By Jason Blanchard
“I want to kill it off the tee.” I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, “I just want to hit it farther.” Golfers typically equate swinging harder with hitting it farther. That actually couldn’t be further from the truth.
Carry and total driving distance is based on swing speed, but that is just part of making the ball go farther off the tee.
Every driver has a ‘sweet spot’ on the club face and when you strike your ball against that ‘sweet spot’ you are on the right path to maximizing your distance. This is primarily the center of the face in both the woods and the irons. You can swing as hard as you want, but if you aren’t hitting the center of the club face, you will never be able to get the maximum ball speed off of it.
Without getting too technical, the combination of a club hitting a ball is very similar to a trampoline. If you bounce in the center of the trampoline, you are able to jump much higher, as opposed to jumping by the edge and not really bouncing at all. Your golf club, especially your driver, creates the same effect, so if you hit the ball in the middle you can achieve maximum bounce (distance).
The real question is, how do you hit the center of the club face? The quick answer is, don’t swing so hard.
I know this sounds simple, but it’s true. When you focus on tempo and control your body into a balanced finish, you’ll find that it would be the simplest way to hit solid shots.
Another great tool besides focusing on good tempo is to actually shorten your backswing. During the backswing, the farther away the club gets from the ball, the more room for error you have.
I promise, 90 percent of amateur golfers swing too long into the backswing for their skill level. I promise, the feeling of a shorter backswing and a balanced finish is so much nicer than the feeling of trying to kill a tee shot.
Please reach out to me at golfguyosprey@gmail.com with any questions and check out our YouTube videos at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKORi1BixPjP_wCndPJ1ahA for some helpful tips ‘from the tee!’
