It happens to weekend warriors and touring pros alike: You hit a few lows in the middle and your driver starts to feel automatic – until it doesn’t.
In a recent video from Titleist, GOLF 100 Top Instructor Joe Hallett explains that when players get that sudden boost of confidence, it often pulls their focus back to the basics. The most common mistake? It’s a very sneaky situation.
He says: “When you start hitting the ball well, especially on the tee, something starts to sneak up on you and the feeling of being strong, the feeling that you are invincible.”
“Little by little, you’ll notice as the players start to play, they start to get more and more in this set and the situation gets wider,” he continued, “That’s where you have to start worrying.”
Find your perfect driver position
To find your ideal driver position, Hallett explains that you need to decide which range gives you the most accuracy and power. The best way to do that is to use Hallett’s Goldilocks method:
Hit a few drives with your feet just within shoulder width
Then shoulder width
Then slightly outside the width of the shoulder
This will help you understand how the width of each area affects your contact quality, ball flight, accuracy and power.
“If we keep our feet together, they control the swing, the length of the swing. That probably makes for more accuracy,” he says, “As your stance gets wider, it brings more punch.”
Once you hit a few shots with each stance, Hallett says you should start to see a slight drop in performance as you play that wider stance.
He says: “There will be an event where you go, which was not so strong, put that note back up, and you find the width of your stance.”
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Avoid missing the ‘wide right’
While your driver stance is fine on most tee shots, sometimes you really want to step on one. Hallett says that’s when you need to know how to create a wider stance. In his experience, ineffective wide stances have one similarity: The trail foot is too far outside the trail shoulder.
“This situation, I call it good,” Hallett said.
The reason the “correct wide” stance causes problems is because it forces you to make a big movement to load up on your side of the road, which, as Hallett explained earlier, can reduce your accuracy and power in a big way. Hallett says that having your foot too far back can cause you to keep your weight on your lead side through the swing, creating a reverse pivot and therefore, draining your power.
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“If I go to hit this, my weight will go back, and I can tell you that going back will not help the ball go forward,” he said.
Instead, Hallett recommends setting up in what he calls a “proper right” position. Key: move your trailing shoulder and trailing foot together as you take your stance.
This trick helps you keep your shoulders over your hips and knees, while placing your feet slightly wider. Which allows you to properly load the top of your backswing and generate maximum power without sacrificing control.
“Now, I’m full behind the ball and I can add a little more pop to that shot,” Hallett said.
To hit your drives on the course, just remember to focus on your feet. Stick to your correct driving position for most shots, and when you’re ready to crush one, bring your foot and shoulder together. This “right right” stance will help you load up properly and open your powerful, controlled claim.
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