Summer 2023

TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT B Y L A I RD SMA L L Your Driver as Teacher he driver is a popular choice for “favorite club in the bag.” No question, the feeling of striking a long and straight tee shot is one of the truly addictive feelings in golf. However, because the driver has so little loft and hits the ball the longest, it tends to magnify any swing faults you may have. In the same vein, it’s the best club in the bag to identify those issues and correct them. For example, if you tend to slice or pop up your driver, then you can expect to take a deep divot with your short irons and hit the ball a little heavy at times. If you tend to sky your driver, then your backswing is too vertical, or up and down, which causes you to chop down on the ball. The easiest way to fix this is to lower your right shoulder and get behind the ball more at address, which will in turn promote a wider, flatter backswing and a shallower angle of approach into the ball. I often have my students warm up with the driver first on the range, instead of the traditionally accepted wedges. I have them take full swings with low energy, which lets them know if they have a path or face issue with their swing. If they do, they have plenty of time to correct at the range before they hit the first tee. Swinging the longest and lightest club in their bag first also helps them gain a good feel for the proper tempo in their swing. The ball is also on a tee, which gives you a boost of con- fidence, allowing you to make the most complete swing you can and to establish a good sense of rhythm, balance and timing. I was a last-second fill-in at the 2004 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and was fortunate enough to play alongside Vijay Singh for the second and third rounds. Vijay was at the top of his game then (he would go on to win nine PGA Tour events in ’04 and even snatched the world’s No.1 ranking away form Tiger Woods) and was striking the ball better than ever. After a few holes, he recognized that I could play the game a little bit, and we got to talking. I remember asking him what he was working on, and he said two things: grip pressure and tempo. Tempo is the rate of speed at which your hands, arms, torso and club move together. It’s how these parts move in relationship to one anoth- er. Most amateurs try to overpower the ball with their arms and shoul- ders because they associate the driver with distance. What they don’t realize is that the driver, while being the longest club in the bag, is also the lightest. It doesn’t have to be swung that hard to hit the ball far.The key is to keep your club and body moving together so you hit the sweet spot on the club. Any mishit with a driver is going to be magnified due to its lack of loft. When I asked Vijay how he worked on tempo, he said he used a numeric metronome of sorts using the number 17, or seven-teen. About two feet into his backswing, he would internally start to say the word “seeeeeeven-teen,” so by the time the club reached impact, he would be at teen, allowing him to keep the same tempo for the entire round. It should be noted that Vijay, and all good players, swing each club in their bag at the same tempo, from sand wedges to driver. If you feel like your tempo is getting quick during a round, and you need to rediscover it, try this tip from Tom Watson. Hold your driver upside down so you’re gripping it by the neck in both hands (just above the clubhead). Make five or six swings, each time getting the handle to make a swoosh sound through impact.Then, turn the club around again so you’re gripping it normally and take a few more practice swings. You should have a better feel for the weight of the clubhead, which will help you swing it in rhythm with your body. Watson used this drill often in winning his five British Open Championships. His hands would get so cold that he’d lose all sensitivity for the club.This drill would help him get that feel back. You can also make some baseball swings at approximately knee height.This will encourage the club to swing more around your body on an inside-to-inside path, which helps you to hit a draw.The more vertical the club swings, the more likely the ball will fade or slice. Next time you’re on the range, give these ideas a try and soon you will be swinging the club with smooooooooooth, effortless power. Want more tips and help with your game? Come by and see us at the Pebble Beach Golf Academy. Give these ideas a try and visit us at the Pebble Beach Golf Academy for more direction on your game improvement. Golf is a game we play for a lifetime and we encourage you to be a lifelong learner. Please contact us at 831/622-8650 to learn more. T 98 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 3