How to hit your driver straighter
Advice from the girls who can
Posted: 8 May 2007
by Ross Biddiscombe
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Rebecca Hudson - tips on straight hitting
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Is it a myth that women golfers are straighter hitters than men within the average golf club? Notoriously the straightest hitters of all are the women professionals on the Ladies European Tour.
Stand on any range during a top women's tournament and you'll see the ball struck effortlessly and consistently down a 10-yard corridor. How do they do that? I asked a handful of leading LET pros to offer some straight-hitting advice for us all.
Doncaster-born Rebecca Hudson believes straight hitting is a question of power.
“Lady golfers swing the club slower and create less torque (twisting of the club head). That’s why we tend to hit the ball straighter.
"My best advice for anyone - man or women who wants to hit straighter is swing slower, because there's less risk of the clubhead twisting. That doesn’t mean trying to guide the ball, just slow your normal swing down a little.”
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Gwladys Nocera - 'fitness is key'
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Solheim Cup player Gwladys Nocera from France believes regular visits to the gym and putting on a little muscle in your arms is the solution, to straighter and stronger hitting of the golf ball.
“If you want to hit it straighter, then it’s good to get fit and feel stronger. Being fitter will mean you have more power and you won’t feel like you have to try to swing the club so fast to get more distance.”
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Shani Waugh - 'use a 3-wood'
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Seventeen-year LET veteran Shani Waugh from Australia says women hitting the ball straighter is a myth. She's convinced that men with more natural power are hitting longer and merely exaggerating their mistakes.
“Why not try hitting a 3-wood instead of a driver off the tee? Too many amateurs automatically pick up their drivers at every par-4 and par-5. They should consider the rough and the hazards; really think about what tee shot they want to hit and only then choose the right club.”
Long-time top British woman professional, Trish Johnson says that hitting straighter doesn’t mean you can’t hit long.
“Men can hit the ball hard and if you can hit it hard, you can also hit it straight. It’s as simple as that.”
Tell us your secrets for hitting straighter. Is it a case of developing a repeating golf swing, swinging slower or buying one of the new drivers which claim to straighten out your wild shots.
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Discuss this story
The swing at 80% is actually a bit of a myth but it does seem to get the correct thoughts into peoples heads. The goal is to maximise contact and energy transfer into the ball. We all have a swingspeed/tempo limit beyond which the laws of diminishing returns apply.
Massive backswings at lightspeed, reverse pivots, casting over the top moves, excessive swaying, right side dominant. All of these, and others, feel really powerful but, excepting very rare occasions, result in a loss of energy transfer. I've tried the experiment on a launch monitor and looked at my results. Without fail I was losing 10-20 MPH when I went after it and the connection was rarely close to square. This was resulting, with driver, in a drop of carry distance of up to 50 yards, and some serious hooks and slices. I think the confusion comes because you put in so much more effort, and it feels more powerful, when you go after it. Ergo all that effort must mean it is your 100%+ swing, and you've just got a bit off line etc. In reality the controlled swing, or 80%, is a much more efficient tool which allows for greater energy transfer. This is actually your real 100% swing but it is mentally hard to believe because it feels so much less effort.
So, the answer to straight driving, swing at 100% of what you can control. If it doesn't go far enough for you then work on technique because brute force won't fix it. Look at some of the skinny little kids that hit the ball a mile.
Posted: 10/05/2007 11:36
I was a slicer until i learned to do 2 simple things...
1. I turn my shoulder slightly to a closed position at address, my tendancy (as it is for a lot of other mid handicappers) was to address the ball with a slightly open left shoulder (right handed player), closing the left shoulder will help straighten your drives out.
2. Make a full complete follow through, you MUST hit through the ball not at the ball...
Other things that can help...
Making sure you are alligned correctly, pick an object out in the distance and allign the club face to it, then get into position, trust your swing and smack it.
Tilt your spine angle slightly away from the target, for right handed players lean slighlty to the right so the right shoulder is lower than the left, this will help you transfer weight and also assist with getting the club on the correct plane.
If you setup incorrectly its difficult to recover without making compensations during the swing, these are usually of a detrimental nature and will lead to inconsistency and frustration.
If you do all of the above im confident your driving will improve, i love driving the ball, its my biggest strengh, mostly due to the above things that i do.
Posted: 15/05/2007 09:30
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