Get more distance, accuracy off the tee! Just another reminder that no matter how much you improve your accuracy and consistency off the tee, getting another 10 yards means you hit a shorter iron or hybrid on your next shot. And that, according to the author of “Every Stroke Counts”, reduces your score by as much as 1.6 strokes!
Last year we did an entire blog series on getting more distance off the tee. See the series here.
So what does it take to get that extra distance without sacrificing accuracy? First, make sure your driver is fit to your swing so that you are maximizing the smash factor. That means you are hitting the ball as close as possible to the proverbial sweet spot which creates the highest ball speed. This means the club length, shaft weight, shaft flex and swing weight are optimizing your contact. Nearly all driver manufacturer’s are now focusing on maximizing ball speed as their criteria for increased distance. Callaway, Ping and Mizuno tout their drivers as delivering the highest ball speed but the others (TaylorMade, Tour Edge, Cobra, etc.) are not that far off. If you have not purchased a driver in the past 3 years, you should take a look at some of the new ones on the market.
Second, make sure your swing technique creates the optimum launch and spin. This means you have a positive attack angle which increases launch and reduces spin. Our average golfer will be neutral to negative with their driver. During our fitting process, we will take a very close look at driver loft, attack angle and tee height to optimize your launch and spin. Just a few technique changes can give you that extra 10 yards immediately.
Finally, make sure the driver you are playing has a very high MOI, especially if you are not hitting the ball consistently on the face. High MOI (Moment of Inertia) means that the club head resists twisting on off-center hits thus keeping your shot dispersion fairly tight. Callaway EPIC and EPIC SubZero have the highest MOI of drivers but others are not far behind.
So if your goal this year is to be more accurate off the tee AND pick up some distance, come see us for a fitting and optimize YOUR driver. It could be as simple as a better shaft or adjusting your technique.
Dan Sueltz
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