The 4 driving essentials you need to hit the ball farther

Early in the season, my tee shots always seem to lack their usual pop. It’s not just a blow to the ego — it sends me spiraling. I start second-guessing everything. Posture, ball position, even how far I’m standing from the ball. Before long, I’m overthinking the simplest things, constantly tweaking my setup until nothing feels right and my confidence is shot. 

That is until I came across a helpful video from David Armitage, a GOLF Teacher to Watch. In the clip, Armitage explains the key traits he looks for in a good driver of the ball. It was a quick yet effective refresher that helped me get out of my head and start smashing it again.

I wanted to share these basics for better driving with you in hopes they’ll help you unlock some of your own untapped potential. 

Armitage’s first step to adding some pop back into your drives is to master your driver setup.

While there are many components to a solid setup, like posture or grip, Armitage says that focusing on the following three core principles is the fastest way to boost your tee shots.

1. Take a wide stance

A wide base provides you with additional stability so you can swing harder without feeling like you’re going to tip over. Just look at long drive competitors. When they set their feet, they take a super wide stance, which allows them to stay balanced — even swinging at over 100 mph. 

To find your optimal stance, set your feet a little wider than your shoulders. You can also turn your toes out slightly, Armitage says, which will help with rotation and can give your tee shots a little extra oomph.

2. Play the ball inside your lead heel

“What I see too often is ball position being too far back, too central,” Armitage says. “What I really want to see is that ball position being just inside that lead foot.”

The reason we want to move the ball up in our stance, Armitage explains, is because playing the ball forward encourages you to hit up on the ball and improves the quality of your strike. 

3. Add spine tilt, chest behind the ball

Tilting your upper body slightly away from the target helps you swing up on the ball, creating a higher launch angle, which is essential for longer drives. 

However, when many amateurs add spine tilt to their setup, they unknowingly open their shoulders to the target, Armitage explains.

“I see too often us looking at that golf ball in the forward position,” Armitage says. “This gets our body alignment open, which is terrible for driving.”

Instead, he advises keeping your sternum just behind the ball. A simple way to check that you’re set correctly is by ensuring the buttons on your shirt are about an inch or two behind the ball.

Now that you’re set up properly, you’re almost ready to grip it and rip it. The final key to unlocking more distance with your driver, according to Armitage, is a proper backswing — specifically, achieving a solid load on the way back.

4. Load into your trail instep

“If I want to hit something far, if I want to throw a ball far, I’ve got to load well,” Armitage says. 

The key to loading well? Getting your weight into your inner trail heel, or instep, Armitage says. It’s easier than you’d think. Just remember to rotate. 

“I don’t want this to be a sway off the golf ball. That’s going to be a death move,” Armitage says. “And I definitely don’t want to see a reverse pivot.”

If you struggle to rotate properly, you may find it helpful to think about turning around your spine — not over your legs. This simple swing thought helped me finally eliminate the sway from my backswing.

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