Kyle Berkshire’s top tips for increasing driver speed and distance
So you won’t be hitting your drives 470 yards… But we can give you some of Kyle Berkshire’s top tips for increasing distance with the big stick!
We all want to hit the ball further, right? World Long Drive Champion Kyle Berkshire gave us some tips on how to hit driver as far as possible.
Our very own Hannah Holden met up with Kyle during the PGA Show in Orlando in 2023, and managed to get a five-minute training session with the man himself.
The American is a three-time World Long Drive Champion, having won the competition in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
Berkshire holds several records, including the highest ball speed at 241.6mph. He also has the longest ever verified drive, having hit the ball a staggering 579.6 yards. Basically just hitting a long par-5 green in one!
Check out the video for what Kyle Berkshire had to say, and to see Hannah try and work these tips into her own game.
Put in 100% Effort
Give it everything you’ve got!
The first point in hitting the ball further is to make sure that you’re giving it everything you can each time.
Don’t worry about where the ball is ending up to start with, or even if you’re going to make the perfect contact with the golf ball.
When you’re building speed, you’ll need to get used to that speed through impact first. Start on the range first before transferring those newly learned skills onto the golf course.
Tee the ball higher
This is a big one as we want to get behind the golf ball and hit up on the golf ball.
This will allow for a greater attack angle and a greater launch angle, allowing the ball to travel further through the air.
Play a draw
This one might be the most difficult one for amateur golfers, as we know that most amateurs play a cut (which can turn into a slice…).
However, trying to work out how to play a tight draw can really add distance to a drive.
Releasing your hands through impact will allow for a greater club speed and help with the draw shape.
Playing a draw helps to reduce cut spin on the golf ball, which adds distance through the air, and can also allow for longer roll-out once the ball has hit the deck.
Swing as fast as possible
Like the opening point, trying to swing the club as fast as possible is one sure-fire way of increasing distance.
If you can, try and get some speed training in to aid that process. Try and train two or three times a week.
Berkshire’s tip is to hit 30 or 40 balls in each of those sessions, swinging the club as fast as you possibly can to increase your baseline speed through the ball.
Hit the gym!
Something like this won’t happen overnight, it will be a gradual process.
If you’re going to be committed to the process of increasing swing speed, ball speed and distance, then hit the gym!
Start lifting weights to improve your overall strength, along with swing speed training.
What do you think to these tips? Will the advice of Kyle Berkshire help you hit your driver quicker and further? Let us know what you think with a post on X!
Matt Coles
Mention a European country, and Matt will tell you which resorts make the National Club Golfer Top 100s: European Resorts list. He might even throw in who designed the golf course and how many rooms the hotel has got at each one…
Matt got into the game of golf from a young age, following his old man to the local golf club. He fell for the sport, and now can’t seem to go a day without thinking about how to improve his game (Thanks Dad!). Matt has been a member of Howley Hall GC in Leeds since 2020, and is just about managing to maintain a single-figure handicap. He likes to remind people that he once broke 75, but won’t tell people that it was on a shortened course during the winter.
He moved to Leeds after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class Honours degree in Sports Journalism. Matt joined NCG after almost five years travelling the world with the Professional Squash Association, working on events in all four corners of the globe.
Matt currently plays a Cobra King LTDx driver and RadSpeed 3-wood. TaylorMade monopolise the rest of his bag, with a SIM UDI, M5 irons and both Milled Grind and HI-TOE wedges, along with a Monza Redline putter. He uses a Vice Pro Plus golf ball, because he’s a bit different…
Away from golf, Matt is a Manchester United fan, and a keen runner, having ran the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon (his first and possibly last), in May 2023.
