Golfers have had an ongoing debate for years, “Which is the most important club in the bag?” The putter usually wins out in the discussion simply because more strokes are attempted with the putter throughout the course of an eighteen hole round than the driver. However, those that favor the driver in the discussion do have a compelling point – if you are able to get off the tee box long and accurately, it makes it all the more possible to shoot a low score on a given hole. 

When setting up to hit the driver, the feet should be slightly wider apart than normal. They should actually be outside of the tips of your shoulders. Also, in the setup for a normal golf swing, the back foot is set perpendicular to the swing line. When hitting the driver, because the feet are wider, you may want to turn the back to outward slightly, to take some of the stress off the back knee.

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From this point, the back swing should be similar to any other club. Don’t be tempted to take the club back faster just because you want to hit the ball far. Increasing the tempo of your back swing can throw of many other elements of the golf swing. Club head speed should be generated on the downswing. 

It is also important to stay “on” or “over the ball when you take back the club on your back swing. Do not allow your hips to slide backwards with the club. The hips should turn, not slide, and that front foot should stay on the ground during the back swing. 

The club should be taken back straight and away at to cause a wide arc, but you must stay over the ball. The weight should be shifted to the back foot without sliding the body. It cannot be said enough, “turn the hips, don’t slide them”. 

The setup and back swing are really the only elements that should be changed between using the driver and other shots. There are slight differences that will occur throughout the swing based on a wider stance, driver length and a heavier club head – shoulders turn further, chin tucks into chin deeper, down swing is faster – but these are naturally occurring events, and the golfer should not give thought to giving assistance for any of them. The only caveat to that statement would be to make sure that your arms and shoulders are working in conjunction, and that one is not getting ahead of the other.

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