To learn how to drive a golf ball, you need to master your stance and a few driving techniques. We’ve outlined driver swing basics, driving tips for beginners, and driving tips for distance to help you hit straight every time and up to 300 yards. Check them out.
Playing golf isn’t as easy as it looks. Hitting the ball to its target and earning points requires plenty of skills, a few tricks, and unrelenting determination to improve. We’d like to help you on your journey to becoming a better golfer. So, we’ll start by explaining how to drive a golf ball—in theory, and visually through the videos below.
We understand the challenges faced by many beginners because we’ve all been there. We can identify your errors and help you improve. This breakdown covers almost everything related to driving a golf ball.
Note: These instructions and tips are for right-handed golfers. Left-handed players will have to do the opposite in the different steps to achieve the same results.
Also read: The Best Golf Training Aids to improve your swing.
How To Drive a Golf Ball for Beginners
As a beginner golfer, there’s a lot to learn before you can match up with seasoned players. To make sure you don’t make mistakes when learning how to drive a golf ball, here is a useful step-by-step guide.
Step 1: Set Up
The setup is important because it determines how well you hit the driver. Here we’ll be looking at the following key areas:
Your Stance
For the right stance, position yourself ready to strike the ball. Keep your feet narrow, then place the golf club straight in front of you. The clubface should be resting next to the tee.
Now, move your left foot slightly to the left. Next, stretch your right leg wide enough to provide sufficient support to your shoulder frame. To be certain you’re in the correct position, your legs should be shoulder-width apart.
From the side view, the position of your hands should be right below your chin. Remember to keep the golf club straight.
Ball Positioning
When it comes to ball positioning, make sure when you shift your left foot, the golf ball alignment is inside the left heel.
Body Tilt
Having the golf ball aligned forward and closer to the target leaves you with a wide swing area. This helps to achieve the upward arc swing when you hit the ball. However, you’ll have to slant the right shoulder a little. To get the best tilt angle of the shoulders, try and move your right hand to touch the side of your knee.
Distance From the Ball
You should give yourself enough distance from the ball, considering the length of the golf club.
Tee Height
To get the ideal tee height, take your golf club and place the head next to the tee. The golf ball should be placed on top of the tee. Even though drivers come in different sizes, you have to make sure the ball is halfway above the top edge of the club head.
This helps you hit up on the golf ball and score a strike that’s high enough on the clubface to reduce spinning.
Related: Best Driver for Beginners and High Handicappers
Step 2: Backswing
Once you’ve got the setup right, it’s now time to work on the backswing. The first thing to do is to check the ball alignment. Now, while the alignment runs horizontally towards the heel of your left foot, it should run past your left ear diagonally.
Take note of this imaginary alignment line because you’ll use it to achieve the correct backswing. For starters, you’re supposed to stay behind the “line” (golf ball) while swinging backward. But not too far off to the right (for right-handed golfers and vice versa for left-handed players).
Your concentration should be on rotating your upper body (shoulders) and hips. This helps you create the necessary power to strike harder.
During the rotation, you need to shift your weight towards your right heel.
Step 3: Downswing and Impact
This step is about utilizing the generated power from the backswing. You need to maintain your body shape while dropping for the downswing. Your shoulders should still slant at an angle, your body must be behind the golf ball, and your arms and club extended.
As you get into contact with the ball, you’ll notice the shaft will be almost as straight as when you were starting the shot.
If you do everything right, you should get that upward swing arc hit into the back of the golf ball.
For this step, you should also observe the strike location on the driver clubface. Hitting too close to the heel causes a fade or slice shot. On the other hand, when you hit the ball with the toe of the face, it curves more to the left.
The best strike location for hitting long-distance shots without curving the ball is slightly higher and towards the toe of the club head.
To get the exact place where the club hits the ball, you can use strike spray or foot powder spray. It leaves a white mist when you spray it on the clubface so you can see where you hit the ball. You can monitor the pattern of the marks to make adjustments to your swing.
Most good players have tight-knit patterns, while beginners will have spread-out patterns on the face.
Step 4: Follow Through
This is one of the most overlooked parts of a golf game. It’s extremely important for anyone who’s learning how to drive a golf ball. Your swing and shot don’t end when you hit the golf ball—how you follow through will determine the end result.
A good follow-through will help you maximize the distance, maintain the balance during the swing, and control the direction.
Make sure your hands continue stretching and work around your body from the downswing all the way to the follow-through. This allows the curve of the swing to move more towards the left shoulder. You also get to square the clubface through the shot, which helps with controlling direction.
This happens as you rotate your hips towards the target and shift your weight from the right leg to the left leg. The right foot will lift from its heel and position with the toes.
If you created a good amount of space between the legs, you should be able to maintain that position without losing balance. A good follow-through ensures you don’t hold any power back.
How To Drive a Golf Ball Straight
Here we’ll look at four tips to help you with how to drive a golf ball straight. They include:
Strike Location
First is the strike location when you hit the golf ball. You need to hit the middle of the clubface for the ball to go straight. This is because when you hit the toe, the ball’s flight moves right then goes left. If you hit with the heel of the face, the ball will start going left before turning right.
To achieve the straight ball flight hit, you’ll have to practice a lot. As mentioned earlier, spraying the clubface with strike spray helps to monitor the hit patterns and adjust accordingly.
Clubface Direction
The second is the direction the clubface is pointing when it gets into contact with the ball. If it’s facing too far left, then the ball is likely to go to the left, and if it points far right, then that’s where your ball will go. You must aim the face directly towards the target if you want to drive the golf ball straight.
The direction the head of the club faces is mainly influenced by your grip on the handle. If your grip is too strong, the clubface is likely to close down. If it’s too weak, the clubface opens up. The best grip is a neutral grip.
Swing Path
This is the direction the club takes through the ball hit. It should move as straight as possible in line with the target line. Most people make the mistake of swinging more from the inside or across the ball—both of which lead to bad shots.
To correct this problem, take two pieces of clothing, towels, or head covers and place them on either side of the golf ball towards the direction of swing. This will create some sort of gateway through your target line. You should then aim straight through that gap on your way to hitting the ball.
It might take some time to get used to it and avoid hitting either of the items. However, once you master the technique, your golf drive hits will be nothing but straight shots.
Aim Straight
Lastly, you must aim straight to your target. The best way to do this is to establish a target line and then pick a target that’s along that line but closer to the golf ball. You should then try and aim a little to the right of that nearby target.
While at it, make sure your foot alignment is parallel to the target line. Next is to incorporate the other three tips and hit the ball.
How To Drive a Golf Ball 300 Yards
To drive a golf ball 300 yards, you need to focus on club head speed. This is largely impacted by your swing and hand release through the downswing to the follow-through.
The best time to make a shift and accelerate your swing is just when you’re starting the downswing, with the handle of the club pointing straight down, forming a 90-degree angle with the ground. You should allow your hands to release a little as your body opens and rotates swiftly to point straight to the target.
Your body weight must shift with the swing from the right foot to the left foot. The shift adds more power to your hit.
To practice the hand release, you can use an alignment stick. Hold it together with your club, with the biggest portion stretching out to the back. Your focus should be to get the stock to hit the back of your side with every swing. With time, your hand gets used to the swift release, and you’ll start driving more 300-yard tee shots.
The other practice method requires you to get on your knees and swing the golf club from that position. This locks up your hips and forces your arms to use a little bit of extra speed.
For better results, you should blend all the factors into your golf swing— from upper body strength and hand release to hip rotation.
Related: Best golf drivers of all time
How To Drive a Golf Ball Farther
We have three tips on how to hit a driver further. They include:
Set up and Positioning
The best way to hit driver tee shots to go farther is with the upward arc swing. Now, for that to happen, you must position yourself and set up the ball properly. Start by having the ball aligned on the inside of the left heel, followed by moving your right leg a little so that the distance between them is the same as your shoulder width.
You can then tilt your shoulders slightly to the right to optimize the up strike when hitting the ball. The shaft should point straight towards you. As for the ball, ensure it’s halfway above the top of the clubface when placed side by side.
Power on the Downswing
To create the most power on your downswing to strike the driver shot farther, you need to channel the strength in your legs. You achieve this by assuming a squatting stance during the downswing, then picking up and powering through the shot. That slight spring action as you come into contact with the ball helps to strike farther.
Powering the Club Head
The power generated through the backswing and the downswing should work all the way to the follow-through. For that to happen, you must allow the club head and your arm to extend. Ensure your hands swing as far away from your body as you can. Don’t make the mistake of retracting the arm because it limits the power of your shot.
How Do You Hit a Draw With Your Driver?
Lastly, let’s take you through how to hit a draw with a driver.
The basics of hitting a draw involve having the swing path more to the right and the clubface relative to the swing path but aiming to the left (for right-handed golfers). The difference between the swing direction and clubface angle determines the extent of your curve.
To implement this strategy, you must start to create the right clubface curve before working on the swing path. You’ll have to work more with your wrist to turn the club just in time in order to get that ball curve. Start slowly and be creative.
Once the curve becomes a little bit moderate, you can work on the swing path. Here, make sure your stance is correct, then control the clubface. A slight tilt of your right shoulder and hip could really help with directing the swing path.
Related: Best Drivers For Seniors
Conclusion
That brings us to the end of our tips on how to drive a golf club. Have you learned anything new? We’d be happy to know if you gained anything. You can also share your golfing journey in the comment section. Both the wins and challenges.
To drive a ball 300 yards or further can be challenging but not impossible. It takes a considerable amount of practice, patience, and determination. Before you know it, you’ll be scoring big wins against other players while hitting all manner of golf shots. You should start on the driving range before transitioning to the golf course.
Try and record yourself during the practice sessions so that you can analyze every stance, swing, and hit. This will help you know what you’re doing wrong and the areas you’re improving. After all, it’s important to note that there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to golfing skills.
There are the basics to guide you, but then a little bit of creativity could make something work in a different way. With that said, enjoy your golfing journey.
