More Distance, Better Accuracy

Your big muscles are the key to longer, straighter drives

By Alvaro Quiros

With Ron Kaspriske

Photos by Dom Furore

September 2012

Video: Behind-the-scenes look at our cover shoot with tour player Alvaro Quiros ⇒

I've played golf all my life relying on good hand action. It has helped me become the longest driver on the European Tour in four of the past five seasons. But as I've gotten older, I've come to understand that depending on my hands to square the clubface and produce a powerful draw is not a consistent way to play. I've been working hard on reducing my hand action and using a big body turn to hit the ball not only farther, but also straighter. It's a good lesson for you, too. If you can focus on body rotation, using your big muscles to create clubhead speed and square the face, you're going to drive the ball better than ever. Here are some tips to help you launch it.

ALVARO QUIROS, 29, was born in Guardiaro, Spain. He has won six times on the European Tour and is 44th in the World Golf Ranking.

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Average ball speed: 180.5 mph

ROTATE, DON'T SLIDE

My typical miss is a block. The ball flies straight but right of the target. Sometimes during the downswing, my lower body slides toward the target and the club gets trapped behind me, forcing me to save the shot with a handsy release. If I'm too late, it's a block. I want my hips to rotate, not slide. It's a feeling of my head staying behind the ball as I put my body weight into the hit. To play a fade, I try to keep the handle of the club pointing at my stomach through impact--everything is turning together.