Add Yards To Your Drives

There is a proven way for any golfer to add significant extra yards to their drives which has been well publicised over the past few years both on the TV and in golf magazines. Since the arrival of launch monitors such as Trackman and GC Quad, we have been able to see exactly what impact conditions have the biggest effect on how far the golf ball travels.  Analysis of the data proved unequivocally that driver distance is altered significantly by changes in angle of attack. 

With all other things being equal, a drive that has been struck with 100mph clubhead speed and an angle of attack of plus 4 degrees will carry 25 yards further than a drive hit with the same speed but a negative 4 angle of attack. As the clubhead speed increases the difference in these two results also increases. So, hitting up at the ball (with driver) does give you the opportunity to carry your driver significantly farther.  

It is undoubtedly worth trying to introduce into your game if you are searching for extra distance. By teeing the ball slightly higher, moving the golf ball forward in your stance and lowering your trail shoulder at address, you are then in good position to give this a go. This will also allow you to use less loft on your driver which will reduce backspin and increase ball-speed.  

With the modern drivers and the modern ball being the way they are now; I believe that most amateur golfers use a driver with too much loft on the head. It is very rare that I play with an amateur golfer who hits the ball too low, with too little spin. Most do the exact opposite and hit the ball far too high, with a rising flight caused by too much loft – robbing them of yardage. 

Long drive competitors do everything they can to hit the ball as far as possible. They use drivers that can have as little as 2 or 3 degrees of loft on and produce an angle of attack that is often more than 10-degrees on the up.  Obviously, these are extreme cases, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend going to this extent - but hitting slightly up at your drives, with a degree or two less loft on your driver, could transform your game.