Adam Scott isn’t considered a young gun on the Tour anymore, but there’s no denying he’s among its best players, with 13 career PGA wins, 13 international wins, and a career-high FedEx Cup ranking of fourth. There’s also no denying he’s among the Tour’s longest hitters, with an average driving distance of 307 yards.
You could almost say the same thing about the LPGA’s Sei Young Kim. The Korean golfer’s career earnings total over $4.5 million, all of which she’s earned since she joining the Tour in 2015 when she was named Rookie of the Year. With six career victories and 31 top ten finishes, she averages just over 280 yards on her drives.
Setup is the Secret to Hitting Bombs
What’s the secret to their power off the tee? That’s simple. They both feature a solid setup that lets them turn and launch bombs from the tee. Below we discuss three golf tips that can help you do the same. Incorporating these tips in your game can help you max out your drives.
- Push hips slightly forward — Among the keys to generating power off the tee is pushing your hips slightly forward at address. Think belt buckle pointing toward the ball. This move helps maximize hip rotation and speed creation. It also frees up your spine to rotate while keeping your lower body still. To achieve this position, push your rear end forward and then out, locking your hips into position.
Other tweaks you can make to tighten your address position include making sure you keep your:
- Arms loose and dangling
- Neck in line with your spine
- Back nice and straight
- Feet shoulder width apart
- Hands far enough away
- Knees flexed but not bent
Also, make sure your hands are far enough away from your body so the grip’s butt end sits just outside your toe line and the club’s shaft points directly at your belt buckle.
Here are two more tips to help you ignite your power:
- Keep your clubface square — Controlling the clubface is the key to hitting bombs that land in the fairway. But driving it longer doesn’t help if the ball finds trouble. To hit your drives long and straight, you need to keep the clubface square to the clubhead path from start to finish.
One reason that might not happen is that you’re moving too many parts at once. Instead, take the club back by moving everything—shoulders, chest, arms, hands, and club back as a single piece. The key to an on-plane swing, a single piece takeaway also boosts clubface control.
To see if you’re keeping the clubface square try this dill in practice: Set up in your typical address position, then start your backswing. Stop about halfway up and look back at the clubhead to see if it’s square to the clubhead path. If not, you need to work executing your backswing.
- Fire your shoulders — Some swing gurus say “Fire your hips” to start the downswing. If you have trouble doing that, think “Fire your shoulders” instead. It’s easier to do. Your goal in your downswing is to get to a picture-perfect finish, with your chest facing slightly left of target, and your right shoulder ahead of your left, if you’re right-handed.
The key here is to remember that it’s a turn of the shoulders, not a hit with your arms. So don’t stop rotating your shoulders at impact. That’s a slicer’s move. Instead, keep turning your body until you reach the finish, letting the ball get in the way of the swing.
And don’t worry about coming over the top. A full shoulder turn instead of just lifting your arms automatically eliminates that swing flaw. Keep your shoulders rotating, and you’ll add 15 yards to your drives.
Incorporate these golf tree golf tips in your swing. They’ll create a solid turn that lets you launch bombs from the tee, just like Adam Scott and Sei Young Kim. Belting longer drives that hit find the fairway set you up for shorter approach shots to the green. And that can help you break 80.
