Golf Tip: 5 Easy Tips to Increase Your Driving Distance
by Keith Bach · PGA Member, President and Director of Instruction JPGA (Also called JRPGA)
How do I hit it farther? That’s the question I hear more than any other, from juniors before they even careabout their short game or their putting stroke.
I get it. A long drive feels good. It sets up the whole hole. It’s the shot everyone on the tee box actually notices.
Here’s what years on the range have taught me. Swinging harder is almost never the answer. The players who add real yards fix a handful of specific things in their setup, their swing, and their body. They don’t just try to muscle the ball down the fairway. Here are five easy tips that actually move the needle, straight from what I work on with my players at JPGA.
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Tip #1: Stop Swinging Out of Your Shoes
I see this mistake more than any other. Wide open fairway. Player decides this is the one to crush. Swings so hard they lose the clubface completely. The result is almost always the same: a mishit that goes shorter and more crooked than their normal swing ever would.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Distance comes from a centered, efficient strike, not maximum effort. Swing at your absolute limit and your timing falls apart, and that costs you far more distance than the extra effort ever gains you.
Try this instead. Swing at 85 to 90 percent of what feels like your max. Sounds like giving something up, right? You’re not. You’re trading a wild, mishit fast swing for a controlled one, and the controlled one goes farther almost every time.
Next range session, back off the throttle a little. Watch how much more often you catch it flush. That’s where your distance has been hiding the whole time.
Tip #2: Quiet Hands Create Speed, Not the Other Way Around
A tight grip feels like control. It’s actually the opposite. Lock up your hands and wrists through the swing and you kill your own clubhead speed before the club ever reaches the ball.
Here’s the simple version. Your wrists are supposed to hinge going back and release through impact, adding speed the same way a whip adds speed to its tip. Grip it too tight and that hinge and release never fully happens. You’re leaving speed on the table before your downswing even starts.
COMMON MISTAKE
Gripping the club tighter to feel more in control. It does the opposite: it kills your wrist hinge and release, which is where a big share of your clubhead speed actually comes from.
Check your grip pressure at address. Can’t feel the weight of the clubhead? You’re holding on too hard. Aim for something light enough that the club could almost be lifted out of your hands, then let your wrists move naturally instead of fighting them. Every long hitter I’ve coached shares one thing: quiet, relaxed hands that let the club do the work
Tip #3: Tee It Higher Than Feels Comfortable
This one surprises players every single time. Most golfers tee the ball low, because low feels safe and controlled. Problem is, a low tee makes it way too easy to catch the ball on the downswing instead of the way up, and that adds spin and steals distance fast.
Tee it higher and you catch more of the ball on the upswing. Less spin. More carry. No more ballooning up short. Want the full breakdown of how to dial in your exact tee height? I wrote about it in tee height. If you haven’t tried teeing it higher than what feels normal, you’re probably leaving distance on the
table right now.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Tee height controls spin. A higher tee helps you catch the ball on the upswing, which lowers spin and adds carry, and most golfers tee it lower than they should.
Tip #4: Turn Your Shoulders Like You Actually Mean It
So many players chasing distance are only swinging with their arms. Shoulders barely move. That caps how much power they can generate no matter how hard they try.
Think of your backswing as winding up a spring. Shoulders turn a full 90 degrees away from the target, coiling your upper body against your lower body, storing real energy to unleash on the way down. Stop that turn short, and you cap your power supply before the downswing even starts.
Quick check: Stand in front of a mirror at home. Turn to the top of your backswing. Is your lead shoulder working in behind your chin? If not, that’s usually the missing piece.
KEY TAKEAWAY
A full 90-degree shoulder turn is what stores the power your downswing releases. Cut the turn short, and you cap your power supply before the downswing even starts.
Tip #5: Build the Kind of Strength That Actually Transfers to Speed
Distance isn’t only built on the range. It’s built in the gym too, and not with just any workout. Generic strength training helps a little. Rotational power training helps a lot, because that’s the actual movement pattern of a golf swing.
Here’s what I have my players build into their week:
- Rotational medicine ball throws, training your body to generate and release power in one explosive
motion, just like your swing does - Cable woodchops, building the same core rotation you use from the top of your backswing through
impact - Glute bridges and split squats, because your legs and hips are where a lot of your power actually
starts
I break down the exact routine I use with my players in 5 exercises I have my junior golfers do, and I’ve also written more broadly about golf fitness programs worth building into your week. Rotational strength work pairs perfectly with both.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Rotational power training builds swing speed. Generic gym work helps a little, but exercises that mirror the actual rotation of your swing are what transfer directly to more clubhead speed.
Putting It All Together
None of this requires you to be stronger, younger, or more athletic than you already are. It just takes swinging a little more efficiently, holding the club a little lighter, teeing it a little higher, turning your shoulders a little fuller, and training your body the way a golf swing actually demands.
Stack all five together and the extra yards show up on their own. No extra effort required. This is exactly the kind of detail we drill into every player at our Hilton Head Island and Orlando academies.
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