The golf course asks lots of questions and, off the tee, we need to be able to mix up our drives, as the ability to hit various shots with the big stick will put us in position to make more birdies and shoot lower scores.
Many of us are comfortable with one type of tee shot, but come unstuck when we face one outside our comfort zone. We play different courses in different conditions and different winds, though, so being able to make your driver as great an asset as possible can lead to big improvements.
In this article, Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Gary Munro talks us through five must-have tee shots that every golfer needs, as well as sharing his expert tips to help you execute them…
1. The Stock Drive
Ball position for a stock tee shot with a driver is inside the lead ankle. You want your stance to be just more than shoulder width, which will help to give you a stable base. This builds a set-up that will encourage both balance and a more solid strike.
Set up with half a ball above the crown of the driver, which will help you to launch the ball in the optimal window. Golfers still tee the ball too low as, naturally, their swings are steeper and they hit more over the top and down.
By doing this, yes, it allows you to hit the sweet-spot more but you also launch the ball too low and with too much spin. And if you tee it higher with this type of over-the-top move you are going to sky it, so you need a better shoulder set-up with some tilt.
You need to understand that the driver needs to be rising at impact – this will help you to find the sweet-spot and get that correct launch and spin.
(Image credit: Howard Boylan)
A small amount of shoulder tilt in your set-up will help you hit up on the ball by, ideally, around 2-3˚. You are looking to create a 90˚ shoulder turn, if not more, as well as a hip turn, and you want plenty of width in your backswing.
There are two good tips to help: to create the hip turn, you want to feel as if your right pocket is being pulled behind you; to create the shoulder turn you want to feel like your left shoulder is moving across your body more towards the inside of the right foot.
Another alternative feel for the latter is, instead of focusing on your left shoulder, feel like you are pulling your right shoulder back as far behind you as…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golf Monthly…