To master your long game, you’ll need to work on your driving to improve your range and accuracy. In this blog, you’ll find 10 handy golf driving tips and guidance on how to practice each one at home.
How to practice driving for golf
1. Perfect your grip
You can’t drive successfully without holding your club properly. Using the wrong grip is usually the culprit for slices and hooked shots.
How to do it
Hold the club with your lead hand (left for right-handers) so that the grip sits diagonally across your fingers. Both of your thumbs should point down the shaft. Place your trailing hand so that your palm covers the lead thumb with your fingers wrapping around the grip. Use a neutral grip.
Practice at home
Use a spare club to rehearse your grip if you have a spare few moments. Focus on doing so correctly and building muscle memory so the correct grips grow to feel natural.
2. Use the right stance and ball position
Using the proper stance provides stability and allows you to put power into your golf swing. Correct ball placement also helps ensure solid contact.
How to do it
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, your knees slightly bent, and your weight evenly distributed between both feet. Your back should be straight with a slight tilt from your hips. Your arms should hang loosely from your shoulders. Position the ball in line with the instep of your lead foot. Of course, the club you’re holding will also affect your drive, and using a more forgiving driver will come in handy here.
Practice at home
You can practice your stance and ball positioning with a club and a ball to ensure it becomes second nature. Alignment sticks can be a big help with this.
3. Tee the ball high
A higher tee encourages an upward angle of attack, which helps with clean hitting and maximising the distance you generate from the force you use.
How to do it
Position the tee so that half the ball sits above the top edge of your driver. Roughly three-quarters of the ball should be above the club’s head as it strikes, allowing you to sweep into the ball with an upwards motion without the driver making contact with the floor.
Practice at home
Whilst this is most effectively practised at a driving range, you could use foam or plastic practice balls to rehearse your tee height and swing at home.
4. Master your backswing
A smooth backswing is essential for generating power and maintaining control throughout your drive.
How to do it
If you’re a right-hander, keep your left arm straight, and your wrists relaxed as you move through your backswing. Rotate your shoulders fully, creating a 90-degree angle between your upper body and your hips. Try to avoid over-swinging, though—you can stop when your club is parallel to the ground.
Practice at home
Practice slow-motion backswings in front of a mirror (in a room with plenty of room) to check your form. You could also record yourself going through the motion to work on perfecting it.
5. Focus on a controlled downswing
A powerful drive comes from a well-timed downswing that maximises energy transfer from the club to the ball.
How to do it
Your downswing comes from your core. Start by rotating your hips toward the target, following with your knees, then your arms. Keep your underarms relatively close to your body and tuck your trailing elbow in. Keep your lead shoulder down and make sure your hands and arms stay relaxed so you don’t skew your release.
Practice at home
As well as watching your swing by recording yourself at home, you can also use resistance bands to strengthen your hip rotation.
6. Improve your follow-through
You don’t want to ruin all that work on your backswing and downswing by not following through properly. A good follow-through ensures you complete your swing with full power and balance and strike the ball cleanly.
How to do it
After impact, allow your arms to extend naturally toward the target. Finish with your weight on your lead foot and your chest facing the target. Your back foot should be on its toe, with your hips fully rotated.
Practice at home
Use a slow-motion drill to exaggerate your follow-through position and improve your balance. Speed up the motion once you’re sure you’ve got it right to make sure it becomes a natural motion for you.
7. Focus on a consistent tempo
A smooth, consistent tempo throughout a swing leads to better contact, and the Holy Grail of driving—better reliability.
How to do it
Count in your head during your backswing and downswing to establish a rhythm. Most professionals recommend a 3:1 count for a drive, counting three on your backswing and one through your downswing.
Practice at home
Try using a metronome app or a swing tempo trainer to develop a steady rhythm.
8. Use your legs effectively
Your legs might stay reasonably still during a drive, especially compared to your upper body, but they provide balance and generate a portion of the power of your swing. Using your legs effectively can help you get more distance out of your drives and will aid in controlling your swing.
How to do it
Start with a slight bend in your knees. Push off your trailing foot during the downswing to transfer energy to your lead side. Shift over to your front foot during the downswing to add momentum. Maintain your balance throughout the swing and aim to move smoothly.
Practice at home
Use step-through drills where you step forward after impact to emphasise weight transfer and leg engagement.
9. Work on your core strength
Your core muscles play a significant role in generating power and stability during your swing. The stronger your core, the more strength you’ll be able to generate throughout a round on the links. The more you can engage your core muscles during driving, the more stable your drive will be and the more power you’ll be able to put into it.
How to do it
Focus on engaging your abdominal muscles as you rotate your torso. Avoid overusing your shoulder and arm muscles, and let your body’s rotation drive the swing.
Practice at home
Improve your core strength by exercising at home, including doing planks, Russian twists, and medicine ball rotations. When you practice your swing, focus on feeling and engaging your core muscles.
10. Incorporate visualisation into your game
Visualisation is a powerful mental technique where you mentally rehearse an action and its consequences, such as visualising your swing and the flight of your ball along the fairway.
Whilst it might sound like wishful thinking, visualisation really works and is practised by professional golfers and athletes from other sports, too.
How to do it
Try visualising your ideal drive before stepping up to the ball. Focus and try to make your visualisation as real as possible. See your ball landing on a specific target. This can feel odd at first, but the more you do it, the more natural it’ll become.
Practice at home
Spend 5-10 minutes each day visualising perfect drives and imagining yourself performing confidently on the course.
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Developing a consistent drive can take a lot of time and perseverance. If you’re mastering your long game with the help of these golf driving tips, you may also want to consider protecting yourself with specialist golf insurance.
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