Driver: Don't swing harder, swing smarter

In this series, I’m going to make you a better ball-striker with your driver, fairway woods, irons and wedges. For starters, put some impact tape or foot powder on the face of any club and hit some full-swing shots. Just a hunch, but if you struggle to break 90, I’m guessing the majority of your strikes aren’t in the middle of the face. The good news is, you don’t have to swing harder to be a better ball-striker; you just have to swing smarter. We'll start with the driver.

Driver compression: Raise your swing arc

Poor contact with a driver is typically caused by a downswing that is too steep. Obviously, the club must move downward, but a driver ideally should reach its low point and then be ascending when it reaches the ball. If you hit a lot of drop-kicks or pop-ups or even take a divot now and then with your driver, let’s fix your swing path.

My favorite drill is to lay an alignment stick on the ground on my target line under a teed-up ball. When you swing, the goal is to hit the ball without hitting the alignment stick (photos, top). If you’re struggling to avoid the stick, it means you’re probably swinging down too sharply into the ball. Try hovering the driver at address and standing tall (below, left). Your hands should be a little behind the ball position, too, not shoved forward (below, right).

Going back, make a full windup behind the ball, letting your hips and shoulders rotate freely (below, left). As you swing down, feel like your lower body is moving forward but your torso is hanging back a touch (middle). That will re-route your club on a shallower path than you created on the backswing and allow you to clip the ball off the tee with an upward strike (right).

If you catch the ball in this manner, you'll produce really good launch conditions. You'll pick up a lot of yardage by increasing your carry while reducing distance-robbing backspin. In other words, you don't have to swing any harder to get longer off the tee.

Ryan Hager, one of Golf Digest’s Best Young Teachers in America, is director of instruction at Plainfield County Club in Edison, N.J.