Do you use the ground in your swing? Doing so pumps up your power—especially off the tee. Using the ground helps you use ground reaction forces (GFR) to your advantage. These forces help you leverage the ground for more power. Put another way, if you push off on the ground, it will push back, boosting power.
Below are two golf drills to help you use the ground to your maximum benefit:
1.     Small Step Golf Drill
This drill simulates the proper pressure shift you should feel throughout your swing. Stand with the ball forward in your stance and your feet close together. As you begin your takeaway, take a small step with your back foot away from the target. When you get to the top of the swing, take a small step with your lead foot toward the target. This move will give you the feeling of proper pressure movement in your feet without moving too much body mass.Â
2.     Sam Snead Golf Drill
This golf drill teaches you the feel of the athletic movement of your legs in the swing. Set up to the ball and as you prepare to start your swing, pick your right heel off the ground. Now, slam your right heel into the ground as you begin your takeaway. You should feel the pressure spike in your left leg, which will allow you to make a decisive and powerful turn away from the ball.
Both of these drills help instill athleticism and power in your swing. Do that and you’ll find yourself hitting bombs off the tee and on the fairway. That will shave strokes off your scores
 Plugging these 5 Power Leaks in Your Golf Swing
We all know the benefits of hitting bombs off the tee. Hitting bomb off the tee sets you up to hit more greens in regulation. That leads to making more birdies or pars, which helps chop strokes off your scores.
But hitting bombs off the tee is easier said than done. Flaws in your golf swing, however, can short-circuit power and cost you the distance. Plugging those leaks supercharges your drives and pumps up your chances of breaking 80.
Below are five common power leaks in a golf swing:
- Disconnected lead arm
- Failing to use the ground correctly
- Sliding too far forward
- Failing to shift weight
- Not maintaining your spine angle
These five power leaks siphon off power from your golf swing. That can cost you distance off the tee. Here’s how to plug them:
1.     Disconnected lead arm
This power leak is among the biggest of all. When your front arm disconnects from your pivot through the ball, it costs you. Keep your arm connected to your torso during your downswing and use your body to power your swing. It also sets you up so you can use the ground to drive the ball further.
2.     Failing to use the ground correctly
This leak is also common. There are three ways you can use the ground to pump up the power. You can glide across it. You can turn on it. And you can launch off of it. Finding the right combination of these three methods boosts power dramatically
3.     Sliding too far forward
Shifting your front hip past your front foot saps power from your swing. But it’s easy to do if you’re not aware of what you’re doing. Keep your hip from sliding too far forward during your swing, and you’ll add yards to your drives.
4.     Not maintaining your spine angle
Many golfers lift up slightly just before hitting. This swing flaw is deadly. It not only short-circuits power, but it also throws the club around and out of the right swing plane. Plus, it leads to inconsistent shot-making. Once you’ve assumed your stance, focus on maintaining your spine angle throughout your swing.
5.     Failing to shift your weight properly
While sliding forward when swinging is bad, not shifting your weight is worse. It prevents you from dropping the club into the slot. That not only boosts inconsistency but also drains power from your swing. The key to shifting your weight is to open your hips first and then follow with your hands through the swing.
Here’s a drill to help you do that:
Tee up the ball with its center opposite the sweet spot on your driver. That positions the ball about a quarter of an inch above the clubface. As you swing back, lift your entire left foot off the ground and shift your weight to your back foot. Then replant your foot as you start your downswing. Your forward momentum activates the weight shift forward. That, in turn, brings the low point of your swing arc forward so you can hit the ball right at the sweet spot. Â
Also Read:
Dominate Your Foursome: Master Your Golf Driver Swing
Fix Your Golf Swing with this Simple Drill
Slow Your Downswing, Boost Your Distance
Pump Out More Yards With These 6 Golf Driving Tips
Use the Golf Tips in this Golf Drill to Save Strokes
Use the golf tips above to plug the power leaks in your swing. Doing that can help you bombs off the tee. That can help you cut strokes from your scores, lower your golf handicap, boost your chances of breaking 80.
Use These 7 Golf Tips to Dominate Holes, Cut Strokes
If you’re serious about breaking 80, you need to start dominating holes. That’s right. You need to dominate holes. The first step in doing that, however, isn’t belting out great drives. It’s knowing when to be aggressive and when to be conservative in the tee box. In other words, it’s knowing when to hit the driver and when to hit a 3-wood, hybrid, or iron.
Making the right decision on what to hit before hitting a drive can not only keep you out of trouble off the tee. It can also set you up for hitting easier approach shots. That, in turn, can help you hit more greens in regulation, increasing your chances of making more birdies and pars. In other words, hitting the right club off the tee can save you strokes and help you break 80 regularly.
Below we provide some golf tips on when to hit a driver off the tee. But first, we provide golf tips on an often-overlooked aspect of belting out great drives: Your pre-shot setup. The right posture, balance, alignment, and stance is the key to blasting great drives. It’s a critical element of a pre-shot routine you can’t afford to neglect.
Golf Tips on Setting Up to Hit Great Drives
Hitting great drives starts with a fundamentally sound alignment, grip, and stance. Setting up correctly is even more critical when hitting a draw or fade on a dogleg right or left. Here are some keys to setting up to crush a drive:
- Stand with your feet a little more than shoulder-width apart
- Position the ball off the front heel of your front foot
- Hold the driver with a relaxed grip
- Set feet and shoulders parallel to the target line
- Aim slightly to the left to hit a fade
- Aim slightly right to hit a draw
Implementing these golf tips ensures that your hitting the ball on the upswing—the secret to hitting your drive straight and long. Reverse the above instructions if you’re left-handed.
Golf Tips on When to Hit Driver
Club selection is critical, no matter what the situation. When it comes to the tee box, it’s probably more critical with the driver than with other clubs. For many golfers, it comes down to what you consider a conservative and aggressive approach. That will differ for everyone.
Some question to ask yourself when deciding on a club include:
- How much more accurate am I with a driver off the tee than iron or 3-wood?
- How much distance will I forfeit on average by giving up by choosing to hit an iron or a 3-wood off the tee?
- Which selection optimizes my chances of hitting the fairway and staying out of trouble?
The answers to these questions involve decisions you’ll have to make at the time based on the hole, your risk tolerance, and your abilities with the driver and other clubs.
Keep in mind that some experts think golfers sometimes place too much value on safety and hitting fairways. Some also believe that fairways hit is a misleading statistic. You’ll have to make up your mind on this and play accordingly.
When to Hit Driver Off the Tee
The driver is a scoring club. The better you hit it, the more likely you are to save strokes. But it’s not always the best choice off the tee. Here are some golf tips on when to hit a 3-wood, hybrid, or iron off the tee:
- If there’s trouble within reach of your driver, use a different club. For example, if you hit your driver about 225 yards off the tee and there’s a bunker at the fairway point, you might switch clubs.
- If you’re more confident hitting a 3-wood in that situation. Golfers are often more accurate with a different club off the tee than the driver.
- If you’re having a bad day driving the ball, you might switch to another club. Maybe you’re pulling everything with your driver or your slicing the ball to the right.
- If you’re playing a long par 5, you might consider hitting another club. It’s going to take three shots to hit the green anyway. So, you might want to choose distance over accuracy.
- If you’re playing a tight hole where hitting a wayward shot can get you into deep trouble off the tee. Hitting a fairway wood, hybrid, or iron can save you strokes here.
- If you typically miss with your driver left and there’s trouble on that side, think about using a different club. Staying out of trouble can save you strokes.
- Some low handicappers like to use a 3-wood on short par 4s. They’ll hit to a spot about 80 or so yards out where they have a full wedge shot into the green.
We hope these golf tips help you make better decisions when it comes to hitting off the tee. Hitting a different club than the driver in certain situations can help you save strokes by staying out of trouble.
If you’re going to start dominating holes, it all begins on the tee. Dominating holes—and courses—can help you lower your golf handicap and break 80 with consistency.