Maximize Your Distance With The Driver

Shawn Cox

Shawn Cox

SwingU Master Faculty, #1 Teacher In Southern California

One of the most important things you can do when trying to maximize your distance with your driver is to make sure you’re not hitting down on the ball; you want to be swinging level or up on the ball. The reason is that is the more directly you come into it — not at an angle — the more energy you’re going to transfer.

We can measure that in golf with our launch monitors, specifically looking at smash factor. A good smash factor is 1.5 (150 ball speed / 100 mph clubhead speed), and when we bring loft into the equation, we can create an optimal launch without wasted energy from an angular attack.

One thing to avoid when attempting to create more loft is to have a scooping motion; the best drivers will be level or swinging up on the ball while still having their hands in a good impact position, which can be aided by a forward ball position and/or a small tilt in their body at address.