When it comes to golf, driver distance is believed to be so important. PGA Tour broadcasts are highlighted by Shot Tracker animations showing just how far each star can blast their tee shots. Golf courses have been stretched out to almost unplayable lengths. With each new release from the club manufacturers, there’s promise of “even more distance.”
Lost in the fascination with driver distance, however, is the ultimate need to hit your driver straight. Hitting fairways and keeping the ball in play is so vital to an amateur golfer’s game that accuracy far and away trumps distance as a must-have off the tee. With that in mind, we explored five ways golfers of all skill levels can drive the ball straighter:
1. Get custom fit
Custom fitting is crucial to the success of golfers, no matter their skill level. With so many variables at play during each and every swing, golfers can’t afford to be playing the wrong equipment.
In the past, golfers would head to their local sporting goods store or golf retailer and simply put into play a driver or set of clubs straight off the shelf. Now, golfers can have their swings analyzed and be matched to shafts, and clubs that fit their games.Customizing your equipment — especially your driver — will ensure you give yourself the greatest opportunity for confidence and accuracy off the tee.
2. Optimize your swing plane
In this, the age of information, golfers have seemingly countless choices of software, programs and apps available to help their games. One such app is Zepp Golf.
Zepp, maker of swing plane products for baseball and tennis, also offers a golf product that securely fastens to the golfer’s glove. Users can utilize the app for a three-dimensional examination of their swings either on the practice range or the course. Zepp provides users with additional key metrics like angle of attack, swing speed and clubhead speed, but the app’s critique of swing plane is crucial towards improvement for amateur golfers.
3. Utilize data
In addition to swing tracker apps like Zepp, there are now a host of shot-tracking applications on the market. Apps like Arccos Golf can help you easily track each and every shot on the course, so you can review and apply that knowledge the next time you play.
Arccos automatically records every shot you take and plots it on a map overlay of the course. Each shot is measured and entered into your statistics, which allows you to fully understand where you’re drives are landing, the percentage of misses left or right, along with distances and more. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses allows you to make better choices on the course — leading you to more fairways and straighter drives.
4. Club down
When in doubt, take less club! For many golfers, including beginners, hitting a driver is tough work. Why make golf harder than it needs to be? On many holes, you’d be better served taking less club. Consider hitting a fairway wood or a low iron. What you’ll lose in potential distance is more than made up for by the increased accuracy off the tee.
5. Slow down
If you elect to stick with the driver off the tee, slow your swing down. The stars of the PGA Tour lead us to believe that swing speed and clubhead speed are everything. For them, they are. The faster they swing, the farther the ball goes and the closer they are to making birdie — or better.
For amateur golfers, the goal should be to make the clubhead square at impact. In order to do that, we should swing within our means and focus on balance and tempo. When in doubt, simply slow your swing down and focus on making good contact with the golf ball. You’ll find more fairways and be much straighter off the tee.
— Ben Larsen