Hitting the driver long and straight is an essential part of shooting good scores and lowering your handicap. Yet so many players address the ball poorly, limiting themselves with the big stick. In the video below, PGA Professional Jack Backhouse explains how to set up to driver.
Posture
The key to good posture is not to get into an overly ‘athletic’ posture with a very stiff, straight back. The ideal posture is around a 20-degree hinge from the hips and then a 20-degree rounding of the upper back. This is much taller than most golfers think. It puts the player in a position where they can make a big turn and create speed.
Being in a posture that is too bent over reduces turn and will often lead to early extension.
You can check if you are in a good posture by getting set up, then hanging a club down from the back of your arm. It should hang and touch the knee.
Stance Width
Stance width is quite a personal requirement so there is no one size fits all correct width to recommend. Players like Sergio Garcia have a narrow stance, and Scottie Scheffler has a very wide stance. The most important thing is that your stance width helps you achieve enough turn in the backswing.
A golfer who is not very flexible might need a more narrow stance to achieve a full turn. A player with a naturally long swing would be better with a wider stance. This is to help keep them balanced and maybe reduce some of that backswing length.
Distance From The Ball
You should stand the distance from the ball that allows you to stand in a nice correct relaxed posture, and that allows your arms and hands to hang down from the shoulders.
You can adjust your distance from the ball a little depending on your strike pattern (stand further away if you hit it out the heel) but try not to move too much in either direction.
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It is a good tip for older players with shorter swings to stand further away from the ball, as this makes it easier for them to swing flatter and get the clubhead well inside the ball in the backswing. This will help club head speed and also hit a draw.
Ball Position
Ball position is extremely important if you want to hit the golf ball straight and get around the golf course efficiently.
Most golfers misunderstand ball position, and use their feet as a guide when it comes to driver set up. This is not correct and instead folders should be using the lead shoulder as a reference.
This is because a perfect driver swing will be at its fastest when the clubhead is in line with the lead shoulder, when the lead arm and club are in one straight line. It therefore makes sense to align the ball with the shoulder rather than the feet.
To hit your driver straight with a neutral golf swing, the ball will want to be pretty much inline with the lead shoulder. To hit a draw and slightly down on the ball it needs to come inside the lead shoulder. To hit more of a fade or hit up on the ball it needs to go outside the lead shoulder.
The drive is the only shot we get to control exactly what shot we want to play and how we stand to the ball, so when you set on to the tee box you should be very thoughtful about your driver setup.
Conclusion
Nailing your set up is fundamental part of hitting a driver. Whether you’re a beginner or a more experienced golfer, these are some easy tips on how to improve your address position.
Give these tips a try and let us know how you get on!
If you’re wanting more content on how to improve your driving, check out our YouTube channel Your Golf NCG or our other ultimate guide to driving pages…
- RELATED: How To Hit A Draw With Driver
- RELATED: How to Stop Topping Your Driver
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