Have a hard time driving past 150 yards? The average PGA drive is 290 yards, it must be frustrating seeing Pros smack the ball with such precision and power, and wondering why you can’t do the same.
I will explain all the reasons why you’re not driving as far as you could be, and how to fix your drives and get the ball flying!
You lack the correct Golf swing technique in the swing and the setup and have a slow clubhead speed, or you’re not striking the ball in the middle of the club head. Improving your swing via lessons or online instruction you will hit over 150 yards without issue.
I go into detail about specific errors you are probably making, and how to add serious yardage to your drive, don’t go anywhere!
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Why You Can Only Hit Your Driver 150 Yards
You Lack Proper Technique
Hitting a Golf ball over 150 yards is a swing physics problem, the better your technique the less power you need to hit the ball far.
The average player uses their arms to swing instead of their body, the base of your swing should be the rotation of the shoulders in the backswing and the legs and hips in the downswing.
You Swing Too Fast
Secondly, the average player swings way too fast to blast every Golf ball as hard as they can. If your arms move faster than your body’s rotations you are unlikely to replicate the same swing again; Golf is all about consistency!
Instead, focus on the rotational speed of your body, it will be easier to develop a consistent Swing and start hitting those 200+ drives regularly.
Not happy with your progress in golf? I recommend you read my complete guide on beginner’s golf to improve your game.
You Lack Knowledge
Average Golfers love to buy the latest and greatest equipment and think this will drastically improve their game, this constant need to buy new equipment is one reason that makes Golf an expensive sport, to know the other reasons see my post here.
The focus on improving their equipment rather than their swings is another reason why average Golfers struggle to hit 150+ yards, it’s even worse if you’re a beginner who’s taught by a bad player how to play Golf!
I highly recommend learning from a qualified professional, or the various Golfing YouTube channels taught by qualified coaches, my favorite is meandmygolf.
Learning from your friends and picking up bad habits could set your Golf game back years, only listen to people you KNOW are good Golfers!
You Don’t Practice Or Have A Game Plan
Becoming a professional Golfer requires about 6 hours a day of practice at least 5 days a week! I’m not saying practice like that, but be mindful of what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.
A Professional Golfer aims to work on a specific aspect of their game, they know what working on a specific part of their Swing could take months to master.
The average Golfer struggles to hit 150+ because they are going through the same motions when they practice at the driving range, or on the course, they aren’t thinking why are my shots going left? What am I doing wrong?
In every sport, you have to be mindful of what you’re doing if you don’t know you’re supposed to hit a Golf ball in the middle of the Club and optimize clubhead speed and spin to drive the ball far, how are you supposed to hit the ball far?
For the average player, focussing on trendy equipment is far easier than understanding the fundamentals of what you’re trying to achieve with driving the ball.
To know how much should you pay to reshaft a club, check out my post here.
How Do You Hit A Driver Over 200 Yards?
You Must Hit The Ball Correctly
Have you heard of the angle of attack?
The attack angle is the vertical(up-down) angle at which the clubhead moves at impact, positive means hitting up on the ball, whilst negative means hitting down on the ball. How down you hit depends on how vertical your swing is.
Every club is different but the Driver is the only club that you should connect within a neutral or positive angle towards the ball, data from launch monitors have shown how important these angles are for driving the ball further.
Sick of not driving the ball far enough? Launch monitors are a great way to give you real practicable performance data for every club in your bag, get the FlightScope Mevo for a bargain on Amazon here.
See this graph from Trackman it is insane how much distance you could gain by moving from a negative to a positive angle of attack with your Driver.
A player with a 95mph swing could go from carrying the ball 207 yards all the way to 256 my changing the angle of attack from -5 to 5 crazy right! Something so small has a huge difference to your swing.
Whilst some say changing the angle of attack could make you lose accuracy, the fact is if you want to hit a driver further without swinging like mad or buying an expensive driver, this is the way to do it.
Hit With The Centre Of Your Driver
Instead of increasing your distance by increasing club head speed, think of hitting the ball in the sweet spot, the center of your clubhead. How important is hitting in the center? VERY important.
Assume your average drive is 180 yards off the tee, a one-inch off-center hit translates to roughly 12% loss of distance! If that person hit the ball in the center he/she would immediately gain 20-25 yards just by changing this simple thing.
How To Hit The Ball In The Center Of The Clubface
Practice the ideal driver set up with your feet at shoulder width and take practice swings before swinging and finish in a good position. Most off-centered Golf shots are a result of losing position.
Ensuring proper setup and finishing positions is how we keep consistency in our Golf swings and more importantly, strike the ball at the center of the clubface.
Are all your Golf grips the same? To see why it matters check my post here.
Hit The Ball With A Square Clubface
Do you slice the Golf ball? You are not alone as slicing the ball is the most common problem amateur Golfers face, due to an open clubface at impact.
One mistake you might be making is not having a strong grip, a strong grip allows the proper release of the clubface to increase distance.
The best way to control your clubface is to ensure your hands are placed in a powerful position on the club. Make sure you can see between the 2-3 knuckles of the left hand at address, this puts you into a powerful position.
To see how to get the best Golf grip possible, check out this video here.
When does a Golf swing finish? If your like some amateur Golfers you might think it’s the point of contact with the ball but you would be wrong, it happens in contact! Look at most PGA players and you see they finish a Drive with the club high over their left shoulder.
The most simple drill for hitting the ball squarely is shown in the above YouTube video by Paul Wilson, whilst holding the club loose, start off at the top of your backswing and feel the club fully hinged at the wrists, and stretch the arms around 2 foot after the ball with irons and 3 feet with woods.
If you follow all the tips mentioned I guarantee you will hit the ball straighter and further than ever before!
Tired of inconsistency in Golf? Discover how to fix your issues in my complete guide to beginners golf.