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How to CRUSH Your Golf Driver (Literally)
Dustin Johnson won the WGC - Cadillac Championship on Sunday after shooting 69 on the Blue Monster at Doral. It marked his 9th career victory at only 30 years old. His huge, accurate drives wore down the rest of the field, and some clutch putts sealed the deal. After a 6 month absence from the Tour, it appears the new and improved Johnson is in top form both mentally and physically, buoyed by a new addition to his family. With his length off the tee and improved decision making, it would not be out of the question for him to reel off 6 victories this year and take the #1 spot in the world. Rory Mcllroy put on a good show (sans the juvenile club throwing incident) and finished 9th in his 3rd PGA Tour event of the year. He seems to be back on track after a slow start to the year.
Yes, that big distance is great if you can find the fairway. The annals of golf are filled with long, crooked hitters who burned out quickly on Tour. By contrast, a guy like Jack Nicklaus stormed into the golf history books in part due to his high bombs off the tee that found the fairway. This set him up for stock approach shots to the green and many birdie/eagle opportunities. But Did You Know... In recent years Tiger Woods barely hit 1/3 of his fairways! In fact, he was ranked literally near the bottom in Driving Accuracy Percentage for years. Until recently, Woods had not been in the top 100 in driving accuracy. Yes, you read that right! He threw away countless tournaments, and I mean dozens, with his inability to improve his driving accuracy. If you are in the trees or rough, eagle and birdie opportunities disappear and pars or bogies are the result. Over the course of 4 days, a win becomes a top 15 finish or worse.
He underwent a total swing change under the tutelage of Sean Foley in large part to improve his driving accuracy. And it has worked. He was ranked 5th in total driving in 2012 which is a combination of distance and accuracy, and 17th in 2013. He hit 63% of his fairways in 2012 and 2013. Quite an improvement! The results: Tiger won 3 times in 2012 and had 5 victories in 2013. But the swing magic left him coupled with injuries and he's off on a new swing journey in 2015. We'll see what develops if and when he returns. Golf is an amazing game in that respect. Tiger and Phil Mickelson were once the #1 and #2 best golfers in the world despite spraying the driver all over the course! But the number of missed opportunities are immense for these guys (and YOU) when the ball ends up in the rough or the woods off the tee. So if you are struggling with the driver, you are in good company. Improvement with that one club will vault your scores to a new level, and have you eager to return to the course and reach for it in your bag on most every par 4 and 5. How to improve Your Driver Stats... As a professional Golf Ball Design Engineer, I have had the privilege of working with top men and women pro golfers as they tested new ball designs. During testing, particular ball types are matched to their swing types, swing speeds, and equipment. Of course the primary club involved in this testing/fitting is the Driver. I have also worked with over 10,000 golfers (both in person and via the internet) through my personalized instruction. And I can state without a doubt, the most common complaint I hear from students is: "I
can't hit my driver", or the more unfortunate, At some point in the history of this game, something went terribly wrong in regards to one club in the bag, THE DRIVER. This is particularly true when it comes to weekend or recreational golfers. But if we just relax a minute and take a look at some facts, the driver should be the easiest club to hit in the bag for the following reasons:
Some factors are swing related, some are alignment related, others are equipment related; it is a puzzle of sorts that can be solved with the right information. So I will address one common mistake most golfers make with the driver (and there is an easy fix). Problem: Poor drivers of the ball don't use the club the way it is designed and can't take advantage of all the incredible engineering in the club head and shaft that can improve their distance and lower their scores dramatically. Specifically, their driver alignment and set-up position is flawed, particularly their Club Face to Ball alignment. In addition, most golfers are also not using the correct driver loft and golf ball for their swing speed. There's a saying "If you confuse, you lose" and that is very applicable to golf. So for this article I am going to address Club Face to Ball alignment. The second golf ball and loft issue is more individualized depending on a player's game and tendencies.
Solution: Golf drivers these days are incredible with huge, deep faces, perimeter weighting, generous lofts, and tuned shafts. What a time we live in if you are a golfer. If a golfer compresses the ball on the dead center of the face, then he or she can take full advantage of all this technology. Impact on the dead center of the face can add 10-30 yards vs. a toe or heel hit for 2 swings of the identical swing speed. But direct central impact can be a difficult task especially for recreational golfers. The good news is that many mishits are actually caused before the club is even swung. So let's look at a simple cause of mishits that no one ever points out, and my solution. When a golfer addresses the ball, traditional practice is to place the club head directly behind the ball when the clubhead is sitting on the ground. In addition, most manufacturers and instructors recommend that about 1/2 the ball be above the top of the club face at address. OK, sounds logical, right? However, through impact, centrifugal force is straightening the arms outwards. Without a compensating move by the golfer, that once centered club face will now be impacting the ball more toward the heel of the driver. We took the following photos out in our Swing Lab. Take a look at my driver below to study the relationship between set-up and impact. It's quite a reality check:
That ball on the right above is not on the sweet spot in the impact condition. A variety of flight issues will occur and the golfer will lose loads of distance as the slingshot effect of the club face is neutralized. What a shame. The worst place to impact any club face is on the heel! You can demonstrate this yourself without even swinging the club. Set the club head behind the ball on the ground, raise the arms to the impact position, and look at where it aligns with the clubface. The ball is now aligned with the heel of the club! That is where you will impact the driver unless you make a compensating move to back up with the body and/or arms to realign the clubface. In a 1/2 second downswing, this won't happen, at least not consistently. This is why most pro golfers address the driver on the outer 3rd of the clubface. At impact, they will be aligned dead center to take full advantage of the sling shot effect of the driver face. As stated, this can mean 10-30 more yards depending on your swing speed. It will also instantly improve the direction of your shots. Here, take a look:
This is not just theory. A big part of golf ball testing involves hitting balls with "Iron Byron" type hitting machines as shown below:
I can tell you first hand having set up these machines and having hit 1000's of balls with them, we align the ball slightly to the toe of the club at address. This allows for any stretch of the swing arm assembly through impact. And that's for a heavy steel anchored machine with fixed pins and joints. Compare that to the stretching of the arms/shoulders of a human body in the downswing! Is it any wonder many of us are misaligned at impact? So the take away lesson for your game from this report is:
The
impact footprint on my driver club head below (and similar
marks on my irons) are a result of repetitive impacts on
the center
of the club face. In other words, they are the result of
a repeating golf swing. I will also note that center impacts have not always been part of my game. Before I discovered The Key To A Repeating Golf Swing and developed the simple swing method to fully utilize it, my club face contact was erratic (and so were my scores). In all my years of playing golf, I have concluded that a golfer can not break 80 without a repeating golf swing. It does not have to be perfect, but it must be reproducible. When a repeating swing takes form, a whole new level of satisfaction results as the golfer is now able to play the game the way it was intended.
I recently introduced the 7th edition of "The Key To A Repeating Golf Swing" to the golf world and the response has been incredible. I invested many hours and dollars getting everything up to my standards and I couldn't be more pleased with the final results:
Inside I show you exactly how to deliver the club head right back through the ball at impact with tremendous power and control. Your impacts on the driver and irons will sound like gunshots! If you are not happy with your game and are looking for a new direction going forward, I would like the opportunity to help you by showing you The Key To A Repeating Golf Swing and my complete swing technique.
My trademark move, The Key, delivers the club head right back through the ball with effortless power and precision control. It is the star of the show. I can't play without it. In fact my discovery of The Key was the very catalyst for my whole career in the golf industry. It was also the sole factor that.. Took
my scores from the 110's to the 70's after struggling
for years I'll show you exactly what I've shown over 10,000 golfers from 61 countries, many of whom broke 80 in their very next round after putting The Key into use. I have also added some great bonuses to my 2022 complete package including Lifetime expert, yet brand unbiased new Golf Ball Reviews.
Here's what you'll discover between the covers of the New 7th Edition:
Thousands of golfers, from beginners to scratch players, have put The Key to work in their games and the results have been astounding (over 270 testimonials on file). In fact, the following notes are typical of the types that hit my inbox all week. They are genuine and unsolicited:
Same day, dramatic improvement... Nice going Peter. I get notes like these all the time. It doesn't matter whether you are trying to break 105 or 70, the rate of improvement is typically rapid once the "bad data" is stripped from a golfer, and The Key to a repeating golf swing can begin working its magic. My Six (6) part instructional package comes in a Digital Version (Instant Download) or Hardcopy Version (worldwide shipping). Here's
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Order
Now and you'll get the following
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About the Author Questions? Contact: [email protected] Copyright © 2023 Robert Cotter Instant Golf® All Rights Reserved Instant Golf Lesson Other names, trademarks, and images are copyrights of their respective owners.
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by
Robert Cotter 
Rory
was 3rd
in Driving Distance on the PGA Tour in 2014
and better than most of his peers in "Total Driving" (the
combination of distance and accuracy). His mastery
of the big stick off
the tee contributed greatly to his 2014 Player
of the Year season which included
winning the British Open, The PGA Championship, and
the prestigious World Golf
Championship at Firestone.
I
have contended for a long time that if Tiger got into the top
50 in that category, he would win every tournament he entered
by 5 strokes! (I am dead serious). 
The
ball sits on a tee, so your lie is always perfect.
It is also very difficult to hit a driver "fat" (striking
the ground behind the ball) as the ball is perched in the
air 1-2" above the turf.
Shanking
is also not common as there is little offset with the hosel.
The hosel is actually even with or behind the face!
Today's
drivers have huge faces with up to 3" of usable area.
The perimeter weighting and lower center of gravity of the
designs are extremely forgiving and assist in getting the
ball airborne compared to designs of just 10 years ago.
The sling
shot (trampoline) design of the head/face are
a golfer's best friend if he or she can center the ball
on the sweet spot.
You
will benefit from my firsthand experience inside the ropes,
working with some of the top players in the game. I am convinced
you will benefit tremendously from my swing instruction,
short game strategy, and expert golf ball recommendations
(learn more below). 
My
Story - From the 100's to the 70's after a
lengthy, bitter struggle with this great game.
Every
time "The
Key To A Repeating Golf Swing" manual
is updated with new chapters, images,
or video, I receive an avalanche of
emails from current customers requesting
a free update to the Newest Edition.
To date, they have had to pay for the
new edition (currently the 7th edition).
Exclusive - "Putting
Rebel - Conversation with a Putting
Wizard"
Exclusive - "Golf
Ball Secrets"
Coach
Stephen Ladd's - "Renegade
Mindset Techniques for Golf"
Mike
Pedersen’s - "Fit
To A Tee"
Instant
Golf® is a Paypal
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