Whether it’s U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau or a 25-handicapper who can’t carry the ball 200 yards, you’ll never hear any golfer ever say they don’t want more distance. Even when you’re striping it off the tee, there’s still that little voice in your head wondering, can I hit it even further?
If you’re struggling to maximise your distance potential with the driver, the problem could be from misunderstanding what you need to do to generate good clubhead speed. The first mistake is thinking you need to grip the club harder to hit it farther. The second is starting your downswing with everything you’ve got. In both cases, it’s wasted effort. Let me explain why.
When you grip the club too hard, you can’t utilise the suppleness of your hands, wrists and arms to provide a snap-like action into the ball. That “snap” really generates a lot of power. And when you start down from the top as fast as you can, there’s a good chance your clubhead will be slowing down when it gets to the ball. Like I said, it’s wasted energy. Instead, your grip pressure should feel relaxed and the start of your downswing unhurried. You want your driver moving its fastest through the hitting area. You don’t hit at the ball, you swing through it. Look at me here (below). If you can get into a mind-set where you’re trying to get the club moving it’s fastest after impact, you’ll start to feel how to build more speed into your drives.
A time-honored drill to get a feel for this snap is to flip the club upside down and grip the shaft at its neck, then make practice swings creating a whoosh sound as the grip end passes over the ground where your teed ball would be sitting. Keep your grip pressure light and let speed build. If you hear the sound halfway into your downswing, you’ll know you’re still gripping too hard and swinging too fast at the start. Try to create that sound much later. When you go back to hitting drives, you’ll be out of “hit” mode and your swing should feel much more freed up.
