Every golfer on earth wants to hit their driver straight, but a lot of them end up hitting fades, hooks and even slices. A straight golf shot will help you get closer to your target and lower your golf score. Therefore, it’s important that you aim to get a straight shot everytime.
However, hitting the golf ball straight is not an easy feat, especially for most beginners as it requires good technique and skills which is developed through continous practice.
In this article, we will discuss a few tips to help you hit your golf ball straight. Each of these tips are equally important to remember. You need to master all 3 shot ingredients if you are to hit your driver straight and consistent. Let’s take a look at them.
Table of Contents
3 Tips For Hitting The Golf Ball Straight With A Driver
1. Hit The Middle Of The Clubface
The strike location and the direction that the clubface is pointing are key to getting a straight golf shot. In short, hitting the middle of the clubface helps you hit the ball dead straight.
If you are hitting the toe of the golf club, the ball will typically start off more to the right and bend back to the left. Also, if you are hitting the heel of the club, then the ball flight will lean more from left to right.
Hitting the middle of the clubface is where you will get the optimum flight direction, thereby allowing for a straight ball flight.
Hitting the middle of the clubface will simply take practice. One thing you can do is to monitor your strike by using powder foot spray on the clubface. This will show you the print of the ball on the clubface.
Apart from the strike location, the clubface direction at the point of contact with the golf ball will also affect the straightness of your shot.
If the clubface is aiming too far to the left, then the ball will go to the left. The opposite is true. If the clubface is aiming too far to the right, then the ball will go too far to the right. You want to aim the clubface directly at your intended target.
The biggest influence of clubface direction is grip. Make sure you have a neutral grip. If you have a grip that is too strong, the clubface will close down. If you have a grip that is too weak, the clubface is more inclined to open up.
Related Post: How to grip a golf club correctly
All in all, you should ensure that the the clubface is square or straight. This means that the line of the clubface is perpendicular to the target line.
2. The Swing Path Must be Straight
The swing path is the direction your club takes through the golf ball. To hit a straight shot, the swing path must be straight through the ball.
A lot of golfers, even the best of players in the world, will hit the ball from the inside resulting in a right to left ball flight like a draw or a hook.
Also, some golfers hit across the ball, which causes massive curvature. If the clubhead is coming in at angle, it’s going to create curvature on the golf ball. We want the clubhead to be coming in dead straight so that the ball flight is straight.
A simple drill to help you get a straight swing path is to use two soft objects and place them at either side of the golf ball. This could be head covers or your own golf gloves.
Set up a gateway towards your target line. Your goal is to swing through the gap between the two objects. That way you won’t create curvature.
You may find that you hit one of the headcovers that is on the inside. This just means that you are fading the ball too much and you need to work on preventing that. Also, if you hit the headcover on the outside, then that could indicate that you are slicing the ball too much.
Once you know these fundamentals, it wil help you hit the ball straighter.
Related Post: How to fix your golf slice?
3. Aim Straight At The Target
A lot of golfers hit the golf ball straight, but when they go on the golf course they don’t hit the fairway.
The reason is that they don’t aim straight at the target. To achieve this, you should stand behind the golf ball. Then choose a target object close to the ball position. You can do this in the driving range and you can do this out in the golf course.
You should then aim the clubface using a close object as a target point. Your feet should be aligned parallel to the target line. By applying all the lessons you’ve learnt including strike location, clubface, swing path, and aiming straight, you are giving yourself the best opportunity to hit the golf ball straight as an arrow!
Checklist To Hitting The Driver Long And Straight
Aiming straight at the target is an important step to hitting the golf ball long and straight. But there are a few more things you need to know if you want to get more distance from your driver. Here is a simple checklist:
✔️Tee Height
When you are looking to hit a long and straight driver shot, you want to align the equator line of the golf ball with the top edge of the clubface. This will optimise the strike location and maximise the launch and spin of the golf ball. The diagram below shows the setup position:
By teeing up just above the equator line of the ball, you will maximize your distance.
✔️Ball Position
You want to hit up on the golf ball, so make sure your ball position favors the left foot (the foot that is closer to the target).
- Start with your feet together
- Take a tiny step with your left foot
- Then take a bigger step with your right foot
That way the ball position is just inside your left heel. You also want to flare your left foot out so that you can free up your left hip and maximise speed. This leads us to our next point.
✔️Width of stance
When hitting your driver, you must have a stable base. The inside of your feet should be just about the same width as your shoulders. That will give you the best chance to rotate your upper body and create power needed for clubhead speed.
✔️Optimize strike conditions
The driver should hit up on the golf ball. Some golfers call this a ‘positive angle of attack’. To achieve this, you should tilt the upper body slightly at an angle. This will help you get an optimimum downswing as you hit through the golf ball.
✔️Width and Balance in swing
Extend and stretch the golf club as you takeway your golf club in the backswing. A wide takeway will help you create power and encourage your upper body to rotate and coil at the top of the swing. Extend in the downswing and maintain balance in the finish position.
By following these 5 pointers on our checklist, you will definitely maximise your distance.
Shortgame Shots
Short-game shots are all straight shots. Unlike other shots in golf, you don’t hit short-game shots with the intention of curving the ball.
You don’t need to hook it or fade it in there. Just knock it straight. This concept may seem simple to grasp, but remembering it can help you tremendously with your aim.
If you have a 10-foot break from right to left on the green, you still hit a straight putt to try to make it; you just have to aim 10 feet to the right of the hole because of the break.
You don’t aim at the hole and try to push the ball out with your putter. You pick a spot for your target line and aim so that the green takes care of the work foryour target line and aim so that the green takes care of the work for you.
The same goes for a 30-yard shot over a bunker, or any pitch or chip from off the green. You may determine that the uneven green will cause the ball to break 10 feet from the right to the left after you hit your target, so you have to allow for that, but all you want to do is hit the ball straight to your target landing area.
Remove the curves and angles from your mind after you pick your line and focus on hitting the ball straight.
