5 Common Golf Myths Destroying Your Driver Distance… And What To Do Instead

Hitting it straight and keeping it in play are important, but what if you are well and truly fed up seeing your fellow playing partners, who look no stronger or more powerful than you, bomb it past you, time and time again. Or you simply feel your driver just isn’t doing what it’s supposed to and appears to go no further than your fairway wood.

In desperation you start listening to others well-meaning advice, such as, keep your head down, swing it low and slow back, tee it higher, tee it lower. It can get very confusing fast, because what works for one person doesn’t always work for another.

The search for more distance is a common request I hear when coaching and one I love to take on, because often the biggest gains come from understanding what actually matters when it comes to hitting longer drives. Here are some of the most common myths I hear that are likely holding you back and what you should really be focusing on.

Longer Swing = More Power

Making your backswing longer doesn’t automatically mean you’ll hit the ball further. If you force a bigger backswing than your mobility allows, you will likely lose your balance, timing and ability to strike the ball consistently. Without good balance you cannot deliver power into the back of the ball and poor timing will mean you will be more prone to miss hits.

What You Should Focus On

A shorter, well-timed backswing that you can consistently get back to the ball will always send it further than an off-balance, poorly struck ball. Experiment hitting drives with different swing lengths to find the sweet spot for your strike and power, it might surprise you how powerful a shorter swing can be.

Keep Your Head Down

Ah yes, the old classic of keeping your head down. In 20 years of coaching I can count on one hand where this has been the root cause of problems. Trying to keep your head still, or worse fixed, can create unnecessary tension and restrict your body’s ability to rotate.

Tension is a killer for speed, which is ultimately what achieves more distance. Imagine trying to play any other racket sport with your grip and arm clenched – impossible and not only that, it increases your chances of injury.

What You Should Focus On

Your head will naturally move as your shoulders turn in the backswing, and your body rotates through impact. So instead of concentrating on keeping your head position fixed, focus on maintaining your posture, turning comfortably and allowing your body to move athletically.

Again, if you play a racket sport like tennis, once you’ve hit the ball you follow it and flow with the movement of energy. In the golf swing we want to control excessive movement, not eliminate movement all together. So, unless you are a meerkat popping your head up all over the place, swing freely and enjoy the feeling of more energy through the ball.

A Stronger Grip Will Send It Further

A stronger grip means rotating both hands further around the grip to your trail side. You will be able to see three or more knuckles on the top hand and your lower hand is more underneath the grip, sitting in the palm. This can make it easier for some golfers to square the clubface at impact, but it doesn’t automatically result in more clubhead speed.

Your grip placement has a huge effect on how the clubface behaves throughout the swing and how your body has to move in order to hit the ball. Changing it without understanding this can create more problems than it solves, as it is more likely to lead to a closed clubface through impact. Hello left side of the course, and if you are already struggling to get the driver up in the air…uh oh!

What You Should Focus On

A grip that suits your hand size and strength. When women start playing golf, they are often encouraged to use an interlocking grip because it is considered a good option for smaller hands. However, in an effort to make the grip feel less awkward and more comfortable there is a tendency to push the hands and fingers together too much, leading to an over-tense and strong grip.

In my coaching, I’ve had great success switching women from an overly strong tense grip to the more neutral, ten finger/baseball grip, which is easy to get right every time, reduces tension and having more fingers on the grip feels powerful!

You Need To Swing as Hard As Possible

When you’re standing on the tee and desperate to squeeze every last yard out of your driver, it’s tempting to throw everything you’ve got at the ball. But trying to hit it harder often brings unnecessary tension, which will make it difficult to generate any real speed. Add a loss of balance into the mix and all that extra effort can count for very little. After all, you can’t fire a cannon from a canoe! The key is to generate speed without sacrificing your balance, freedom of movement and quality of strike.

What You Should Focus On

Creating speed without tension. An athletic fast swing that allows your body to move naturally and accelerates the club through impact. I recommend working on swing speed for everyone I teach who is on the quest for more distance. Clubhead speed is not a gift you are born with and is a skill you can develop, along with making sure your swing path is on track.

Your Left Arm Must Stay Completely Straight

You’ve probably been told that keeping your left arm perfectly straight (right arm for left-handed golfers) throughout the backswing is essential for hitting the ball further. While a relatively extended lead arm can help you maintain the structure of your swing and create a wider arc, obsessing over it and locking your elbow rigidly can introduce our nemesis tension and restrict your movement.

What You Should Focus On

As long as you don’t excessively bend your left arm, having a bit of bend is better if it keeps your swing relaxed. Swinging within yourself and keeping your backswing comfortable and repeatable is what matters most.

You don’t need to completely rebuild your swing to find more distance off the tee. Sometimes, it’s about challenging the advice you’ve always followed and understanding what really moves the needle when it comes to generating speed and power.

A free swing, striking the ball efficiently and finding a technique that works for your body is the goal, rather than forcing yourself into positions that feel unnatural. The priority should be making the most of what you’ve got and if you need more, knowing that there are ways to improve. Try changing one thing at a time, and you might be surprised by how many extra yards you can find without changing your entire game.