Beginner Basics: 4 essentials for hitting your driver

You’ve just picked up the game—great! One of the most important things to learn is how to hit your driver, which you’ll use off the tee to start a hole. The driver has the least loft of any club in your bag, so when you use it properly, the ball will travel the farthest. If you take one thing from this lesson, it’s this: Unlike when you’re using other clubs in your bag, you don’t want to hit the ground when you swing a driver. Let me show you how. — Anders Mattson, one of Golf Digest’s Best Teachers in New York

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  • Always put the ball on a tee when hitting a driver.
  • The top of the clubhead should be roughly even with the middle of the ball.
  • If your shots are going straight up in the air, tee the ball lower.
  • If you’re hitting the ball too low, tee it higher.
  • Start with your feet together, then drop your trail foot away from the target.
  • This puts your head behind the ball and tilts your upper body away from the target.
  • Keep the ball just inside your lead foot (left foot if you're a righty).
  • Don’t hit the ground with your driver.
  • In your downswing, make a sweeping motion through impact.
  • The clubhead should be swinging up through the ball, not down.
  • Finish your swing with all your weight on your lead leg (left leg if you're a righty).
  • Allow your trail foot to come off the ground when you finish.
  • Try to hold your finish and watch the ball fly until it lands.