Tom Tucker is a World Golf Teachers and United States Golf Teacher Federation-certified golf instructor. He may be contacted via his website or at the Plum Creek driving range in Batavia, NY.

Here are a few facts about driver swings on the PGA Tour, the LPGA, and Long Drive Pros.

  • PGA Tour pros hit their drivers at a 1.5 degree downward angle of attack
  • LPGA pros hit their drivers at a 4 degree upward angle of attack
  • Long Drive pros hit their drivers at a 5 degree or more upward angle of attack

Simulators have established that an upward strike with the driver yields the longest carry, which is of great importance to long drive pros because that’s what they do, and to LPGA players because they need to maximize distance for their 95mph average swing speed.

Why PGA Tour pros strike – on average – with a 1.5 degreee downward strike (almost flat) with their driver is open to conjecture. They absolutely know that this strike angle doesn’t yield the longest carry, but perhaps they feel that they have better control with a flatter strike or they just want to generally stick with the same swing for all their clubs.

I say that because hitting the driver on the upswing, and hitting the irons with a descending angle of attack requires setup aiming adjustments as well as slight swingpath adjustments to get the same directional and curvature result for each club.

If you have been following previous issues on hitting draws or fades, you know that because you ideally make contact before the club reaches the bottom of its arc when swinging an iron, the clubhead path is still pointing to the right.

And you know that because you ideally make contact after the club reaches the bottom of its arc or even past the bottom of the arc when swinging your driver, the clubhead path is pointing to the left.

Most amateur golfers should develop two swings that strike the ball differently at impact to hit the ball straight.

  • For the driver, swing inside out and up at the ball, and aim slightly right.
  • For irons, swing inside to inside with a downward strike angle, and aim slightly left.

You’ll need to experiment to gauge how far left or right you need to aim; it will be less for an iron and more for the driver. Take the time to figure it out, it will pay dividends

Love your practice, enjoy your golf,

Tom