The driver is a very important club because a good drive can set up a great score while a poor drive can destory your score. Like all golf shots the set up position is extremely important. To consistently hit solid golf shots we need to focus getting our body ready for the swing motion.

If we look at players on the PGA Tour who are the best overall drivers, the ones with the best combination of distance and accuracy, they all have a solid foundations. Meaning, that with the driver their feet are wider apart than with any other club. The wider base will provide the golfer with a base that will help create power and yet maintain balance in the swing. You can find this trait in many of the students that Butch Harmon has taught, including Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, and Davis Love III.

Let’s look at two aspects of the drivers design that we can use to our advantage. Club manufacturers have built clubs to help us set up properly, however very few people know this fact. With the driver we can find a square clubface by simply letting the club lie naturally on its sole. While the club is resting on its sole pay attention to the loft. This postion reveals the loft of the club as the manufacturer intended. Next, observe the relationship between the top and bottom of the shaft. When looking down at the driver from above it seems the shaft is perfectly vertical, however the top of the shaft is further from the target than the bottom of the shaft.

Now is the time to get our heels, hips and shoulders parallel to the target line. Notice that your hands, while gripping the driver, are centered in front of your body. From this position we can take advantage of the two design aspects discussed above to our advantage. Sole the driver so it is flat to the ground to ensure it is square to the target line. Then check to see if your hands are set up either on top of or slightly behind the driver’s head. When the driver is set up correctly the butt end of the shaft will point close to your belly button.

The last thing that needs to be done after the stance is parallel to the target line and we bent from the hips to set up the club correctly, is to bend our knees slightly. THe knees should feel like they went from a locked to unlocked position. Many golfer make the mistake of bending the knees too much which will limit the amount of turn and coil.

All good drivers of the golf ball have excellent set up positions that enable them to make swings that create powerful and accurate drives