If you are ready to improve your golf swing and start hitting your drives farther, straighter, and with more confidence, then it’s great you are here today on the GolfPracticeGuides.com blog.
We are going to share several important driver golf swing tips with you below to follow and add to your practice routine on the driving range. Don’t forget to sign up for more free weekly tips on our email newsletter.
Decrease Your Spin Rates
Hitting a golf ball with lots of backspin will cause you to lose yardage as the golf ball will not roll as far upon landing. The best golf drivers (long ball hitters) in the world average 1800 – 2100 RPM on their golf balls when they smash drives 300+ yards.
To test your current spin rates to see if you have a problem with a high spin rate golf swing that is costing you distance, use a launch monitor that tracks golf swing speed, spin rate, etc.
Most golf teaching professionals have access to this equipment (Trackman is most popular) but you can also purchase your own golf swing launch monitor on Amazon like this one for example.
Improve Your Launch Angle
While you have access to a golf swing launch monitor check it for what launch angle you are hitting golf balls with your driver. Ideally, the degree of loft you are playing on your driver should be the launch angle you are hitting the golf ball with.
For example, a 10.5 degree driver would correlate to a 10.5 degree launch angle.
However, most beginners will shut the face during the swing creating negative degrees and the overall launch angle may be lower than 10.5 degrees and sometimes even negative!
Professional golfers do the opposite. They use an 8 degree driver for example, yet the ball leaves the driver face at a 11.5 degree launch angle, creating positive launch, instead of shutting the face and making it negative.
To increase the launch angle you swing a driver, you need to learn how to hit with an upward angle of attack. In other words, the driver needs to bottom out before the golf ball, and then start it’s motion upwards as it comes into contact with the ball on the tee.
This upward motion of attack in the driver swing, will create positive launch. If the swing is still on the decline or bottoming out as it hits the golf ball, this creates the negative launch.
One simple solution is moving the ball slightly more forward in your stance. Also dropping your back shoulder lower than the lead shoulder so your tilted slightly.
Golf Resource: Foy Golf Academy Practice System + Practice Plans
Practice Good Posture
A common fault many golfers have is a poor set up. Bad posture in the golf set up can lead to inconsistent golf swings from chunks to slices to hooks, to missing the ball and whiffing, or a combination of all of these.
If you check your golf posture in the mirror and notice an arching cat posture where your back is bowed out in an arch, this could be a driver swing fault hurting your game.
Instead the ideal posture in the golf swing is a flat back (straight) from shoulders down to your waist.
Power Comes from the Legs
If you wish to add distance to your driver in the golf swing, generate more power from your legs. These muscles send power up the body to the core and ultimately transferred into the arms, wrists, and hands.
Start a leg workout program to get the quads stronger and incorporate golf swing motions in your leg workout program.
Start the Driver Golf Swing with More Weight on the Trail Foot
If you have trouble launching the golf ball, this driver swing tip should help. Set up to the golf ball with legs shoulder width or slightly wider than shoulder width. Feel your weight balance between your two feet.
Now shift your weight so you feel slightly more weight on your trail foot than your lead foot.
60% on trail foot, 40% on lead foot is a good weight shift ratio when setting up your golf swing to hit your driver.
This will help you stay back and hit the golf ball with more power and a better upward strike, to help launch angle like we talked about in the driver golf swing tip above.