Enhance Your Distance With These Free Golf Tips

One of golf’s most elusive achievements is the perfect long drive swing. There’s nothing more satisfying than hearing the low-pitched ping! of a well-struck ball and watching it fly in a perfect arc down the middle of the fairway. Unfortunately, the perfect drive happens all too rarely, but there are effective ways to improve your long drive swing. These free golf tips will add distance to your driver and allow you to impress your friends with your long game during your next round of golf.

• Be a square.
Or at least make sure your club has a square face. No matter how much club speed you get, if you don’t connect with the ball squarely, you’ll never be able to increase your distance. The most important thing to remember when trying to hit the ball squarely is to keep your leading arm as straight as you can during your backswing. If you’re right-handed, your leading arm is the left arm. Eliminating play in the elbow joint of the leading arm gives you a better chance of bringing the club back to its starting place, the ball, in the same position as it was when you started your backswing.

Try this drill:

Grip the club as you would for a normal swing, but instead of taking the club back, lift your arms to shoulder height, both arms completely straight. Slowly rotate your shoulders to take the club back, keeping your leading arm perfectly straight, until your spine is facing your target; at this point, you should be at the top of your backswing. Then swing through. This motion will train you to take your club back with the proper form, ensuring a square club face upon impact.

• Use your body weight.
Properly utilizing your body weight is crucial to a long drive. Getting your body weight behind your swing helps give the club momentum, and when done right, allows you to use a natural swing that generates maximum power. Improper body weight transfer can greatly decelerate your swing; i.e., if you’re rocking back on your heels while swinging your club forward, the opposing forces will inhibit your swing and reduce your distance.

Here’s a drill to help you: Take a normal address, starting with a square and balanced stance, weight evenly distributed between front and back feet. Take a normal smooth swing. As you strike the ball and begin your follow through, step forward with your back foot as though you’re going to walk after the ball. This will teach you how to transfer your weight forward at the right moment so your body weight isn’t working against your swing.

• Use your shoulders, not your arms.
Your takeaway should be the result of a full shoulder rotation, not merely lifting your arms. If you get a full shoulder rotation (i.e. in the backswing spine is to the target, in the follow through, sternum is to the target) you have a larger swing, as opposed to the abbreviated motion that comes with an arm swing. More distance in the swing equals more club speed, which means greater impact on the ball, which means further distance. This same principle applies to tall people: The farther they are from the ball, the more club speed they’re able to generate, simply due to the increased distance from the ball.

A good drill to try: Take your club and put it across your shoulders, with your hands grasping each end of the club on either side of your head. Then get into your normal golf stance that you would use for hitting a long drive, knees slightly bent, head up, eyes to the ground. Then slowly complete a normal takeaway and followthrough, with the club still laced through your arms. This will teach your body to rotate the shoulders fully, rather than taking the club back with the arms.

• Don’t muscle the ball.
There’s a natural tendency to grip the club too hard and try to swing with as much force as possible when you’re looking to get more distance, and this tendency produces results opposite to the desired outcome. Gripping the club too hard and swinging too strongly causes your muscles tighten up and work against each other, effectively killing your club speed. Instead of trying to whack the ball as hard as you can, stay loose and complete a full shoulder rotation. The more fluid you can make your swing, the more club speed you’ll generate.

Another drill for you: Hold the club in a regular grip, but with your hands at the neck with the club’s grip facing down. Then swing normal practice swings in a proper stance. With the absence of weight at the end of the club, your body will be able to just swing through without any muscle tension, though you’ll still have the benefit of an actual club in your hands.

These free golf tips should have you swinging like a pro and driving greens in no time. Now on to your short game!

Thank you to Alexis Lesa for this "Free Golf Tips" article.

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