One of the things that I find to be so helpful about a 6 iron is the fact that you can use it for a variety of shots on the golf course. In addition, sometimes the 5 iron starts to feel a little uncomfortable because of its length and lower loft. With the 6 iron, that won’t be a concern.

To start incorporating your 6 iron into your golf game a bit more, you must know how far you can hit it with a 6 iron in your hands. The better contact you can make, the easier it is to get distance, but there are other factors that come into play here.

So if you are curious about how far you should be hitting a 6 iron based on skill, here is the information you need.

How Far You Should Be Hitting a 6 Iron

The major reasons you will hit a golf ball further are the squareness of the strike and the speed at which you swing the golf club. If you can strike the center of the golf club with lots of speed, expect quite a bit more distance.

The easiest way to break this down is to sort golfers by what their handicap is. Let’s look at how far you should be hitting a 6 iron based on your current handicap.

Beginner

A beginner male golfer often hits a 6 iron around 140 yards. Once they get the hang of this club and how it works, the distance can increase to 150-155 yards. Beginner golfers will have trouble getting a high ball flight, so you have to watch out for the line drive shot.

Most beginners should look for a 6 iron with a wide sole that helps improve and increase total launch in the shots they are hitting. As a beginner, if your set only comes with a 7 iron and lower, don’t worry about it; for now, you can add a 6 iron in later.

If you notice your 6 iron and 7 iron are going the same distance, this is common. As your clubhead speed increases, you should see total distance.

High Handicap

High handicap golfers often struggle with hitting the center of the clubface consistently. With the clubface being difficult to make contact with, many high handicappers struggle to get maximum distance from their shots.

With high handicappers, the 6 iron will probably travel about 145-150 yards on average. The issue with distance in this club has more to do with accuracy than with swing speed.

Many higher handicappers have high swing speed, but when it is not applied correctly, the results are unfavorable. If you find that you have more success with hybrid type clubs, don’t be afraid to take the 6 iron out of the bag and switch to something a bit more forgiving.

Mid Handicap

Mid-handicapped golfers tend to have average swing speeds and often hit their 6 iron in the 150-160 yard range. With a modern game improvement 6 iron, you can expect about 155 yards of distance on average.

One thing that can have a significant impact on the mid handicapper’s total distance is the loft of their irons. If your iron loft is a bit on the low side, you may see a longer carry distance.

With changes in the center of gravity positioning over the last few years, mid handicappers have seen more distance in their mid to long irons and a higher ball flight.

Low Handicap

One of the reasons golfers make it to the low handicap range is because they are able to hit the ball far. When you have excellent distance, it makes it easier to cover a long hole in a shorter number of strokes.

Low handicap golfers tend to have fast swing speeds that allow for yardages in the 170-180 yard range for a 6 iron. Low handicappers with slower swing speeds may be in the 160-169 range.

Most low-handicap players use a 6 iron, some mid to high handicappers look for alternatives, but most lower handicappers will go to at least a 4 iron in their set.

Professional

The PGA Tour average for a 6 iron is 180 yards. Some golfers can get it to go 190 and others closer to 178, but this is the general range for a 6 iron. For LPGA Professionals, the averages are slightly lower in the 160 to 170 range. Again this is related to swing speed.

Professional golfers also play with golf clubs that are more traditionally lofted; this means that they are hitting these longer distances with a club with even higher lofts than the one you are using.

If they switched to something like a game improvement iron, the distances they could hit the ball would be even higher!

When to Use Your 6 Iron

The 6 iron is a versatile club; in fact, it is one of my favorites when it comes to controlling ball flight. I don’t like the 6 iron for my short game, although I have seen some golfers learn how to do a bump-and-run shot with the 6. Here are the best ways to use your 6 iron and have better results on the golf course.

Approach Shot To The Green

The 6 iron is best used for a full swing approach shot to the green. You will find out the total yardage that you can hit the 6 and swing away to the center of the green. With the 6 iron being responsive, you can also fade or draw the ball.

When a 6 iron approach shot is struck correctly, expect a high ball flight, plenty of spin, and a generally controlled path or line.

Knock Down Shot

The knockdown shot keeps the ball flight lower so players can get the ball to fly under the wind. With a knockdown shot, you can expect a bit more roll when the ball does hit the green, but you can also get the distance in some of the most challenging conditions.

The loft of the 6-iron is perfect for a knockdown shot. It gives you just the right mix of forgiveness and control that is necessary to hit a shot like this.

Play around with a knockdown shot on the driving range, and you will be surprised at how much you can do with it on the golf course.

Controlled Shot From Tee Box

When standing on the tee box, it’s essential to learn how to control a golf shot. A par 3 is difficult in that you only get one shot to make it perfect. Some golfers can perfect a ¾ type swing with their 6 iron which results in some impressive overall accuracy and control.

I would highly recommend learning how to take a little off of your 6 iron (i.e., not a full swing) and keeping it as accurate as possible; it’s a shot you will continually use on the course.

Other Clubs That Could Replace a 6 Iron

If the 6 iron is not a good fit for your game, you are not alone. There are plenty of golfers that struggle with a 6 iron and the ability it has to get you from point A to point B. Some golfers don’t like the lower loft and the overall look of the club head, while others just don’t feel comfortable.

Here are a few alternatives if you need those exact yardages but don’t want to keep the 6 iron in the golf bag.

6 Hybrid

The 6 hybrid is a perfect option for golfers who are slightly leery of a 6 iron. The 6 hybrid is much easier to launch, has a deeper and lower center of gravity, and can help golfers get a more consistent distance.

What I like about the 6 hybrid is that it is much easier to hit out of the rough than the 6 iron. If you find that you are continually hitting your approach shots into the green from the rough, invest in the 6 hybrid.

Hitting a 6 hybrid and a 6 iron is not all that much different, but the 6 hybrid makes it a bit simpler for the higher handicap player.

13 Wood

Golfers that don’t like the iron or hybrid look can also consider adding in an additional fairway wood. From a loft perspective, the 13 wood will match the 6 iron, but it certainly has some different playability.

With the 13 wood, you will take more of a sweeping type golf swing and get a slightly more penetrating ball flight, as opposed to the high loft you may get with the hybrid.

The 13 wood is a bit longer than a 6 iron, so some golfers also notice a bit more distance.

Utility Club

There are a few   that may get you close in loft and yardage to a 6 iron. However, most companies will stop their utility club production at the 5 iron loft. When utility irons are used, you will sometimes notice a more precise turf interaction.

They tend to have a slightly wider sole and promote a higher launch than the 6 iron itself.

Tips for Hitting Your 6 Iron Further

If you want to get your 6 iron to fly further, you must make a clean strike. I have found that these are some of the best ways to ensure you get the most distance and the best overall results from your 6 iron.

• Always ensure the ball is in the center of your stance; a half-inch forward of the center works as well, but don’t play this off your front or back foot.
• The 6 iron requires plenty of acceleration through impact, don’t slow the swing down to try and increase accuracy; go after the ball.
• Make sure that you finish high, amateur golfers forget to transfer their weight through the ball, and it can cost you a few yards.
• Practice stability and balance off the course so that you can go after the ball a bit more when you are on the course.
• Remember that total distance only matters if you hit the ball straight, make sure your hands and body are working together to get high ball flight, accurate shots, and increased total distance.

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.

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One of the steps to becoming a better golfer is learning to identify the lie you have. Not every lie is the same, and the way the ball is sitting on the turf has a tremendous impact on overall playability and ball flight. 

A flyer is something that comes up at least once or twice during an average round of golf. Knowing how to play this shot can save you quite a few strokes and help ensure that your golf ball ends up much closer to the pin. 

What Is a Flyer in Golf?

A flyer is a golf ball that travels considerably further than a golfer expects because of the lie that it has. The flyer lie sits just above the rough, and it seems as though it is sitting up and will be easier to make contact. 

This may be the case because the club has to travel through less turf to make solid contact. However, the flyer lie also involves the problem with moisture and debris between the clubface (the grooves) and the golf ball (the dimples). 

With very little friction between these two surfaces, the golf ball will travel up the face of the club, with no spin being imparted on the ball. The result is a shot that flies considerably further than usual and takes a big jump forward once it hits the green. 

Chances are you have seen these happen with your short irons, as that is where flyers often have the most significant impact. You may have a stock 9 iron to the green but hit out of a flyer lie you hit the ball over the back of the green and leave yourself with a long chip to come back up. 

Sometimes there is not much to do about flyers, but there are a few steps to help you avoid hitting these frustrating shots. 

4 Tips to Avoid Hitting Flyers

Professional golfers will tell you that sometimes hitting a flyer is unavoidable. This is a shot that comes up that you may or may not be able to do much about. However, when you can learn how to identify and then make a few tweaks to your swing, you may have more success. 

1. Learn How to Identify Your Lie 

The biggest thing I have learned about adjusting for a flyer lie is to learn how to correctly identify what I am working with. There is a big difference between a flyer and a golf ball sitting deep or buried in the rough. 

Look at the shot and realize that the ball is sitting up, almost as if it is teed up. Many players walk up to this shot and are pleasantly surprised to see that the ball isn’t buried. YOu just need to be aware of how it is going to fly. 

I find that the flyer lie happens from the shorter rough more often than it does from the deep rough. 

2. Take Less Club

When I have short iron shots into the green, I notice that taking one less club makes a big difference. For instance, if I have an 8 iron distance with a flyer lie, I will often just take the 9 iron to see where it leaves me. 

Of course, you have to be smart about this and ensure that there is nothing between you and the green. Landing the golf ball short is fine but landing it in a water hazard is an issue. 

3. Use a Three-Quarter Golf Swing 

Taking a little bit off of your swing can also encourage you to have more control over the shot and lose a bit of the total distance that you would have gotten. The three-quarter golf swing is helpful regardless of what type of shot you have in front of you, and an unprepared player will pick up on this quite quickly. 

When you practice on the range, always work on these types of less-than-full swings to be able to get the distances you need. In addition, some professionals recommend golfers take a slightly steeper angle of attack than they would from a standard lie. 

The steeper angle increases the chance of more spin on the ball and less jump forward when the ball lands on the putting surface. 

4. Choose The Right Clubs 

We know that the flier is happening because of dirt and debris creating a lack of spin. Golf manufacturers are making golf wedges and short irons that have channels to filter out the debris and ensure there is still some friction between the golf ball and the clubface. 

Look for groove technology on your next set of golf clubs to help increase the overall spin and traction you can get from a tough lie. 

This is especially important when you have a flyer close to the green and requires a chip shot. 

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.

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If you followed professional golf in 2021 and 2022, you saw that more and more golfers were taking the hybrid out and putting the 7 wood in. This was a rare change, but some of the best 7 woods came out on the market, and golfers wanted to have this technology in their game.

The 7 wood is a really helpful golf club; it’s meant to replace a long iron, but to make sure it’s a good fit for your golf game, the distances have to be right.

Let’s take a look at how far you should be hitting a 7 wood.

How Far You Should Be Hitting a 7 Wood

One of the best ways to determine how far you should be hitting a 7 wood is to look at your skill level. Of course, players can have varying clubhead speeds within each of these skill levels. When clubhead speeds increase, the overall distances will undoubtedly increase.

Beginner

Beginner golfers usually hit the 7 wood between 170 and 180 yards. However, for a slower swinging beginner golfer, the total distance may only be 160 or 150 yards.

Beginner golfers don’t always have the slowest swing speeds. In fact, some beginner golfers make great contact with the ball and get the tremendous distance. The key for beginners is to use a 7 wood that is highly forgiving.

High Handicap

The higher handicap golfers can hit a 7 wood around 180 yards on average. The problem that many high handicappers will encounter is that the distances are very inconsistent. There are times that 200 yards is possible, and others times that you may only hit the ball 160 yards.

For high handicap golfers, it’s smart to be careful where you take the 7 wood out. Don’t pull it out when hitting over a water hazard if you feel you are not entirely confident with it just yet.

Mid Handicap

Mid-handicap golfers usually hit a 7 wood around 190 yards. The faster swinging mid handicappers can push closer to that 200 mark, and slower swing speeds may be around 180. Technology for 7 woods is continually changing, and golfers are getting more and more distance with the shots they hit.

If you are a mid handicapper, the thing you will likely love most about the 7 wood is the amount of forgiveness it offers.

Low Handicap

Low-handicap players sometimes have swing speeds and accuracy almost as good as the professionals. Many lower handicap golfers can hit a 7 wood about 210 to 220 yards.

Of course, if you have a 7 wood that is 15 years old, the chances of seeing this kind of distance are really slim. However, for golfers that have high swing speeds, you may still get over 200 with an older 7 wood.

New golf clubs are designed with materials that help to increase total launch, and therefore players see quite a bit more distance.

Professional

Professional golfers hit their 7 wood around 225 yards. Some players may get 230 yards depending on the club head speed, how close to the center of the clubface they contact the ball, and whether or not they have a lower or higher lofted 7 wood.

When a professional golfer puts a 7 wood in their bag, it is usually to help increase accuracy on longer approaches to the green.

Workability and control tend to be more important than total distance for professional golfers.

When to Use Your 7 Wood

Now that you have a general idea as to how far the 7 wood goes, you have to also know when it makes sense to hit it. The club has a slightly longer shaft than the hybrid in your bag, so you have to be smart about when and where to hit the 7 wood.

From The Tee

The 7 wood is a great club to try hitting from the tee box if you struggle with your driver. In addition, you may like the performance of the 7 wood if you are on a par 3 or a shorter par 4 and just need something to end up in the fairway.

From the tee box tee, the ball is quite low, essentially just high enough that it is not touching the ground.

Many amateur golfers make the mistake of teeing the ball too high. Doing this can cause issues with getting too much ball flight, and you will lose the power you may need.

From The Fairway

I like my 7 wood from the fairway. When there is a par 5 or a long par 4, and I have a nice lie in the fairway, the 7 wood is a great club to take.

With the extra loft in the 7 wood, it is one of the most forgiving fairway woods to hit, and the chance of getting a straight shot down the center is considerably higher. From the fairway, I would recommend hitting the 7 wood just forward or center in your stance and trying to be conscious about a smooth tempo.

With 22 degrees of loft, you should get enough of a high ball flight that the ball can stop on the green.

From The Rough

Surprisingly the 7 wood is also quite good out of the rough. I can’t tell you that it has as much forgiveness as a hybrid club, but it certainly does well enough to get you out.

I like to first take a look at the lie that I have in the rough and make sure that it makes sense to hit the 7 wood. For instance, if the ball is buried and I’m only looking at the top portion, I’m not going to take out the 7 wood.

If, however, it’s sitting up nicely and I have a chance of making solid and clean contact, the 7 wood is a great option to consider.

Other Clubs That Could Replace a 7 Wood

If you find that the 7 wood distances we mentioned are just not attainable for you, there may be a reason behind this. Chances are the 7 wood is not the best golf club for you.

As more and more alternatives to long irons are being created, we see players with a wide variety of clubs in their bags.

Some players will use a 4 iron or 4 hybrids instead of a 7 wood. There are also utility clubs with 22 degrees of loft that will have similar performance to the 7 wood.

Most players find that the 7 wood is the longest option as the club length is longer and has a bit more of a lightweight feel to help promote extra distance. The 7 wood is still an accurate club, but it’s just a little easier to increase clubhead speed when you swing with this in your hands.

Tips for Hitting Your 7 Wood Further

If you want to hit your 7 wood further, you must be smart about setup, swing length, and weight transfer. Here are some of our favorite tips for learning to hit your 7 wood further.

Check Ball Position

Even though the 7 wood is a fairway wood, it does not need to be pushed to the front of your stance quite like a 3 or 5 wood does. The 7 wood is not as long, and it has a higher loft. Keep it just forward of middle, and you will have more luck getting the total distance you need.

Even when you are hitting the 7 wood off the tee, you won’t want it too far forward as it could end up costing you some distance.

Remember The Importance of Tempo

Even though the tempo can certainly go a long way when hit correctly, you must have a good tempo in place. Take some practice swings where you feel like you are letting the club do the work.

Don’t force something to happen with the 7 wood; this club can do a lot on its own.

A Sweeping Motion is Best

With the 7 wood being a fairway wood, you won’t want to take a big divot or try to compress this ball too much. Instead, it’s best to try and sweep the ball and hit a high lofted shot that lands softly on the green.

Sometimes the setup can lead to a better sweeping motion, but I encourage golfers to have this as part of their mindset.

Look for Something with Newer Technology

Although it may seem like cheating, the newest 7 woods go considerably further than a 7 wood from five years ago. If you want ultimate distance, you may have to pay for it.

Look for something that has a large sweet spot, a low center of gravity, and is known for being aerodynamic. Extra distance from your golf fairway woods can also come about as a result of low spin in the club head.

Lower spin increases total roll and gets the ball to continue moving even when it hits the ground.

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.

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Dreaded fat shots are some of the most frustrating shots in golf.

Sometimes you will hit a great drive setting yourself up for an easy 100-yard shot into the pin. In your mind, this ball is going to land about ten feet from the hole setting you up for an easy birdie.

However, if you hit the ball fat, chances are your shot ends up about fifteen yards ahead of you.

Hitting fat shots can be stopped. A few tweaks to ball position, address position, and even spine angle can have you hitting the ball clean and crisp once again. Here are my 5 best tips to finally stop hitting the ball fat.

What Causes a Fat Shot in Golf?

A fat shot is caused by taking a divot behind the ball as opposed to in front of the ball. This can happen for various reasons, including improper weight transfer, too much head movement, and even the wrong mental picture of what it takes to hit a golf ball up in the air.

Hitting fat shots is a very common mistake in the game of golf. Many players would rather hit the ball thin than fat.

How Does This Compare to Hitting a Thin Shot?

When you hit a fat shot, the golf club hits behind the ball before it makes contact with the ball. Hitting a thin shot means you strike the golf ball only, or even partially up towards the middle of the ball. Fat shots are often hit as the club is still moving downward, and thin shots are hit as the club moves up.

5 Tips to Stop Hitting Your Golf Balls Fat

If you have a tendency to hit the ball fat, here are some things you can do to prevent that from happening. The common causes of hitting the ball fat can usually be fixed with a few sessions at the range.

Keep Your Head Stationary

One of the most common causes for hitting behind the ball is that your head moves up and down or side to side in your golf swing. If you look at videos of great players, you can see that there is, in fact, a bit of head movement.

However, most of the time, the head stays level, and it can return to the same exact position when it’s time to strike the ball. For many players, this head movement becomes a significant issue. As they turn back, the head dips down, and then it needs to move up at impact.

As you might have guessed, this movement up never happens. Therefore the club strikes into the ground too far.

If you can learn to keep your head stationary and focus on it, staying right over the golf ball, you will be less likely to hit the chunk.

Check Ball Position

Ball position is so often overlooked by amateur golfers. It’s kind of boring to work on ball position in your golf swing; we get that. However, it’s incredible how one tiny golf ball positioning can make or break your ability to have the clubhead strike in the proper position.

Ball position that is pushed too far forward towards the left foot (for right-handed players) can become a problem. Instead, it makes sense to have the ball just a bit closer to the center.

As we talked about, a fat shot can come from hitting the ground before the ball, and if the ball is too far up in the stance, you will strike grass first. Use a series of alignment sticks to help you

map out the proper feet position and ball position.

Move Weight Towards Left Foot

The goal of every golf swing is to finish with your weight forward on your left foot, standing square to the target with a full rotation. However, most players get stuck on their back leg. This leaves them feeling like they can’t get full distance, and it often results in hitting fat shots.

Sometimes golfers get lazy and have a bad swing habit that keeps their weight back. Others have a tendency to overswing, and it becomes too much effort to get the weight forward.

One of my best tips here is to start with a little bit of weight on the left foot. Don’t load up so that 90% of the weight is on the right foot at setup. Take a few swings like this and see if you can feel that weight making its way to the left side a little easier.

Play with this balance and transfer until you can find a happy medium that allows for a cleaner and crisper transfer of weight.

Mental Perception Changes

Are you one of the golfers that believe you need to lift the ball up in the air? If you are, you need to get that thought out of your mind. One of the reasons golfers hit a fat shot is because they think they need to lift the shot up in the air with their hands.

Don’t do this!

If you hit the golf ball at the bottom of the swing arc and take a divot directly after the ball, the launch, ball flight, and distance will be perfect. Start to get a mental picture in your head of what the proper impact position looks like.

Golf clubs and golf balls are designed in such a way that you can quickly get the ball up in the air by striking down and through it. Don’t overcomplicate the process by trying to lift the ball yourself.

This concept is really easy to learn when you practice chipping. Start taking some more compact chipping type golf swings and notice how much easier it is to hit a clean and crisp golf shot if you can keep your hands forward as opposed to flipping them to get the ball up in the air.

Narrow Stance with Room to Swing

We talked about ball position, but there are some things about the stance and setup that are also important for golfers to understand and implement. Hitting fat shots is not always caused by the swing. Sometimes the way you address the ball has you set up for hitting a fat shot.

The first step here is to take a narrow stance. If your stance is really wide, you may have a tough time transferring the weight. There are not too many downsides to a more narrow stance as long as you have some balance and stability.

In fact, many golfers that are struggling with their swing will take a narrow stance to see if they can control things and get it back to the standard position.

Next, make sure that you have enough room to swing the club. If you stand too close to the golf ball, you will hit behind it. As your hands come through the impact position, they get too close to your leg, and it causes you to hit behind the ball.

Play around with different distances to the golf ball. The longer the club, the further you will stand from the ball. In addition, make sure that you can fully transfer your weight and get to the forward position with all of your weight on the left side.

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.

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There was a time when golf was considered a sport for old, overweight, and generally unhealthy folks. That’s no longer the case.

Just turn on a PGA Tour tournament today, and you’ll see that most golfers are now thin and fit.

Most professional golfers are now in incredible shape thanks to advances in nutrition, supplementation, and exercise. Speaking of which, does playing a round of golf or pounding balls at the driving range qualify as exercise?

Let’s take a look at what the research has to say.

Calories Burned Playing a Round vs Hitting Balls at The Range

Does golf qualify as exercise? According to this research from NutriStrategy, yes it does. However, does it qualify as “good” exercise? That all depends on what type of golf activity and how long you do it.

For example, playing a full round of 18 holes of golf burns more calories per hour than simply hitting golf balls at the driving range. All of that walking on the golf course burns off a lot more calories than just practicing your swing on the range.

There are also other factors to consider, like whether you walk the course while carrying your clubs or use a golf cart. Take a look at the following chart to see how many calories each golf activity burns per hour based on your weight.

Tips to Make Your Next Round of Golf More of an Exercise

By using the above chart, we can give you some tips on how to make your next round of golf more effective at calorie burning. These suggestions may help you burn calories and even lose some weight (if that’s your goal).

1. Walk Instead of Riding in a Golf Cart

This tip is the most obvious. Walking is a fantastic cardiovascular exercise and can lower your risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. Most health experts agree that people need at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week. 

Walking while carrying your golf clubs or even walking while using a pull cart would be considered moderate exercise. However, playing a round of golf while using a golf cart is likely light exercise.

As we learn from the above table, a 205-pound average golfer burns 93 more calories per hour by walking and carrying clubs than by riding in a golf cart. That may not sound like a lot, but it adds up to a significant amount of extra calories burned over a four-hour round of golf.

Carrying your clubs on a regular basis can result in greater strength, which could give you a bit of power off the tee. If you aren’t able to carry your clubs, start off by using a pull cart instead. Doing this will help a 180-pound person burn an extra 65 calories per hour over using a golf cart.

2. If You Do Use a Cart, Spend Less Time in It

We know that most golfers prefer using a golf cart during their rounds. While that’s not ideal from an exercise standpoint, anything is better than nothing. You are much better off playing golf than simply sitting at home on the couch.

One way to burn some extra calories, even if you’re using a cart, is to not spend too much time sitting in it. You may be thinking, “Well duh, thank you Captain Obvious,” but stick with me.

The next time you are waiting on the tee box for the group in front to finish, do some stretching to increase your flexibility instead of just sitting in the cart. This will burn more calories, keep your muscles warm, and will make you less likely to suffer a strain or pull.

Tips to Make Hitting at The Range More of an Exercise

Even casual golfers know that to take strokes off their handicaps, they must spend lots of time honing their swings at the golf driving range.

The problem is that a 205-pound person burns 140 fewer calories per hour at the driving range versus playing golf on an actual course (if walking and carrying clubs). However, we have some tips that will help you get more exercise while at the golf range.

1. Stretch Before and After Your Range Session

Stretching before any form of exercise is a fantastic habit to develop. Before you begin any golf activities, make sure to warm up and stretch your shoulders, arms, lower back, hamstrings, buttocks, and hips.

Hold each stretch for 30 seconds before moving on to the next one.

2. Work Your Abdominals at the End of Your Practice Session

Just because you are at the driving range doesn’t mean you can’t give your abdominal muscles a good workout.

When you’re finished hitting golf balls, drop down on the mat and knock out some crunches and leg lifts. This will give you more core strength, which will eventually lead to more yardage off the tee and less chance of lower back strains.

A good drill is to hit 50-60 balls and then do 50-60 reps of some form of ab work. Some folks on the range may look at you kind of funny, but you aren’t there to impress them.

Remember, the purpose of a good range session is to lower your handicap and get a good amount of exercise.

3. Don’t Forget to Work on Your Short Game

Remember, the most efficient way to shoot lower scores is to improve your short game. Don’t leave without hitting several putts on the practice green and chip shots out of a bunker if possible.

Doing this will also extend your overall practice time and help you burn more calories.

Mike Noblin

Mike has been involved with sports for over 30 years. He’s been an avid golfer for more than 10 years and is obsessed with watching the Golf Channel and taking notes on a daily basis. He also holds a degree in Sports Psychology.

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There’s one thing that every golfer wants more of… DISTANCE!

Learning how to increase driver distance not only makes you look awesome in front of your playing partners, but it also makes the game a whole lot easier.

There is nothing more rewarding then stepping up to the tee box and knowing that you are going to launch the ball down the middle of the fairway.

Driving the golf ball straight and long is an important skill that every golfer should develop.

Golf is a game of confidence and nothing builds confidence faster than hitting a beautiful draw long and straight down the middle of the fairway.

It leads to shorter approach shots, more greens in regulations, and better golf scores.

Have you ever wondered:

What are the key elements that lead to longer drives?

What is the most effective way to train for speed?

How big of a role does driver technology play with distance improvement?

In this article we are going to answer these important questions and, show you step-by-step how to increase your driving distance.

Let’s dive in!

The Art of the Long Drive

Have you ever watched the World Long Drive Championships?

It is amazing to watch the fastest, most powerful men and women in golf smash the ball amazing distances.

While the vast majority of recreational golfers will never come close to matching these athletes in terms of clubhead speed, there are certain elements of their swing that you can apply directly to your own swing.

Watch any long driver of the golf ball and they will absolutely be doing the following four principles in their setup:

1. Ball Height

As a general rule, the equator of the golf ball should be directly in-line with the top of the clubface at setup. Your primary goal when using a driver is to “hit up” on the golf ball and teeing the ball this height will encourage an upward strike.

2. Wide Stance

The driver is your longest club in the bag and therefore the club you can swing the fastest.

If you are going to be increasing your speed you need to make sure you have the proper golf stance, and a solid base to maintain balance. Too many times amateurs will set up with their feet too narrow which leads to sloppy, unbalanced swings. To ensure your body has a solid base, set up with the outside of your shoulders extended down to the inside of your feet.

3. Forward Ball Position

Many amateurs make the mistake of placing the ball too close to the middle of the stance as if they were preparing to hit an iron shot (see image below).

Many problems occur when the ball position is too close to the center of the stance. Notice how the clubhead has been de-lofted as a result of this improper setup.

In fact, this is one of the most common mistakes amateurs make with their driver. When the ball is placed in the middle of the stance it affects how a player’s shoulders are set at address and changes the path of the club.

Players with a ball position too close to the center will strike down on the ball, the exact opposite of what we are trying to do. A downward strike with a driver puts excess spin on the ball, resulting in a ballooning shot that goes very high but travels a very short distance.

In order to maximize distance, you must strike up on the ball. Place the ball on the inside of the forward foot to help insure your clubhead bottoms out earlier in the swing and you can hit the ball on the upswing (see proper stance below).

4. Spine Angle

At setup your upper body (specifically your spine) should be slightly tilted away from the target.

What does this mean?

This means for the right-handed player, their left shoulder should be slightly higher than their right shoulder at address.

The best drill to feel the correct amount of tilt is to setup and place the grip of the driver at your sternum with the clubhead resting directly between both knees. Tilt away from your target, until the clubhead touches your lead leg. This small amount of movement represents the correct angle to tilt at address.

Use this drill to ensure you are tilting the correct amount as too much tilt will restrict your turn in the backswing. The tilted spine is again important as it puts your body in a powerful position to strike up on the golf ball.

3 Important Factors That Influence Distance

Clubhead speed has a direct correlation to your potential distance off the tee.

If you want to increase your distance off the tee you will need to increase your clubhead speed, however notice how we wrote “potential distance”.

Increasing your clubhead speed is not always the fastest and most effective way to increase distance. For example, if you currently have a 25-yard slice with your driver, increasing your clubhead speed will only increase your slice (learn how to fix a slice here). There are three important elements that we should address before learning how to train for speed. Let’s examine them now:

1. Centeredness of Contact

The easiest way to increase your distance is not by increasing your speed, but rather striking the ball closer to the center of the clubface.

How important is it to hit the center?

Let’s assume a 20-handicapper hits his average drive a modest 200 yards off the tee. Given his handicap, he most likely is striking many shots away from the center of the clubface resulting in an immediate loss of distance.

A one-inch off-center hit translates into an approximate 12% loss of distance.

By consistently learning to hit the ball in the center of the clubface this player could immediately gain 20-25 yards off the tee by changing this one single element.

What’s the best way to strike the ball in the center of the clubface?

Swinging in balance.

Practice a proper driver setup with your feet as wide as your shoulders and take some practice swings while focusing on completing your swing and finishing in a balanced follow through position. Most off-centered golf shots are a result of a loss of posture. If you can swing in balance and hold your finish, you will start to strike the ball closer to the center of the clubface.

2. Angle of Attack

Thanks to launch monitor companies like Trackman, golf professionals now realize the most efficient way to strike a golf ball is by using more loft and having a positive attack angle (hitting up on the ball) at impact.

Justin Thomas, the 2017 PGA Tour Player has one of the highest launch angles with his driver, with an average 14.11 degree of launch at impact. Considering Thomas uses an 9.5 degree driver, this means his is hitting up almost 5 degrees at impact.

So how does this apply to your game?

Simply put, you need to have an upward strike on the ball with your driver in order to maximize distance.

Review the 4 elements of a proper driver setup we discussed earlier one more time. I can’t stress how important this setup position is to create a positive attack angle and more distance off the tee.

3. Face Angle

Delivering the club into impact with a square clubface is also very important.

An open clubface at impact leads to a slice which is the most common problem amateur golfers suffer from.

The best way to control your clubface is to ensure your hands are placed in a powerful position on the club.

While there is no perfect grip in golf, a stronger grip is almost always better than a weaker grip for the average amateur golfer. A stronger grip encourages the proper release of the clubface and will help you increase distance.

Ensure that you can see between 2-3 knuckles of the left hand at address. This puts your left hand (the controller of the release) into a powerful position.

At least two knuckles of the glove hand should be visible at address (red dots), while the lines created by the thumb and forefinger should be parallel and point to the right shoulder.

The Most Efficient Method To Train Speed (& Increase Distance)

Sometimes people classify golf as a boring sport that is “too slow” and non-athletic. If you’ve seen any of the young players of today’s generation, you know golf is anything but slow and boring.

Golfers of this generation are athletes, trained to unleash sudden bursts of power and energy when swinging the driver. These powerful bursts of energy come from the fast twitch muscle fibers in our body that are specifically trained by moving both heavy and lightweight objects in a fast motion.

One of the best exercises you can perform to train your clubhead speed and increase your driver distance is to swing a combination of both heavy and lightweight clubs.

Best Drill To Increase Speed (& Driving Distance)

Begin this exercise by grabbing an alignment stick and swinging it 5 times as fast as you can with your normal stance.

After completing these swings, grab one of your irons and make an additional 5 swings with your normal stance.

Repeat this exercise a total of three times on both sides (right handed and left handed) while focusing on accelerating your club through the impact area and hearing the “swoosh” of the club well past impact.

Swinging an alignment stick is a powerful exercise that trains the fast twitch muscle fibers of the body.

How Does Equipment Effect Your Driving Distance?

Over the last few years golf equipment companies have been criticized for releasing products too often, forcing golfers to upgrade their sets a couple times a year to stay current with the latest technology.

While advancements in the game are always being made by R&D teams, the reality is that a sound golf swing with proper technique will help you improve your distance much faster than upgrading your equipment.

One of the best examples of this is the European Tour golfer, Lee Westwood. A loyal PING ambassador throughout his entire career, Lee Westwood used his PING G10 driver for over 6 straight years. As PING debuted new technology advances with the launch of its G15, G20, and G25 lines of clubs, it wasn’t until PING released its G30 line that Lee finally upgraded his driver. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Lee has always been a premium ball striker and consistently hit his driver over 300 yards. Why would he need to upgrade?

Another example is Henrik Stenson, the 2016 Open Champion. Henrik is famous for using his 3-wood off the tee and in fact prefers it over his driver. Henrik has used his current Callaway 3-wood for over 7 straight years! Once when asked why he doesn’t upgrade his woods, Henrik simply replied, “If you hit your 3-wood 300 yards would you change it?”.

I had the pleasure of spending a week with Henrik Stenson and learned all about serious golf power.

It important to note that we are not discrediting the amazing work equipment companies do each and every year to keep improving.

We are simply stating that you don’t necessarily need to upgrade your equipment to see results. The vast majority of golfers can improve their distance off the tee by improving their swing mechanics and training to improve speed.

Start Increasing Your Driving Distance Today!

Learning to hit the ball farther is a process that involves many different elements.

Our goal with this article is to educate you on some of the most important factors involved (the 4 key elements of a great driver setup for example) and some of the common problems you can immediately fix to improve distance.

Once you have improved your setup and are starting to swing in balance and find the center of the clubface more often, begin training speed and you will start to see some amazing transformations in distance off the tee.

No more excuses.

August Noble

August Noble was first introduced to golf at 7 years old. In 2013 he started seriously working on his game and was able to reduce his handicap from 19 to 3.4 in less than two years. He’s been helping other golfers do the same ever since.

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The other day I got an email from a reader asking where to focus their eyes when hitting a golf ball. I thought about it for a while because I focus my attention on the impact zone at address. I go into autopilot, and follow my pre-shot routine, then induce my golf swing.

The reality is that your eyes should follow your clubhead from impact through to the top of your upswing. That helps you get your body in a position that launches the ball high along your target line.

In this post, I will explain where you can focus to maximize your power, distance, and accuracy.

Does Eye Focus Impact Your Shot?

Where you focus your attention does not necessarily determine the outcome of your shot. Of course, that is prompted by the position of your clubface relative to the target line through impact. However, it does help you focus on achieving the desired shot shape and flight.

Look at it as a golfer’s meditation. You clear your mind of every thought and envision the shot you intend to play. This eliminates negative thoughts of poor shot execution and landing in the drink or bunker. Instead, it offers clear vision and puts you into the zone.

My vision work focuses directly behind the equator of the golf ball. This aligns my eyes with the impact zone, precisely where I wish to see the sweet spot of the clubface before contact. From there, I follow the clubhead to the top of my upswing. This motion produces optimal launch, and I find it is easier to clear my hips through impact.

Should I Keep My Head Down?

My late father always preached to keep my head down and follow-through, which confused me. When I kept my head down and followed through I consistently hooked the ball. That is because it felt awkward clearing my hips through impact.

As I gained more experience, I realized it helped to keep my head still on my backswing and downswing. However, when the clubhead reached the impact zone, I turned my high visual acuity to the clubhead. I would watch the clubface strike the ball and follow it in the air. This requires optimal timing of your body movement to keep every element synchronized.

Not only did this improve my consistency, but it also made it easier to find my ball. Especially when I generated a slice into the left-hand rough.

Therefore, I suggest keeping your head down until your clubhead reaches the impact zone. Then follow the clubhead through to the top of your upswing.

Where to Focus Your Eyes For a Draw

If you want to learn how to hit a draw, you should follow our step-by-step guide. This tip is to help you get into the zone before hitting a right to left shape if you are a right-hand golfer.

Golf coach Clay Ballard suggests employing eye dominance to the back right side of the golf ball. This is to help you envision swinging along an inside-out line with a closed clubface. Swinging your club along this line will start the ball to the right and curve it left towards your target:

Where to Focus Your Eyes For a Fade

You should set your eyes on the back left side of the golf ball to compose yourself to strike a fade. Opposite to a draw. You must swing the club from outside to inside and connect the ball with an open clubface.

Turning your attention to this part of the ball makes it easier to visualize bringing the club in from the outside inwards. Your swing path and the angle of the clubface at contact start the ball left and fade it right towards the flag.

Where to Focus Your Eyes For a Straight Shot

You watch the left side of the ball to induce a draw and the right for a fade. That leaves the center of the golf ball. This is where Ballard suggests focusing your attention on producing straight shots.

Focusing on this spot encourages you to deliver a square path and clubface through impact, leading to straighter shots and more time on the fairway.

Where to Focus Your Eyes For a Bunker Shot

When I am in the bunker, my focus shifts slightly. Instead of paying attention to an area of the ball, I focus on the sand. The aim in that scenario is to strike the sand before my ball. That helps me get under it and impart spin on the dimples. A common fault by amateurs is not committing to your bunker shot and being afraid to take sand.

If you strike your golf ball cleanly out of the sand trap, you lose control and generally fly the ball well past the cup. The quantity of sand that you take before your ball depends on the type of shot you wish to play and how far you are from your target.

When there is limited green to work with, you want to take at least 2-inches of sand. Conversely, on longer bunker shots, an inch or less is sufficient to generate sufficient ball speed for the given distance.

Where to Focus Your Eyes When Putting

The difference between a good player and a high handicap golfer is their putting skills. Superior golfers roll more putts in and possess a killer up and down record. Besides their ability to read greens and produce magical touches with a wedge and putter, they visualize each shot.

Golf Coach Todd Kolb recommends that his students always start their putting setup with their lead eye on the back center of the golf ball. In other words, if you are left-handed, that would be your right eye:

I recommend this tip is to set your eyes up for a straighter stroke with limited face twisting. As a result, it helps you strike the ball with a square putter face at impact to start your golf ball on its intended line.

That is not to say other techniques do not work. I, for one, prefer looking directly down onto my golf ball. I find that this position keeps everything aligned. However, you may find that focusing inside or outside the line works.

I suggest following Kolb’s advice for starters and seeing how you get on. If that doesn’t work, you can try the other setups to identify the most comfortable option.

Once you have determined the ideal eye position, I recommend marking the relevant points on an alignment stick to help you consistently practice this setup.

What Do The Pros Do

Focus On The Whole Ball – Jack Nicklaus

The player with more major titles than any other in history explained that he didn’t waste time with a part of the ball. Word is that he was interested in seeing the entire thing. That was enough to visualize his shot, execute, and lift trophy after trophy.

This is different from Clay Ballard’s advice for amateurs, who need to scale down their target for improved results.

Look Ahead Of The Ball – Annika Sorenstam

Annika does not tell others how to swing a golf club, but maybe we should listen to her. The highest-earning LPGA Tour player clearly knows how to operate. She found that looking ahead of the ball through impact produced the most consistent results.

Focusing a few inches ahead of your golf ball encourages you to take a divot after impact. This promotes a cleaner striker for consistent distance and accuracy.

Look At The Logo Of The Ball – Tiger Woods

Golf Magazine explains that Tiger fixates on the logo of his golf ball to ensure maximum concentration. They note that when the big cat is on the driving range, he alters the setup of the golf ball to reflect the logo in varying positions. This enables him to zero in on the spot where he wants to connect the golf ball.

The idea behind this method is to reduce the size of the target. This helps you to reduce the severity of your misses. That is why it helps to pick a spot, focus on it, and visualize executing the ideal strike.

Matt Stevens

Matt Callcott-Stevens started playing golf at the age of 4 when Rory Sabattini’s father put a 7-iron and putter in his hand. He has experienced all the highs and lows the game can throw at you and has now settled down as a professional golf writer. He holds a Postgraduate in Sports Marketing and has played golf for 28 years.

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One of my favorite ways to get better at golf is to practice with drills.

Drills narrow down one or two skills and give you a way to focus your practice. If you are a golfer that struggles with hitting down on a golf ball, there are some great drills to help make this considerably easier on you.

I’ve not only tried each of these drills but have also tweaked them a bit to work much better.

Why Hitting Down on The Ball is Important

Hitting down on the golf ball will allow for the full loft, power, and spin of the golf shots you are trying to hit. The golf ball must be struck first, with the divot coming after the ball. In order to do this, you must hit down on the golf ball.

Of course, there are swings with fairway woods and your driver where the ball will be hit more on the upswing. However, for excellent iron play, amateur golfers need to hit down and through their golf shots to get the best possible results.

4 Best Drills to Hit Down on a Golf Ball

1. Hit The Line

The hit the line drill is simple but helps players visualize exactly what impact looks like and how to make your golf swing more efficient. When working on hitting the line, the best way to do this drill is to purchase a can of white spray paint and make sure you have the permission of the driving range to complete the drill.

Step 1: Draw A Line On The Ground 

Set up to hit a golf shot and make a small mark with a tee where the golf ball would be. Once you have this mark, take the paint and draw a straight line of paint on the ground extending out a foot or two to the target. Make sure the line is straight.

Step 2: Set Ball Up

Next, you will set a ball up at the start of the line. When you hit the ball, you are going to attempt to hit the ball first and then clip part of the line.

Step 3: Keep Working down the line 

As you work through your entire practice session, set the ball up this way each time, and have your visualization be that you need to clip a piece of the line each time. When you get really good at this, you won’t need the line there anymore.

Many golfers will hit golf balls on the range like this because it’s good for the turf to grow back as well.

2. Left Hand Dominance Drill

One of the major reasons that golfers have trouble hitting down on the ball are those that try and get their right hand a bit too involved in the swing. The right hand is not the hand that develops the most consistency through the golf ball.

If you want to hit solid shots with tremendous power, the left hand dominant swing is the way to go. Here are the ways to do it.

Step 1: Grip The Club with Your Left Hand Only 

First, you will want to grip the club with just the left hand. Some players will try to take an entire backswing and downswing using the left hand only, but this will take some strength. Most golfers do the best working on this golf swing drill and then make a transition into a full regular swing.

Step 2: Take a Partial Backswing

This drill is all about getting the feeling down. Take about a half to ¾ backswing with your iron in your left hand. Leave the right hand off the club.

Step 3: Create Resistance with Right Hand 

On the downswing, you will want to create an angle of attack that feels like the left hand is pulling the club down through impact. Hold the center of the shaft with your right hand to create a bit of resistance, and the left hand should feel as though it’s pulling down through impact.

Step 4: Try a Full Swing 

Try this a few times, then switch to taking a regular golf shot. Make sure that you are still focusing on rotation in your swing. Your weight should transfer as you never want the upper body to take full control of the swing.

Here’s a video breakdown of this drill:

3. Two Ball Takeaway Drill

The takeaway drill is my favorite drill to fix quite a bit of problems that you can come across in your golf swing. One of those issues is lifting the club too far off the ground on the takeaway. If you lift the club up and alter your spine angle, returning the golf ball to the proper impact position is very hard.

This two ball takeaway drill works well for beginners as well as experienced golfers that need a little pick-me-up and refresher in their golf game.

Step 1: Take Your Typical Stance

The first part of this drill is to take your traditional golf setup. Since this is a drill in which you hit a real golf ball with a full swing, make sure that both your left foot, right foot, hips, and spine angle are correct before you start.

Step 2: Keep The Club Low and Take It Back Slow

I like to do this drill with something like an 8 iron or 9 irons; they are typically forgiving and make the learning curve just a little easier. I put one golf ball in front of the clubface and one golf ball about six inches behind the back of the club head.

The goal is to take the golf club back very low and slow so that it knocks this other golf ball out of the way. When you keep the club low and slow, it makes it much easier to return it to the ground at impact.

So many amateur golfers pick the club fight up at the start of their swing, which creates some performance issues.

Step 3: Ensure a Proper Weight Shift

To make a proper weight shift, you must feel as though weight is moving back to your right foot at the start of your swing, and on the downswing, the weight needs to transfer back to the left foot. This efficient weight transfer creates a ton of power and impressive trajectory.

Step 4: Transfer to a Full Finish

One of the things that I always found most impressive about this drill is that I’m able to compress the golf ball considerably better. I actually get more distance with this drill, even though I’m tapping another golf ball on the back swing.

In addition, when I struggle with poor tempo or feel like my timing is off, I like to use this two ball drill.

4. Golf Alignment Stick Drill

Golf alignment sticks are some of the most effective practice aids that we have to work with. Alignment sticks can be used to work on backswing angles, alignment, angle of attack, coming over the top, and more.

Essentially if you know how to use them, they are one of the most effective training aids golfers have to work with. To have more luck hitting down on a golf ball, I like to use this chipping drill with a golf alignment stick.

P.S. If you don’t yet own a set of alignment sticks, here’s our favorite:

Step 1: Grip Club and Alignment Stick

The first part of this drill feels a little awkward, but you can get used to it rather quickly. Simply grip your golf club and an alignment stick at the same time. The golf club head will be on the ground as it always is, The alignment stick will run in the opposite direction, and it will come up high enough that you have to tuck it under your left armpit.

Step 2: Use a Pitching Wedge or Sand Wedge

I highly recommend using a pitching wedge or a sand wedge here. We are only going to take little swings with this drill to try and learn how hitting down on a golf ball around the green can help you create more spin.

Step 3: Small Swings, Don’t Let Shaft Hit You

The backswing of this shot will feel pretty standard to you. However, for golfers that don’t hit down the ball, the alignment stick’s shaft will likely hit you on the left rib. Do this at a slow pace so you can feel it. The idea is to rotate and turn through the ball so the alignment stick never hits your side.

You may have to make some adjustments to your mindset here as well. I like to start focusing on hitting the back of the ball on the downswing. The alignment stick gets in the way for players that try to lift or flip the golf ball by scooping it.

Step 4: Let Go of the Alignment Stick, Try Full Swing

Once you have done this a few times and you get the concept down, go ahead and put the alignment stick down. At this point, you can start taking full swings and getting that same feeling of hitting down and through the ball as opposed to trying to lift it up out of the grass.

You will notice that your chip shots fly higher, and they stop on the green considerably closer.

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.

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Many golfers think that hitting a wedge shot high is a great benefit. However, there are problems with getting too much ball flight on your shots.

I have been paying close attention to professionals and their equipment, and you can see that they are now working on keeping the ball a bit lower but still including plenty of spin in their shots. For instance, the new Titleist SM9 wedges have a lower launch than previous models to help with this added control.

Here are 5 reasons why you’re hitting your wedges too high and how to fix it.

1. Bigger Swing Than Necessary

One of the first things that golfers should look at when trying to get their ball flight down is the size of the golf swing they are taking. If you are taking a big swing instead of a shorter, more compact motion, you may notice the ball getting up a little higher than necessary.

It’s easier to get a higher trajectory on the golf ball when you have more speed and a larger swing. To fix this issue, you can simply choose a different club and make a more compact motion.

How To Fix This Issue

Take a look at the distance you have to the hole.

Do you need to be using a 60 degree lob wedge to get you to the pin? Could you use something like a pitching wedge, take a more compact motion and keep the ball down just a bit?

The smaller swing is going to help make it easier on you when it comes to controlling the flight of the ball and the angle of your clubface.

2. Opening The Face

When you set up to take your backswing, ensure you are not opening the face of your club too much. For pitch shots and most chip shots, you can let the club sit as it lies and then uses this angle when you make contact with the ball.

Opening the face is really only necessary on full wedge shots where you are trying to go over a bunker or something. You will see some players do this with a sand wedge in the bunkers, but it’s not necessary around the greens.

How To Fix This Issue

Learn what a square club face looks like. Setup with the clubface at a square angle, and then work on maintaining that in your takeaway.

If you have a tendency to open the clubface on the backswing, make sure you have a swing thought of keeping the club square.

3. Ball Too Far Forward

The ball position could be the reason you are hitting your wedges too high.

When you want to hit approach shots to the green from a shorter distance, you will probably want the ball back in your stance. This, of course, does not mean behind your right foot (for right-handed players). Instead, it will just be back of the middle.

Some golfers have a hard time with ball flight being too high when they have the ball in the middle of the stance. Pushing it back just a little allows you to hit the ball on the way down and create a more penetrating ball flight.

How To Fix This Issue

When you are practicing on the driving range, use a golf alignment stick to see where your ball position is. Adjust accordingly and play around with different angles to find something that works for your needs.

Be careful not to get the ball too far back in your stance – this will result in poor shots.

4. Stance Too Wide

Keeping your stance too wide is not just a problem for ball flight, but it is a significant reason that golfers struggle with wedge shots as a whole. Regardless of your skill level, it is much easier to control a golf ball when your stance is more narrow. In addition, keeping that clubhead speed constant and accelerating is also much easier with a narrower stance.

The narrow stance can help players that are struggling with backspin on their golf chip and pitch shots as well. Again, that larger stance opens up the door to inconsistent turf interaction and more movement in the body and the hands.

I have always chipped with a narrow stance that is also slightly open. The open stance encourages a bit more rotation towards the target and a softer overall feel to the golf shot.

How To Fix This Issue

Learning how to get your feet closer together when you chip is one of the easiest adjustments you can make to your game. The average distance your feet are apart is about equal shoulder width. However, on these types of shots, I like to get my feet even more narrow than shoulder width.

It’s important to remember that the further you get away from the hole, the further your feet may need to come apart. Sometimes when you need that extra distance, your feet will have to go back to shoulder width.

5. Incorrect Angle of Attack

An incorrect angle of attack can cause a golfer to hit the ball too high. Many players try to hit the ball up in the air by lifting it.

These golfers often lean back on their right side and try to lift the ball up in the air. It’s so important for golfers to remember that this is not how the ball gets up in the air, and it certainly won’t help you get the spin and ball flight you need to approach a shot in this way.

The proper angle of attack for a chip or pitch shot is to hit down and through the ball. Golfers should hit the ball first and then take a divot after the ball. When you approach from this angle, the ball stays lower, but no spin is lost.

How To Fix This Issue

There are plenty of drills to help you learn to hit down on the golf ball. However, one of my favorites is the line drill. All you need for this is a bit of spray paint, where you can draw a line to use for practice on the driving range.

Spray the line and then set your golf ball up at the beginning of the line. As you hit shots, you are going to want to hit the ball and then take a piece of the line with you. You can keep practicing along this line with the concept of hitting down and through the ball.

The shot will have a cleaner feel, and it will actually even sound crisper. This drill will not only help you from hitting your wedges too high, but you will also have a better time making solid contact with other clubs in your bag. If you can’t spray a line on your green, you can always put a loose tee in front of the ball and focus on hitting this as well.

6. Wrong Equipment

Although playing with the wrong equipment may seem like an excuse for poor golf, sometimes it really does apply. If you have a wedge that is high lofted but also tries to increase loft because of a low center of gravity, you may notice that the combination creates a launch angle that you can no longer control.

As I mentioned, this year, golf manufacturers are starting to put out options to the market that actually help players control the ball flight and keep it down a bit on their wedges. We saw this with the new Vokey line and the Milled Grind options from TaylorMade.

If you watch the pros in person, you can see that their wedges have a much more penetrating ball flight, and the shots have quite a bit of spin as well. The shaft and clubhead combination you choose could encourage you to hit your wedges too high.

How To Fix This Issue

The best way to fix an issue where you are playing with the wrong equipment is to go for a golf club fitting. Launch angle, spin, direction, and total distance are just a few key parameters that a club fitting can teach you about the clubs you have in play.

If you don’t want to pay for a fitting just yet, try a friend’s wedge and see if you hit the ball the same height. If you do, then the equipment may not be the issue.

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.

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Some golf shots are incredibly frustrating, like the slice, the shank, and even the skulled shot. However, another one that can creep up on you is the duck hook.

The duck hook is a shot that will leave you with recovery and could end up costing one or even two shots on a hole. I’ve had a few instances of this happen to me, as my swing is shallow, and that is one of the common causes of hitting a duck hook.

If you want to get rid of the duck hook and hit straighter shots, here are the best ways to ensure that happens.

What is a Duck Hook in Golf?

A duck hook is when a golf ball makes a very sharp left-hand turn and heads for the ground. Duck hooks don’t stay in the air for long, and they have a ton of spin that takes the ball left.

Some golfers will call this a snap hook, as the ball makes a very quick turn to the left, much more severe than a traditional hooked golf shot.

Most of the time, a duck hook in golf is not going to go much more than about 50 or 100 yards. Some stronger players may hit a longer duck hook. However, the problem is not how far the total distance of this shot is but how far left it goes.

Often, the duck hook leaves you in a good amount of trouble somewhere down the left side of the golf course.

Common Causes of a Duck Hook

The most common causes of a duck hook are related to the path. However, there are problems with the player’s grip and club face angle that can also cause the ball to duck hook.

Here are some of the things to keep in mind and look out for when trying not to hit a duck hook.

Swing Path Too Far Inside

When hitting a driver, it can be beneficial to have an inside to out swing path. This will typically promote a draw and maybe even a few extra yards of distance.

However, if you happen to exaggerate this path a bit too much, as a right handed golfer, you could end up hitting a duck hook.

The takeaway on your golf swing should be one that leads to a more straight swing path, as opposed to one that goes directly inside. Keeping your arms just a bit more extended on the takeaway should easily fix this issue for you.

Closed Clubface

A closed clubface is a major reason behind hitting the duck hook. Sometimes your club face angle is closed at impact, and then you just never get it to square. Other golfers take their right hand and rotate it closed at impact, causing this problem.

Golf clubs should sit more neutral when on the tee box or even hitting an approach shot to the green, even if your typical ball flight is going to turn the ball to the right.

The closed clubface can become a problem with short irons, long irons, and even the driver.

Grip Too Strong

A neutral grip is the best position for all golfers. However, some golfers grip the club strongly to help eliminate a slice.

This is when the right hand is very far underneath the club, and it makes this hand more active in the swing. Although some players will time this right and hit straight shots, it’s hard to be consistent with it.

Backswing Too Short

Although this is a less common reason that golfers hit a duck hook, it can happen.

Sometimes you see this with better players that are trying to hit a punch shot or to control the ball flight in some way. Instead of completing their entire backswing and shoulder rotation, they take the club back halfway and then rush through to the finish.

The problem with this is that the club did not have enough time to even rotate from the open to square position, so it’s just shot at impact and results in a duck hook. This problem can also sometimes be a bit tempo related and typically doesn’t become a miss that a player hits often.

Wrong Equipment

All golfers must ensure they are playing with equipment that compliments their playing style and ability on the golf course.

Sometimes golfers that have clubs that are too short for them will have a tendency to duck hook the ball. If you see a strong taller man get up and try to hit a shot with a ladies’ graphite shafted golf iron, you may see a duck hook.

This is simply because the player is moving a little too quickly, and the golf club can’t keep up with the resistance and potential stored in the club head. Choose the right golf equipment to help you hit better shots, but a consistent duck hook is likely not caused by equipment.

3 Steps to Help You Stop Hitting Duck Hooks

Now that you have a better understanding of how the duck hook comes about, let’s look at how you can get rid of it.

Here are three steps to take each time you hit to ensure that your swing plane, posture, setup, and overall golf swing will allow for full swing shots that go straight toward your target.

Step 1: Check Your Grip

The grip on your golf club should be neutral.

Make sure your left hand is not holding too much of the grip in your hand and that the club is mostly in your fingers. The thumb should be pointing down the shaft, and the V made by the thumb and index finger on the left should be pointing to your left shoulder.

Once you have the left hand on the golf club, it is much easier to get the right hand into the proper position. The right hand should not be so far underneath the golf club as it is in a strong grip.

In addition, that V made up by your index finger and thumb on your right hand should point to your right shoulder.

A neutral golf grip

Step 2: Get The Setup Right

One of the most common misses in the game of golf is the slice.

When players hit a slice a few times in a row, they start to learn to fear it. I get that, as most of the trouble on the golf course seems to be down the right side. The problem is that if you end up over-correcting this shot for a slice, you could end up with a duck hook.

Keep your clubface square at setup, even if you are struggling with something in your golf game. A square clubface will help you see more distance, better ball flight, and more consistency in your game.

One of the tools I have used to help me ensure my setup and my clubface is not too closed are alignment sticks. Alignment sticks can help you learn how to swing down the proper path, as well as ensure that your setup is perfect before the takeaway.

Step 3: Check The Path

Now that you are set up to hit a straight golf shot, it makes sense to check the path of your club.

It’s good to have a target line, and when you swing out to the right of the target, you can get some really great right-to-left ball flight. However, if the backswing is a bit too shallow or inside the clubface may get to the impact position closed.

If you are going to swing inside out, be sure not to overdo it. Learn to swing more towards the target line as opposed to just swinging out and away from it. The path is an important part of any golf swing, and having a friend take a video can really help you see what you are doing wrong.

If you find that path is something you need to work on, you can use golf alignment sticks in the ground to check for the angle that you are bringing the club back and how you are swinging through.

Always give yourself enough room to ensure that you are not going to break your club or the alignment stick; use it instead as a visual reminder.

Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.

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