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Top 5 Driver Drills to Help You Find More Fairways
We all want Bryson DeChambeau’s distance off the tee, but what we should all be aiming for is keeping the ball in the middle of the alley. To help you do so, our experts came up with 5 drills so that you can find more fairways off the tee!
The following drills will help you develop good swing habits that will result in more trips to the short grass than the rough:
- Headcover Under the Arm Drill
- Driver Swing Path Drill
- Hitting Up on the Ball Drill
- Step Forward Drill
- One Leg Drive Drill
Headcover Under the Arm Drill
The goal of this drill is to help you perfect your takeaway motion with the driver. The takeaway is the first part of the golf swing and doing it right will make the rest of your swing much easier.
From watching the best players in the world, you’ll notice that the takeaway is a compact motion that requires all body parts involved in the motion to move at the same time. The simple reason for having such a compact movement is to avoid any variations in the backswing.
What you’ll need:
- A headcover (or a towel)
- Your driver
- A tee
- A ball
How you do it:
- First, your ball on your tee in the ground;
- Then, place the headcover under your trailing armpit;
- Set yourself into your stance behind the golf ball;
- Once you’re in position, you can begin your swinging motion;
- During the backswing, try to keep the headcover in there;
- Release it as you come down to make contact with the ball.
The objective of the headcover will help you focus on a proper takeaway motion that engages movement from the whole body.
The video below will help you visualize this drill:
Driver Swing Path Drill
Now that you know how to make a great takeaway, let’s turn our attention to the second part of the drive, the downswing. The motion in your downswing will be just as important as your takeaway if you want to get the ball in the desired spots.
A good driver swing path will go from inside to outside, meaning that your club should feel like it’s moving away from you at impact. The goal of this drill is to help you work on this club path in the downswing to avoid over-the-top motions that will likely result in poor shots.
What you’ll need:
- An alignment stick (or a similar type of pole)
- Your driver
- A golf ball
- A tee
- Optional: A second alignment stick
How you do it:
- Set your golf ball on a tee in the ground;
- Plant an alignment in the ground at about a 65-degree angle, on the other side of the tee;
- Leave enough space for your to swing under it;
- Set yourself up at address;
- Swing the club without hitting the alignment stick.
We suggest you start with smaller swings to get used to the presence of the stick before going all out with your drives. Also, you can add another stick on the ground to help with alignment.
The video below will help you set up for this drill:
Hitting Up on the Ball
With the backswing and downswing under control, the next step is to make good contact with the ball. The tricky thing with the driver is that you need to hit up on the ball rather than hit down on it like you would with an iron.
What you’ll need:
- A headcover (or a towel)
- Your driver
- A golf ball
- A tee
How you do it:
- First off, set your golf ball on a tee;
- Then, place your headcover on the ground, about six inches in front of it;
- Get in position to hit your drive;
- After making contact with the golf ball, try to avoid the headcover
The headcover will serve as a mental cue to swing the club upwards at impact to avoid hitting the headcover with your club. You might still graze the top of your headcover depending on its shape, but if you’re striking it squarely, or if you’re hitting down on it, you still need to do some work.
Here’s another clip to help you visualize the drill:
Step Forward Drill
These three first drills are essential to developing a simple golf swing that is easy to replicate. Now that you know how to hit the ball squarely with consistency, you can start working on getting some distance out of these drives.
The best way to generate a lot of distance off the tee is to have a good weight transfer in your swing. During the takeaway, your weight should be directed to your back foot. As you move the club in the downswing and towards the front of your body, your weight should follow a similar transition.
What you’ll need:
- Golf shoes
- Your driver
- A golf ball
- A tee
How you do it:
- Set the golf ball on the tee in the ground;
- Assume your swinging position;
- Once in position, join your lead foot to your trailing foot;
- With your feet side-by-side, begin your backswing;
- As you come into your downswing, move your lead foot back in its original place by taking a step forward as your swing.
The following video will help you visualize this drill:
One Leg Drive Drill
If you want to get a little more out of your driver, this is the drill for you.
By this point, we now know how to hit the ball properly and we also know how to transition our weight in the swing. While a simple weight transition will definitely get you respectable distance off the tee and it will most likely keep you in the alley, you could be getting even more out of the club.
Your back leg serves as a pushing mechanism in a golf swing and pushing off properly will make a tremendous difference when you’re out on the course. Longer drives off the tee mean shorter clubs on your approach shots and they’ll make the game much more enjoyable.
What you’ll need:
- Golf shoes
- Your driver
- A golf ball
- A tee
How you do it:
- Place your ball on a tee in a line with the big toe of your back foot;
- Get into your swinging position, but light your lead foot off the ground;
- You can let the toes of your lead foot touch the ground if you need more balance;
- You can then proceed with your swing.
The goal is to keep the weight on the back foot throughout the swing to work on your ability to push off the ground with that foot.
The video demonstrates how to execute this drill efficiently:
There are plenty of helpful drills to help better your game off the tee, but we strongly believe that these five drills are essential to work on the fundamentals of the driver swing.
Working on these drills diligently will show results on the course. You’ll get to play more approach shots from the fairway and you’ll be able to step up to the tee box with more confidence than ever before. It’s the first step in the process of taking your game to the next level.
Until next time,
The Golf Avenue Team
Further reading
Need an easy golf slice fix? Here's our top picks for draw-biased golf drivers to help you correct your slice. Perfect for right and left-handed golfers alike.
Our in-house PGA of Canada professional, Nicolas Drozdoski-Richardson, offers insightful tips to help you avoid that early season rust.