Turn Your Chin Back For Solid Tee Shots

One way amateurs can improve their driving is to strike the ball slightly on the upswing. Many amateurs hit down on the ball with the driver. It's a desirable trait in iron play, but this descending motion with the driver imparts too much spin on the ball -- backspin and sidespin -- and robs your tee shots of distance and accuracy.

A great tip to help you correct this problem is to turn your chin slightly away from your target at address. Then, as you swing back down to impact, sense that your chin points even farther behind the ball. This move was made famous by Jack Nicklaus, and it encourages your spine to stay behind the ball at impact -- a key to sweeping it off the tee.

__LEARN FROM THE LEGENDS

The Squire Knew How to Finish a Swing__

One of the traits we see in the great players of the past, such as Gene Sarazen (right), was that they hit through the ball rather than at the ball. You can see here that The Squire has made a complete hip rotation toward the target. He has turned so much, in fact, that his feet are pointing at the target! You certainly don't need Sarazen's fancy footwork to complete your swing, but if you focus on turning your hips toward the target, you'll swing through the ball, not at it.

DAVID LEADBETTER, a Golf Digest Teaching Professional, is based at ChampionsGate, near Orlando. He operates 26 golf academies worldwide.