So there was Tiger Woods standing on the tee at the Masters and you liked the look of his nice new driver so you thought you would buy one and give it a spin? Well chances are that you are reading this because you completely messed up the entire 18 hole round of golf and the only hole that felt good was drowning your sorrows in the 19th hole? Most players struggle when they first get a higher percentage driver, so we came up with a few tips that may well help you with this:
1. It all starts with your tee height. You need the tee to be higher than you would normally have it with your older club. Time was that the perfect position for the ball was in the middle of the club face but now the larger driver heads benefit from having the ball three quarters the height of the club. So sit the ball on the tee so you can see around one third above the top of the club. A longer tee is advised for this and one that is made of a plastic as this stops scratches on your club.
2. Your aim is something that many people put down to aligning their shoulders up correctly, which is good but in addition to this you can ensure that the writing on the ball is pointing in the direction you want to hit it. One of the major problems with higher handicap golfers is that they hit the ball a long way just in the wrong direction! Most modern golf balls have not just a logo but writing on the side which tells you the model of ball that it is. Point this writing in the direction you want to hit it, this way when you line up your club face to the ball you will be able to see that there is a perfect T to the writing and the club face, this way you know that you are aiming down the fairway before you let rip.
3. The position that the ball sits in your stance has changed slightly as well. You need the ball slightly further forward in your stance than you did before where you used to line the ball up with your heel, now it is closer to being the tip of the big toe, as long as your stance is correct. This part is really personal preference and you need to spend time on the good old driving range in order to master where you are going to have the ball but you can test it in different areas until it feels completely natural. Once you have that you can just do what makes you feel good and practice it.
4. Striking the ball as your swing starts to rise rather than with the other clubs in your bag where you strike with the down, for backspin, or on the bottom of the swing in order to strike the ball cleanly. In step three when we changed the address of the ball we ensured that we would not have to change the swing in order to strike the ball cleanly and with distance.
These are simple to follow steps that you will be able to introduce to your game with your new club in order to be able to hit a golf ball cleanly and sweetly with your new club.
