PGA Professional Alex Elliott explains how to hit dead straight drives for more fairways and lower scores
How To Hit The Ball Dead Straight
Watch the video below:
Address
Predominantly we want a good ball position just inside the left foot, for a right-handed player, to help us hit it on the up.
This helps bottom the arc out before the golf ball.
Be careful when putting the ball forward in your stance that you don’t open up your shoulders so just tuck your right shoulder in a little, if you are a right-handed player.
Parallel lines at address with shoulders, feet and hips is also very important.
Related: 7 Ways to play better without changing your swing
Where curve comes from
Curving the ball is a combination of face angle at impact and swing path.
In its simplest terms, an out-to-in path with a slightly open face will cause the ball to curve left-to-right for a right-handed player.
In-to-out will cause a right-to-left shape.
Remember that hitting it out of the toe will generally lead to a right-to-left shape whilst a heel strike will tend to cause a fade or slice.
To hit a dead straight shot you must strike the ball out of the centre, or ideally just above centre to minimise spin and increase launch.
So…how do you strike it out of the middle?
Spray some foot spray or place something that works in a similar way onto the face like dry shampoo or impact tape.
This is a great way of alerting you where on the clubface you’re striking the ball, especially if you’re new to the game.
Once you know where you’re striking it, you can begin to focus on what to do to begin striking it out of the middle.
A good drill is to put the clubhead down by the ball and place two tees either side of the club just wide enough to swing through to create a gate.
Related: 7 Biggest golf practice mistakes
The release
Most amateur golfers are slicers of the ball so imagine a tennis forehand slice in regards to the release.
Apply the opposite notion to that with a forehand where you swing around the body.
Taking away the slice motion and trying to hit more around your body will actually help you begin to swing it more on plane.
Crucially, you want the arms and the body to work together for the release.
This helps with face delivery, speed and strike.
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