How To Keep Drives In The Fairway
By Bradley Turner Keiser University College of Golf Director of Online Golf Instruction – MBA, PGA
The short game is one of the easiest ways to shave strokes off your handicap. Spending quality time on good chipping and putting fundamentals will pay big dividends on the course. But if you really want to become an accomplished amateur golfer, keeping the ball in the fairway is essential. The good news is there are some simple steps you can take to increase your odds of finding the middle of the fairway. Striking your approach shots from the short grass is statistically significant in lowering your score. Here are some ideas on how to keep your tee shots in the fairway.
How to Hit a Fairway Shot
Use the Line
Using the line on the golf ball is very common when putting. Under the USGA Rules of Golf, this alignment aid is currently legal. We see some of the best players using the line on the putting green. What you don’t see is the number of PGA and LPGA tour players that use that same line when hitting a tee shot.
Alignment and aim are very common mistakes with amateur golfers, and this can be eliminated on every tee shot. Simply aim the line on the golf ball in the direction you intend to start the ball. This will help to get your club face oriented to your target. You will then get your feet and body in the appropriate position for a successful tee shot!
Eliminate One Side of the Hole
This is an important concept to get clear in your mind. The best way to imagine the importance of eliminating one side of the hole is to answer this question. How confident would you be if you knew that your golf ball would not miss to the left of the fairway? Most amateurs would love the idea of either hitting the fairway or missing to the right of the fairway.
One of history’s all-time great ball strikers suggested that a golfer should never try to hit a straight shot, and if the ball flew straight, it was a mistake. If Ben Hogan always tried to curve his tee shots with a fade or draw, then you should too. However, I suggest you pick one or the other and stick to that ball flight pattern for all your tee shots.
If you suffer from misses that go both directions, you will need to decide on either a fade or draw. To keep the ball in the fairway, many tour players choose to fade the ball. Since most amateur golfers fade or slice the ball, a left to right ball flight (right-handed golfers) is a good choice for most. Hitting a big slice with a driver is not the objective, but rather learn to modify the curve into an acceptable fade. It is true that a draw will go slightly farther than a fade, but the fade will find more fairways.
Hit Driver
If you are going to improve your driving skills, you need to practice with the big stick and then use it on the course! The more you reach for the driver instead of the hybrid or 4-iron, the more confident you will become. Avoiding the driver is a sure way to keep your confidence level low.
A Golf Digest study showed that a sample of golfers with a wide range of handicaps had very little difference in shot dispersion between their driver and 3-wood. However, this may not hold for players with extremely fast swing speeds. As club head speed and the resulting distance increases, so does the magnification of any club face error at impact. A 3-degree error of the club face at impact is acceptable if your clubhead speed is 90 mph. But at 120 mph, that 3-degree error sends the ball further away from the center of the fairway and most likely a challenging recovery shot from the rough. Since the average clubhead speed of a male amateur is about 94 mph, a hitting driver can become an ally on the golf course.
Find the Right Driver
The three most important clubs to love in your golf bag are the putter, sand wedge, and driver. If you don’t love any of these three clubs, it is time to go shopping. I have a top brand putter that was fitted for me in 2006, and I continue to use it in 2021. As for the sand wedge and driver, technology has required me to keep these updated. All my clubs are fitted for me through the use of launch monitors and professional fitting sessions. Unfortunately, I have suffered through some drivers that didn’t fit me as well as intended. When you begin to shy away from the driver, it is time to search for a new one!
Fairway Golf
Use these suggestions, and you will start to find more fairways. Your iron shots to the green will be more on target, and your scores will start dropping considerably. Want more tips? If you want to take your game to the next level, contact our team at Keiser University’s College of Golf & Sport Management today. With our dedication and experience, together, we can elevate your game to new heights. Give us a call today at 888-355-4465.
