Golf Driving Tips For Beginners From Top 50 Coach Trey Niven

Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Trey Niven shares his beginner driving tips

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last updated 24 January 2024

Let's face it, the first thing most beginners want to do is learn how to crush it with the driver. Well, you are in luck, as our golf driving tips for beginners set out the fundamentals you need to get started.

If you're new to the game and are looking for some golf tips for beginners, the best place to start is with the basics, especially when it comes to driving. It's the longest club in the bag, and is swung at the highest speed, meaning there's less margin for error.

If you allow bad habits to set in at the start, you could be in for a long road back, so why not learn from the expert? In the video and article below, PGA pro and Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Trey Niven shares some simple golf driving tips that will help you avoid the common pitfalls.

Golf Driving Tips For Beginners: Driver vs Iron Swing

If you're just starting out and you're not quite getting the distance off the tee you feel like you should be, these simple tips will help. But first, let’s discuss the differences between a driver swing vs an iron swing. When hitting an iron the ball is on the ground, meaning we need to hit down in order to make crisp contact.

However, the driver has a lot less loft and is on a big tee, so the opposite applies. In order to create the optimal driver launch angle for maximum carry, we want to hit up on the ball more.

Golf Driving Tips For Beginners: Set-up

PGA pro Trey Niven demonstrating the proper ball position for a driver — How to set the ball position with your driver

The correct set-up for hitting a driver is vital, so let’s look at the driver address position first. To ensure an upward attack angle, you need to move the ball forward in your stance. This means it’s closer to the target than it would be with an iron.

To do this, start with your feet close together and the ball in line with your left heel. Then, take a very small step with your left foot and a bigger step with your right foot to achieve the perfect ball position. Your stance should be slightly wider than the distance between your shoulders, which will give you a stable platform from which to swing.

PGA pro Trey Niven setting up to hit a drive at The Astbury Golf Resort — Gently sit into your right shoulder to make sure you're aiming correctly

As you move the ball forward, and you address the ball, your shoulders should naturally tilt with your right shoulder lower than your left. A word of caution here: when you move the ball forward in your stance, the shoulders will want to point a little left. To counteract this, gently sit the right shoulder back a little so they are pointing towards your target. Now you are ready to launch the driver.

Golf Driving Tips For Beginners: Backswing Feel

A really simple way to think about loading the driver backswing is to feel like your chest is turning towards your right foot as you rotate your hips. Lots of new golfers will take the club back but lean their weight forward, which is going to encourage a downward strike and result in a loss of distance and control.

PGA Pro Trey Niven demonstrating a fault — PGA Pro Trey Niven demonstrating a common driver fault for new golfers by taking the club back with weight leaning forwards

Watch the video above to see how I get into the correct backswing position. From here, you're in a great position to let the hands and arms go and hit up on the ball, which is the goal.

Golf Driving Tips For Beginners: Headcover drill

Working on your attack angle will help to add those all important extra yards to your drive. To improve your attack angle in the downswing, try this simple drill.

Take a headcover, or a glove, and place it about a foot past the ball on the target line. The idea is to clip the ball away without hitting the headcover. If you get it wrong and hit down on the ball, you will collect the headcover as you swing through to the finish.

Headcover Driver Drill — This drill will help you develop an upward angle of attack

This drill is great as it gives you immediate feedback. So, next time you’re heading to the range, try it out. You will be crushing the driver straight down the middle of the fairway before you know it.

Location: Shrewsbury Golf Club, 3 Hammers Golf Academy

After enjoying a successful men’s amateur career, during which time he played for Shropshire and Herefordshire’s first team, Trey turned professional in 2018, and he now teaches from a number of locations in the Midlands. He enjoys coaching players of all abilities, from county players, to club golfers and beginners.

Significant influences:

Trey’s teaching has been influenced by Mike Granato and Shaun Webb, two coaches who have worked with a whole host of Tour professionals. The way that they are able to explain the swing and use data to help the average golfer is something that Trey brings to his own teaching.

Whilst Trey is enthusiastic about every aspect of the game, he’s particularly interested in what happens at impact to cause a certain ball flight. This may not always be a perfect looking golf swing, but one that that functions well and is repeatable. He’s always watching and learning from the best players in the world, identifying trends and looking at how that might help the players he teaches.

Teaching philosophy:

Trey is a strong believer in making your bad shot better. "Golf," he says, "is a game of misses as opposed to how good is your good shot." He’s also keen to see his students think for themselves and take ownership, and believes players who are successful own their own golf swing and make it work.

Goals:

One of Trey’s goals is to increase participation in the game and to make the game more diverse. Trey runs initiatives as part of the Black British Golfers to showcase talent from and increase participation from unrepresented groups.