Are you struggling off the tee with the driver? Sophie Walker is on hand to help you get your confidence back with the big stick.
The 7 steps to striking the ball more consistently
Step 1: Mark up the club face
For this you can use lipstick, a chapstick or anti persperant deodorant. Just spray or cover the club face with one of the products and have a few hits on the range. That will give you an idea of where you are striking the ball.
Depending on where you are striking the ball you can adjust your swing to try and get the strike as close to the sweet spot as possible.
Step 2: Use the lines on the ball and club
A lot of drivers in the modern day have lines on the driver to help with aerodynamics but you can also use these lines to your advantage for lining up correctly.
Make sure you line up with the line of the ball and hit through the line.
Step 3: Focus on the little things
This is important. We aren’t talking necessarily about aiming at a ball or a club face, but focussing on something smaller like a little arrow on your club, or a mark on your ball.
Step 4: Try and stay level through the shot
It’s really important to try and stay level through the shot. You want your swing to start in the middle, and return to the middle.
Step 5: Be careful not to have to much body movement
This may sound silly, but if you move your body too much through the swing, you are susceptible to mishitting the ball.
If you lift your body for example, the face is more likely to open which can result in a mis hit. Make sure you are conscious of your upper body movement through the ball.
Step 6: Keep your hands a little quieter through the ball
Try and keep those hands quiet. Less flicking of the wrists. If you do flick it has less time to hit the middle of the club face.
Step 7: Keep a strong stable base
If you stay nice and strong through the ball and turn through more with the body, so the body carries the hands, you will hit more with the middle of the face.
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