre112]

there's another thread about this.
i noticed if i stay more relaxed, i will hit it a bit farther with less effort.

[mjsab]

G'day

This is the very topic I am looking for!

Launch Angle, Angle of Attack and of course spin! I understand the why but How do a reduce my angle of attack.

What is a target AoA to obtain maximum carry with the driver? magic figure?

I seek to solve my age old problem of high trajectory producing all flight and no carry!
Any one attack this aspect of the game?
Got any advise
Suggest a good drill ?

Regards
Mick

[JaY_B]

To increase your distance just adjust your set up, don't think about increasing shoulder turn etc, it will just complicate your swing.

Set up tips:
Widen your stance

More weight on the inside of your right foot/right thigh at address, do this by changing your spine angle, not laterally moving your weight right

strengthen your grip, a knuckle more at most

Remember don't need a fast back swing to create power, all the power is created from waist height down in the down swing, the slower the back swing the more your muscles will coil effectively.

[osean79]

I have an unorthodox experience that i've gained about 30-40 yds on the driver with.
I hurt my whole body from a snow boarding trip ( and yes it was my first time snow boarding), everything from my neck to my thighs were sore and bruised but I still managed to literally crawl out of bed and hit the golf course next day.

As expected, i played horribly. Since I was spraying the driver everywhere with no distance, abt 180-200 yds? I figured I should hit it real hard since I was spraying all other the place anyway, at least i'd be relatively closer to the green. So, i widened my stance to about 1.5 times the width of my shoulders, made a smooth 110% backswing, and came down as hard as I possibly can and threw the club head to the ball! i hit it real bad and push sliced it probably 2 fairways over... but i saw how far it went although I lost my balance and footing! So... next tee shot I setup the same but swung only as hard as I could without losing my balance and making sure to throw the clubhead towards the left. And... WHAM!! slight push, awesome trajectory for a 280yd driver shot on a slightly downhill fairway. Everyone was amazed, I was dumbfounded...

Ever since then, I've been swinging that way and I've been hitting it 280-300 yds since then. Now mind you, It's not accurate but it's not any worse in accuracy compared to the controlled swing i was using before. I'm probably hitting fairway a little less than 50%, most missed fairways are on the first cut rough and the occasional OB or trip in the woods 2-3 times a round. Keeping the balance is key, but really throwing your weight and club head to the ball will definitely give you that extra distance.

[tm22721]

I hit the driver best when I aggressively push off of my right leg before my backswing stops and allow my arms to follow a relaxed pendulum motion in the takeaway and downswing.

[wachesawgolfer]

The thing is to keep the clubhead behind the hands until impact, so you release through the ball. What everybody said is great if you can do it and still hold your hit (lag) until you hit the ball. Its like swinging a rope and having it snap on the ground where a ball would be. This is why some people appear to have effortless power.

[andre112]

G'day

you can do a search for "launch monitor" in the forums.

i think someone posted a .jpg file that has the magic numbers you are looking for.

[Gapwedge]

you can do a search for "launch monitor" in the forums.

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/attachm...7&d;=1187657553 This is probably what you are looking for. Notice your launch angle is dependent upon your swing speed. Hope this helps.

[CodeRed657]

flexibility worked for me. if u can find a way to increase your shoulder turn without forcing it, you can hit the ball atleast a good 10-20 yards farther. try mytpi.com membership is free and they have tons of excercises that you can do to increase strength and flexibility.

[golfEnthusiast]

i have gained the most distance on my drives by:

1.) Taking a nice easy swing; not trying to kill the ball
2.) Making the trajectory have a slight draw, by closing my stance, and hitting the ball on a slight in-to-out swing path.
3.) Getting power from my torso by turning my hips, and trying to not use my arms for power.

[extremeld]

get your driver properly fitted

to flatten your swing use a long pole - 5 or 6 feet - will ensure proper coil

try swinging a weighted club - this will encourage you to complete your swing fully

your fastest swings occur when you are not tense - so relax

to prevent a weak fade try forearm roations and extensions with a weighted club

for dynamic power from the legs try clock squats with a small weight

dont concentrate on arm speed concentrate on body speed

k

[tigerwoo]

Equipment aside, one key swing thought (which is free) that I have implemented the last 2 years now has been keeping my head absolutely still throughout the golf swing. This is nothing new or ingenious, it's just not that obvious to alot of golfers. This swing thought increases my likelihood of bringing my clubhead back to where it was at address, thus increasing the probability of hitting the ball on the sweet spot. Sweet spot impact = greatest distance as one member has already noted in a previous post (but again nothing new). In addition to that this enables proper coiling of the swing as it puts weight on the inside of the right foot (right handers) as another member has posted as well.

I've practiced this diligently by swinging in front of a mirror and noting my head position throughout the swing.

[Crafty]

One things that might help is to relax your body. Getting tight will prevent you from making a full smooth turn and could make you lose some distance. Relax your arms and swing smooth, not hard.

Also, the draw is a bit longer than the fade. If you cant do this on your own, you made want to look into an adjustable weight driver.