10 ways to pick up easy yards without radically changing your swing

1. Grip: Square to closed face

In many cases, the most efficient way to hit the ball farther is by making center face contact with a square club face. But how does an amateur accomplish that? It starts with the placement of their hands.

A common error I often see from my students is thinking that their thumb should go straight down the center of the grip with their lead arm. But doing this will often result in an open-faced slice, robbing all the distance from your shot.

Instead, your lead hand should be on the club as it hangs, with the hand slightly facing inward towards the body. If you can see both the knuckles and the thumb on the side of the club, and away from the target, you’re doing this right.

2. Grip: in fingers

Yes, you’re reading that right: The correct way to hold your club is in your fingers (rather than in the palm). By doing this, you can hold the club without having to squeeze, which releases tension and allows you to generate more natural speed. It’s time to ditch the “death grip”.

3. Learn to use your wrists better

Relaxing both your arms and hands will allow you use your wrists much better. Since your wrists are tremendously efficient at generating speed, you should immediately see an increase in distance.

The Stack System — developed by Sasho Mackenzie and Marty Jertson — is a great program to try when looking to increase speed and distance.

4. Fitted clubs – New driver

A marathon runner wouldn’t run a race in shoes that were either too big or too small, right? Similarly, a golfer shouldn’t play with clubs that aren’t fitted to them.

Having clubs that fit are important when it comes to gaining distance, especially with the driver. This is why every golfer should go to a simulator to get fitted and test clubs before purchasing anything. You will be able to feel (and see) the difference with each swing.

TrueSpec Golf, an affiliate of GOLF.com, has made a huge difference fitting my entire family. Even the smallest of adjustments in heads and shafts have gone a long way in improving our games.

5. More lofted fairway wood

Many golfers believe that a club with less loft always travels farther, but be careful in living and dying by that.

You want the ball to launch and be in the air. If the ball comes out of the air too quickly, the friction from the grass can greatly impact distance, decreasing how far the ball travels.

In my opinion, many golfers should use a 7- or 5-wood for their longest fairway wood.

6. Upgrade your driver shaft

Upgrading your driver shaft can make a huge difference when it comes to getting added distance.

I recently visited Ping and told them that I needed more distance. We not only upgraded my driver shaft, but we also extended the length of it as well — which has helped improve my length off the tee.

7. Tilt with the driver

When hitting your driver, position the ball more in front of you and tilt your shoulders. By doing this, your lead shoulder is higher up, leaving your trail shoulder lower. By executing this tilt, you will be able to contact the ball more squarely on the upswing — which maximizes smash and distance.

This is one of my favorite adjustments, and it makes a huge difference when players can do it properly.

8. Connection on backswing

During your backswing, always be sure you’re keeping your lead underarm close to the chest. Since this helps keep the club face square and stable throughout your swing, the upper body will rotate and create coil for natural power.

9. Straighten your trail arm

After setting up for your shot and you make your backswing, allow your arms to straighten and extend on the downswing toward the ground. This is especially important for your trail arm.

This is an athletic extension, allowing the club to get to the ground so that the ball hits the sweet spot. This extension also naturally accelerates the club head, which adds both speed and power.

10. Swing faster

Seems like too basic of a principle, but it’s true. If your setup is good and you have the right balance, you should be able to swing with more speed.

A goal for every golfer looking for more distance is to increase their forward swing speed by about 10-15 percent. It may feel a bit intimidating and out of control at first, but, remember, the ball will travel farther if you swing faster.

I often say that control is overrated, so, when practicing, take some time and put your ball on a low tee, working on your balance while swinging a bit faster.