Possibly the Fastest Way to Hit Driver Straight and Long

Danny you’re the best on YouTube. Such a smooth, effortless swing and you’re able to teach without over complicated drills or language. Thanks!

This lesson really resonated with me because after I retired I took a job as starter as a course watching hundreds of golfers hit off the first tee and common denominator when they hit poorly was a loss of balance during the swing often starting during the takeaway with a less than ideal, too far inside club head path. The light bulb in the head then went off realizing I was doing the same thing WITHOUT REALIZING IT! Interested in the underlying psychology of things I thought about why I had difficulty feeling I was falling off balance and concluded it was because the process of staying in balance is so unconsciously reflexive—the body mass reacts to counter the force going in the ‘wrong’ (less than ideal) path without the conscious brain realizing it until its too late to fix. The paradox in a golf swing is that beginners tend to do with club in the takeaway—pronate lead hand pulling it too far inside the hands—is itself an uniformed reflexive solution to dealing with the exponentially increasing force stored in the club head mass as it swings back. The first time a student is shown the more ideal outside that hands takeaway what happens? They will be pulled off balance because their reflexive brains haven’t ever reacted to a pull from the club head in that direction before. What the feet together drill really teaches is how to ideally take the club back because failing that step staying in balance during the rest of the swing becomes increasingly difficult. I first came across the drill in a book by Hank Johnson called “Winning the Three Games of Golf: The Swing, The Stroke, The Score which focused on biomechanics in the swing using analogies. His similar balance drill involved swinging a old fashioned broom with the butt end stuck in the belly at address. The mass of the broom greatly exaggerated any loss of balance due to technique and having the butt end of the club pressing against belly ensured the takeaway was truly ‘one piece’ with hips, shoulders and hands forced to move together in the first 45° of the swing arc until the momentum acting on the head of the broom forced the wrists to cock and the butt end popped out of gut. What I realized from that action of extending wide to generate force — which will cause loss of balance — is that the action of cocking the wrists does a very critical thing in the backswing with regard to balance: it redirects the force vector in the club head mass up and forward which is why a WELL TRAINED golfer is able to stay in balance. An analogy is how a figure skater does a spin starting with arms extended wide at the start then pulling the mass of the arms into the body closer to the center of rotation and balance to spin faster. When a golfer learns to take the club head away from the ball ‘in one piece’ without any reflexive hand action to steer the club to the more balanced inside path in the takeaway it begins force the wrists to cock automatically at just the right time and place in 3D space relative to center of rotation and balance! The swing starts to feel automatically balanced as if swinging the club head in a groove! What I realized from all that analysis and experimentation is that the #1 fault in untrained beginners swings was not being CONSCIOUSLY aware of where the club head should be in 3D space relative to the feet and center of balance at the point the wrists should react to the force, cock and swing the mass in closer to the feet and redirect the force up making it possible to stay in balance. So I created a drill to teach them this similar to what the broom drill felt like. First I would have a golfer swing the club as they had been too far inside and hold it still at the point where it would force the wrists to cock. I’d then grab the club head and pull on it, always pulling them off their feet because their is no way to brace against force moving in the that direction. Next I would show them where in 3D space their club head should be relative to feet and center of balance when force causes wrists to cock giving their brains a CONSCIOUS swing way point and showing them all that is required to hit it is to set up properly at address and turn hip/shoulders/hands together (as if the butt end was stuck in the belly). Once they could repeatably swing the club head mass to that waypoint slowly I have them hold it extended just before the point the wrists cock automatically and pull on the club head in the direction of the takeaway force vector. What invariably happens the first time the club head is pulled when it is in the ideal waypoint in 3D space to cock the wrists is the golfer gets easily pulled off balance. Why? Their reflexive brain hasn’t ever encountered a force pull in that direction! But the brain adapts very quickly to solve balance problems so after repeating the tugging exercised 3-4 times the golfer learns to reflexively tension the correct muscles in legs and torso to resist the tug and stay in perfect balance. What is learned by that drill how to create a great deal of momentum in the body turn of the take away to generate a effortless well balanced backswing just by consciously breaking the habit of steering the club head mass with the hands and letting just the hip/shoulder turn and stable arm triangle guide the club head mass the ideal spot in 3D space relative to the center of rotation. The short cut in that process the instructor showing them where that ideal spot in 3D space is, which broom drill and this one with feet together also teach but by trial and error until the golfer realizes it ‘feels’ better.

I believe that we all feel a strong pull inside of us to become a person of value, someone who makes a difference in people's lives. Danny Maude you have become such a regular part of my life for the past few years that I would TRULY be devastated if you stopped making videos. Thank you for providing quality content to those of us who cannot afford to do lessons with a PGA professional. I just felt compelled to tell you that I think you are an amazing coach and you make the best content on youtube with so much new content. You know what else, I bet that 99% of your followers feel this exact same way! Thank you for being you!!!!

Used this drill yesterday on the course and it worked immediately - straight and long. Ball contact was also excellent. Thank you Danny, as always!

Your teaching is so concise and clear. I have been watching your videos for about a month and my ball staking has greatly improved. I now understand why I hit a certain bad shot. And the fix for it. You are the first instructor ( in person or video) that has helped me to understand the right elbow position. I have added 20 yards to my driver because of your videos. Thanks

Great drill, great video. Your online coaching and golf swing explanations are some of the best out there. Thank-you Danny!

Hi Danny, your last few lessons have really made a difference for me. Why? Because you’ve taken the basic elements of the swing and described them in a very understandable way that readily translates onto the practice range and course. Moreover, these latest lessons are congruent with all of your previous instructions. So helpful. Thank you and blessings.

Brilliant lesson Danny. I’ve used this drill in the past for tempo but never really thought about why it worked or how to use it to evaluate proper balance. So obvious once you explained it. Thanks for all you do for the golfing community!

Loved lesson. Always struggle with driver, and i play alot. Took this to course yesterday had my best round in months. After drive i used it for every shot that day. Lot better contact lost hardly any distance. Will keep playing like this for now. Thanks danny

The #1 golf training tip I have rcvd!!! I took 5 strokes off of my game yesterday. Thanks Danny for all your videos...

Bloody marvellous!! So simple, yet so effective. This will end up being one of my "go to's" Thanks Danny.

This week’s lesson is an absolute golden example of Danny’s entire style: simple yet powerful. I’m playing my first round in 2 months on Monday so hoping to try this out at the range ahead of the round. Thanks as always, Danny!

I used this drill before I started my round yesterday. 2 under my handicap. Will use it always now before a round of golf. Will see if I can improve more tomorrow Danny 😊 Thanks for your videos they are fantastic

Hi Danny, I love your unpretentious and straightforward teaching style. You make it seem easy to improve the golf swing, and you're the only golf instructor I watch on YouTube. Keep up the good work!

A Saturday without your videos is a given away Saturday. Perfect to realise again!!

Tried this feet together drill this morning at range. Was seeing much better consistency with swings with all clubs. Best I have swung driver for ages. Thanks

Always great advice Danny that help improve my golf game. Many thanks for taking the time.

Hi Danny My post is nothing to do with today’s video but a follow up to one a few weeks ago with your Leo and the towel drill leading to longer drives. Decided to try it out during my usual Wednesday game concentrating on high hands on the backswing and then whipping it down to the ball. I noticed three things: I was hitting it further, consistently outdriving my playing partners and on one occasion by 30 yards. One of my partners, who plays off 4, wondered out loud if I’d been bodybuilding! On one hole my drive measured 255 yards. Now, given the cold air temps and the very soft fairways, that’s not bad for someone nearing 69 and stands at 5’4”. Think what I could do in summer temps with the fairways firm. My target must be 280+? I was hitting the ball STRAIGHT! I believe with my previous ‘safe’ drives, I was getting ahead of the club maybe, leaving the clubhead behind me and therefore the face might be a bit open leading to a fade, a BIG fade or…..the gorse bushes!! I was actually hitting the ball down the left of the fairway this week probably because at address I was closing the clubface slightly to conteract the fade. So, the ball wasn’t going everywhere! The brain takes over and adjusts. I was just letting it go! The ball flight was much higher, with the ball in the air for longer. Again, if I’m not getting ahead of the club I feel I must be hitting up on the ball much more leading to a better ball flight?? I have read posts from your subscribers who have got so excited at doing this or that on the course after following your video tips. I can now understand how they feel! It is SO exhilarating! So, if any of your subscribers managed to read to the end of this post, please just give it a go, you’ll be amazed. Thanks Danny. Grahame

Try this today on the course, with a 3 quarter swing, it was amazing, I started to hit the driver straight and my irons, for the first time in a long time, I felt in control, thank you so much for this drill, will keep you updated on my progress cheers Danny 😊

Danny - I watched this video yesterday before my first round of the year in Minnesota. I had been struggling with my driver on consistency and length. This video (along with the previous one on go slow to go fast) helped me shoot my first 73 (+2). Beating my personal best by THREE strokes. I was either in the fairway or just off. All my irons were struck great. I am looking forward to getting out of the 80s and into the 70s more this year thanks to your videos. Please keep them coming!!! Thank you!