How to get your driver airborne
1. The Setup: Driver vs. Iron
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANAxB7s3xs8
This video covers the fundamental setup differences between hitting a driver and hitting an iron. It is direct, easy to follow, and perfectly matches the baseline setup method I teach my own students.
2. The Core Drill: Striking the Tee
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWv7cpSaTlM
This is an essential drill for beginners, but it is highly effective for anyone struggling to get their driver airborne consistently. It operates on the same concept as our iron low-point drill, simply adjusted for the sweeping motion of a driver.
Your initial goal is straightforward: practice making full swings to clip the tee without a golf ball. Do this until you are completely confident you can strike the tee every single time.
Leveling Up Your Visual Focus: To get significantly better results from this drill, work on quieting your eyes as you swing and try to actually see the "blur" of the clubhead as it passes the tee. As you practice, pay attention to the direction that blur is traveling, and try to notice if the tee is striking the middle, the toe, or the heel of the clubface.
Advanced Level Up: The Eyes-Closed Swing: Once you can consistently clip the tee with your eyes open, step up to the rubber tee, get into your setup posture, and close your eyes before starting your swing. This removes your visual safety net entirely. It forces your brain to heighten its awareness of your body's balance, your rotation, and the physical weight of the clubhead pulling through the bottom of the arc.
Your Practice Structure:
This drill is much more efficient at a driving range with fixed rubber tees, which saves you from constantly resetting a wooden tee in the ground.
Before you hit an actual golf ball, clip the rubber tee 5 to 10 times in a row.
Aim to complete a couple hundred of these "no-ball" swings during each range session. That high volume of repetition is exactly what builds the skill.
