How to Practice Driving in Golf

Blasting a perfect drive down the middle of the fairway is one of the best feelings in golf, but getting there requires more than just hope and a hard swing. Practicing with the driver is different than practicing with your irons, it demands a focus on a specific combination of power, sequence, and control. This guide will walk you through exactly how to structure your practice sessions to build a more consistent, powerful, and accurate drive so you can step onto every tee box with confidence.

Before You Hit a Single Ball: Your Driver Pre-Flight Check

In golf, a good result often starts well before you swing. For the driver, having a solid, repeatable setup is the foundation for everything else. Rushing this step is a recipe for inconsistency. Before every practice session, take a minute to audit your fundamentals.

Your Setup: Getting Ready for Launch

The driver is the only club in your bag you want to hit on the upswing. Your entire setup should be built to encourage this motion. Here’s a quick checklist:

• Ball Position: Place the ball off the inside of your lead heel. If you drew a line from the ball straight back, it should align with the heel of your front foot. This is farther forward than any other club and is essential for catching the ball on the ascent.
• Stance Width: Your feet should be slightly wider than your shoulders. A wider base provides the stability you need to support a powerful, rotational swing without losing your balance.
• Tee Height: A common rule of thumb is to have about half of the golf ball above the top edge of your driver's face when it’s resting on the ground. A higher tee promotes that upward strike. Too low, and you'll likely hit down on it, creating too much spin and losing distance.
• Spine Tilt: This one is a big deal. With the club behind the ball, gently tilt your upper body away from the target so your lead shoulder feels higher than your trail shoulder. Your head should feel like it's behind the ball. This tilt positions your body to swing up through impact, which is exactly what we want.

Building a Repeatable Swing: Drills for Consistency

Mindlessly hitting ball after ball at full speed is one of the least effective ways to practice. The goal of practice isn't just to hit balls, it's to build a motion you can trust. These drills slow things down and focus on feeling the correct sequence.

The "Half-Swing" Rhythm Drill

A fast, jerky takeaway throws the entire swing off. This drill is all about finding a smooth rhythm and learning to power the swing with your body's rotation, not just your arms.

1. Set up normally, but focus on staying relaxed.
2. Execute a backswing where your hands only go back to about waist-high. Feel your chest and hips turning away from the target. There should be almost no arm-only movement.
3. From this waist-high position, rotate your body through to a follow-through that's also about waist-high, facing your target.
4. Don't worry about power or distance. The only goal is to feel the smooth, continuous motion of your body turning back and turning through. Hit 10-15 balls this way to groove a stable, connected feeling before moving on to full swings.

The "Top of the Swing Pause" Drill

So many amateur golfers lose power and control because they rush the transition from the backswing to the downswing. Everything becomes a frantic, arm-dominated yank from the top. This drill helps train a proper sequence.

1. Take your normal backswing, but once you reach the very top, I want you to pause for a solid one-to-two seconds. Actually stop.
2. From this stationary position at the top, your first thought to start the downswing should be to turn your hips and unwind your torso towards the target.
3. This pause separates the backswing from the downswing, effectively forcing you to start down with your body. You'll soon realize you can’t generate any real force from this position with just your arms. It's a fantastic drill for developing patience and letting the big muscles lead the way.

Practicing for Power (Without Swinging Out of Your Shoes)

Everyone wants more distance, but trying to get it by simply swinging harder often has the opposite effect. True power comes from efficient sequencing and ground force, not brute upper-body strength. These drills teach your body how to generate speed the right way.

The "Step Through" Drill for Launching Power

This classic drill is phenomenal for teaching your body to transfer weight and use the ground for power - two huge sources of speed.

1. Start by addressing the ball with your feet close together.
2. As you begin your backswing, take a small step forward with your lead foot, planting it in its normal, wider stance position.
3. Then, as you start the downswing and swing through impact, "step through" with your trail foot so you end up walking towards the target.
4. This action makes it almost impossible *not* to transfer your weight properly. It syncs up your arm swing with your body's forward momentum, demonstrating what a flowing, athletic motion feels like. You’ll be surprised at how far the ball goes with what feels like little effort.

Finding Your "80% Swing"

Chasing that extra 10 yards by swinging at 110% is a trap. It tightens your muscles, ruins your tempo, and leads to mis-hits. The best drivers in the world look smooth because they swing with control - closer to an 80-90% effort level. Your goal in practice should be to find your "fast and smooth" tempo, not your "fast and ragged" one.

Hit ten balls where you consciously try to swing at what feels like 80% of your maximum effort. Focus on keeping everything relaxed and holding your finish in perfect balance. Often, you will find these shots go just as far, if not farther, than your wild 110% swings, and they will be infinitely more consistent.

Practicing for Accuracy: Hitting More Fairways

Power is a thrill, but a 300-yard drive into the trees is still just a penalty stroke. Once you’ve grooved your motion, it’s time to practice hitting specific targets.

The "Swing Path Gate" Drill

Your swing path has a huge influence on the starting direction of your ball. For a powerful, high draw - the go-to shot shape for many players - you want the club traveling from 'inside' the target line to 'outside' it. This drill gives you instant feedback.

1. Place your teed-up ball as usual.
2. Take two headcovers (or empty range baskets). Place one a foot behind and slightly outside the ball. Place the other a foot in front and slightly inside the ball.
3. You’ve now created a "gate." The only way to swing through and hit the ball without striking either headcover is on the correct in-to-out path. If you swing "over the top" (out-to-in), you'll hit the inside headcover. If you take it away too far inside, you'll hit the first headcover.

The "30-Yard Fairway" Game

An open driving range can be deceiving. It’s time to make your practice mirror the pressure of the course.

1. Pick a target in the distance (like a flag or yardage marker).
2. Place two alignment sticks, towels, or even just other headcovers about 15 yards to the left and 15 yards to the right of your target, creating a virtual 30-yard wide "fairway."
3. Your game is simple: hit 10 balls. How many can you land in your fairway? Keeping score adds a layer of focus and puts a consequence on every shot, which is far more effective than just hitting balls into a wide-open field.

Final Thoughts

Hitting longer, straighter drives comes from structured practice, not just pounding buckets of balls. By checking your fundamentals, building a consistent motion with drills, and practicing for performance with games, you give every ball on the range a purpose and pave a direct path to on-course improvement.

This kind of smart practice is what makes the game simpler. Thinking through your game and getting the right advice is just as important as the physical motion. That’s what we had in mind with Caddie AI. It provides the kind of on-demand strategic help that sharpens your on-course decision-making. You can even get expert analysis for those tricky situations on the course - like a difficult lie in the rough - by taking a photo, so you always know the smartest way to play the shot and keep your round on track.