We all know that a long tee shot will shorten our approach shot to the green. That’s why we pull out the big dog and prey that our planned draw will draw or fade will fad. Unfortunately it’s starting to look like the driver is the riskiest club in our bag. The pros know this and that’s why they drop to a fairway wood or an iron on most narrow holes. If the length of our driver shaft may be killing our drives, you may want to shorten up on the grip by 2 inches for better control.
Shorten Your Grip for Control and Speed:
I got this idea when I saw a Top Speed Golf Blog with suggestions to use when your game is falling apart. Clay recommended that we should choke-down on our driver by about 2 inches to create more consistent drives with better control. I know that golfers are using longer driver shafts to get more power and distance and that would be the opposite to sliding our hands down to shorten our shaft length.
PAY ATTENTION ! This is EARTH SHATTERING STUFF!
1/ Clay then demonstrated that he thought he would lose distance by gaining more control as he gripped down on his club. On the shortened grip his Trackman distance was over 300 yards. When he changed back to his normal grip near the end of the club, his club head speed increased by about 5 miles per hour but he lost 15 yards in distance. He chalked this up to a slight mishit on the face of the club. He did not reshoot the video which illustrated the opposite of what he expected. Better control of your impact point definitely give you more distance with your driver.
Rickie Fowler and many other pros choke down on their clubs for more control. You should too.
In reality, we should understand that finding a balanced rhythm using about 80% of our swing strength will most likely produce the best results for our driving distance. The pros on the Tour always keep about 15%-20% in “reserve”. Average handicappers tend to swing too hard and rarely catch the ball flush on the center line of the club face. [ALERT: Rory McIlroy was chocking down on his driver in the Kailua Tournament of Champions last weekend — for better control. ]
2/ John Richmond, a teaching pro on the Golf Channels Golf Academy demonstrates how he choked down on his driver grip; generated more club head speed; got better direction control and more distance. Again, this is contrary to the thinking of most professionals but as recreational players, you will really improve your game using a shorted grip on your driver by hitting more consistently on the center of your driver face.
Copy and paste his video in your browser: https://www.golfchannel.com/video/richman-choke-down-more-distance
Case in Point:
Why do you think we often hit worse shots into the wind? The more wind we feel in our face and hear in our ears, the more our adrenaline increases. Our minds go into panic mode and we swing faster and harder. You don’t want to do this. It just happens. It’s a human reaction. Big mistake!
When hitting off the first tee or when playing into a strong head wind or cross wind, avoid over hitting by choking down on your club and making a nice controlled swing. It’s so much easier hitting your next shot off the short stuff. The next time you go to the driving range, loosen up, relax your shoulders, grip down 2 inches on your driver and swing at 80%. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ for every shot in your game. Enjoy controlling your shots and staying in the fairway. Buy one today at www.golfstr.com
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