Paul Foston
As amateur golfers, we all want to be able to hit longer drives. The correlation between distance off the tee and an improvement in your scores on the golf course is well documented, which is why understanding how to generate power is such a key part of learning how to hit a driver.
Amateur golfers are obsessed with how far the average golfer actually hits it, as we love to be able to compare ourselves against our friends, but how many of them actually know how to gain those precious extra yards on the course?
In this article, Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach and PGA Pro Paul Foston talks us through a key move in the driver backswing, which has been used my multiple Major Champions, which could drastically improve your ability to hit longer drives...
Quick Fix For Longer Tee Shots In Golf
Paul has worked with a number of Tour professionals over the years, and is proud to have successfully coached over 40,000 students. In 2005, he set out to design his own academy with a ‘world class’ coaching infrastructure of technical advancement and a tailor made short game layout to practice every real life challenge experienced on course.
To generate power like the biggest hitters in the world, you need to be swinging at your maximum in terms of weight shift and rotation. The more rotation you can get, the more your upper body and hips will turn. You’ve got to be flexible to resist the hips and turn the shoulders, so don’t worry about the left heel coming off the ground.
When you raise the left heel, especially as you get a bit older, it can help you to rotate your hips for more power and help you fully complete your backswing. Look at Matthew Wolff – who ranks in the top-10 for driving distance on LIV Golf in the 2025 season so far - his left heel is way off the ground. When you then plant it back down to start the downswing, it will allow you to use the ground more to generate power as you drive towards the target.
Matthew Wolff's recognisable left heel raise in the backswing helps him to maximise rotation, generate more power and increase his distance off the tee
You might not be going at it flat-out all the time, but in theory, if you’re hitting driver, you’re looking to get it out there as far as possible. If you don’t want to do that, you should switch down a club! But you must stay in balance. You can hit the ball as hard or as soft as you like as long as you’re in balance.
Do Any Other Players Raise Their Heel In The Backswing?
At points in their career, this move has been employed by many very successful legends of the game. 18-time Major Champion Jack Nicklaus, 62-time PGA Tour winner Arnold Palmer and two-time Masters Champion Bubba Watson all raised their left heel in the backswing to maximise rotation.
Even two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas employs this swing characteristic when he wants to give it a full send and really power up his driver.
If you need any more convincing, Jack Nicklaus raised his left heel during the backswing... and he is an 18-time Major Champion
At what age does driving distance start to decrease in golfers?
According to the latest Shot Scope data, the driving distance average for an amateur golfer reaches its peak when they are between the age of 30 and 40, with the average then beginning to decline as a player ages beyond that point.
The decline becomes much more steep when a player reaches 50, losing around 13 yards on average between the age of 50 and 60.
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