By Stephen Crawford, PGA
Everyone is looking for more consistency off the tee. Having the proper club path and attack angle with your driver is the best way to ensure you’re striking the ball solidly. Club path is how the club head works horizontally through the ball. Attack angle is how the club head works vertically at impact. Most right-handed golfers have a left-to-right ball flight due to an attack angle that’s down and a path that’s too left, producing too much backspin, and a severe left-to-right ball flight that is costing you distance.
To get the right attack angle with your driver, you ideally want to hit up on the ball a little bit (not down on it like you would with an iron). To practice this, place a headcover or anything soft that won’t damage the club if you accidentally hit it on the ground. Next, put a tee down about 1 foot or so behind the headcover and take your normal driver setup (you don’t need a ball on the tee). You want to feel your driver head hitting upward and ascending through impact. You want to strike the tee a little bit, but try not to bottom out, and most importantly, try not to hit the head cover. If your path is too left and the attack angle is too down, you’ll hit the head cover. After you take a few swings, you’ll start to get some feedback on your attack angle.
Now that I’m confident in my attack angle, hitting up on the ball just a bit, you can work on your club path by placing another tee down about foot or so behind the first tee and just over to the right. This will help improve your path by making the club head come a little bit more from the inside to avoid hitting the second tee. With my club head now working more inside and more upward, that’s going to get rid of my left-to-right ball flight and hopefully produce powerful, consistent drives.
If you’re hitting the ball too right-to-left, or a hook as a right-handed golfer, you can use this same drill. Just move the second tee more to the inside, so the club head is moving more from the outside. You’ll get a feel for the swing shape after a few swings, and you can make adjustments as needed.
Working on the proper attack angle and club path will help you hit more consistent drives – something we’re always striving for. So give this drill a try, and best of luck to you in the 2025 golf season.
Stephen Crawford is the head golf professional at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.