Golf Driving Distance And The Difference It Makes

We all love to hit a long golf ball - particularly off the tee. It stands to reason that if your drives are long and straight then your approach shots are that much easier, but what is it that helps to increase your golf driving distance?

In this article I am going to touch on a few of the aspects that make for longer drives and concentrate on the one that I think is the most important.

Let me kick off with technology first as we all tend to rush out to buy the newest driver which, with its "greatly advanced" technology will give you an "extra 50 yards off the tee - instantly."

Humbug. Yes technology does help (to a large extent) but you still have to hit the ball.

When you consider the advancement in technology over the past 60 years we should all be hitting the ball to the moon and back, but the truth is we don't. Golf club and golf ball manufacturers spend millions of dollars each year coming up with products that are 'guaranteed' to improve our game but the average golfer's handicap has gone out over the past 60 years.

Here's my $0.02 worth.

Bearing in mind you are living a normal life - that is to say you have a job to go to, a family to devote some time to, friends you socialize with, you eat, you drink, you have coffee, in short you are human.

Because you have limited time and resources to improve your golf driving distances you need to develop what works for you. The best way to get longer drives is to utilize what you have (your own body, ability and current driver) to their maximum potential. There really is no need to give up everything else in life or spend a fortune on the latest and greatest driver!

I don't care who you are or what shape you are - everyone can improve their driving distance by understanding and developing the correct sequence.

Why else can some of the small ladies who play golf outdrive the big football players who try to muscle the ball around a course?

Driving distance, and indeed all golf shot lengths, are determined by a couple of crucial elements after taking out technology.

OK, OK, OK! I said technology isn't going to help you (yet) and I stand by that for the moment. Once you are striking the ball correctly and getting more distance from your current driver then technology might make a difference - just bear with me for a while!

The two critical factors that influence distance are:

• Club head speed and
• Launch angle

By far the most important of these is club head speed. For every additional mile per hour of club head speed you gain an extra 4 or 5 yards!

An additional 5 mph will give you an extra 20 yards on your driver. Ask yourself is it easier to hit (and hold) the green using a 7 iron or a 5 iron?

The trick to generating extra club head speed lies not in giving up certain foods, alcohol or sex. Nor does it lie in spending $800.00 on a new driver.

No sir. To get the extra 20 or 30 yards learn to deliver the club to the ball when the club is traveling at maximum speed. Acceleration through the ball is key.

To do this you need to understand that the down-swing starts by turning the hips, and only the hips, back towards the target and allowing the shoulders, arms, hands, club and finally club head to follow as naturally as day follows night.

By the time the club head gets to the ball the hips, and shoulders will be well clear of (through) the hitting area. The arms and hands simply have to accelerate to catch up with the shoulders - it is a natural consequence of the correct sequence.

The question is:

Would an extra 20 or 30 yards added on to your golf driving distance make a difference to the game?

I think we all know the answer to that.

The next question then is:

How do you gain an extra 5 mph club head speed and is it difficult to do so?

You may be surprise to learn that a simple daily drill that takes 5 - 10 minutes is all you will need to gain the extra driving distance.

Learn and implement the proper golf sequence and more driving distance is yours for life.