How To Hit My Driver Higher (7 Tips)

Written by Todd in Online Golf Instruction

Hit your driver higher with these 7 tips:

  1. Tee the Ball Higher
  2. Play The Ball Further Forward in your Stance
  3. Tilt Your Shoulders (Back Shoulder Lower)
  4. Increase Your Launch Angle
  5. Increase Spin Rate
  6. Check the Loft on Your Driver
  7. Check Your Golf Ball

Are you someone that wishes you could hit the golf ball higher with your driver?

Are you tired of hitting the lower bullet type of shot, especially on those holes where you have to carry the ball a certain distance?

There are some benefits to the lower tee ball shot, but to maximize your distance, you want to hit the ball higher and optimize your launch angle.  This is especially true with the wind to your break.  The best golfers can hit both the high shot with the driver and the more wind penetrating shots.  With time, the golfer can work both shots and truly have different options when they step up to the tee.

It’s important to hit your driver high and far. That way you’ll have less ground to cover on the approach shots. Follow these 7 tips so that you can start hitting your driver higher!

Update: Much of my recent success of finally reaching the scratch level of golf involved hitting several different types of shots with the driver. I hit these three shots primarily: the stock draw shot, the “bunt” or “second serve” and the “blast.” Depending on the amount of danger on a hole, the need for distance and how my driver was going that round, I picked the best shot for that hole. I increased my birdie rate to 4.0 birdies from round up from 2.0 birdies per round. I attribute this to hitting quality drives and hitting a lot of wedges inside of 10 feet! Get to work and have fun!

Many golfers start to lose speed as they reach 60! Check out our SuperSpeed recommendation below and what it can do for your game!

How To Hit My Driver Higher (7 Tips)

Tip #1: Tee The Ball Higher

The best golfers will typically tee the ball a bit higher to maximize launch angle.  The ball can sit halfway above the driver when the driver is flat on the ground.  This will encourage you to hit the ball with an ascending club face launching the ball higher.  Too many amateurs hit down on the golf ball, causing unnecessary spin and a negative angle of attack.  This is fine with irons, but with the driver you want to hit the ball as the club is heading up. 

The ball being teed higher helps increase the angle of attack and ultimately the launch angle.  A steep angle of attack can cause a high ball flight, but more than likely the golfer will have too much spin, causing a reduction in total carry distance.

Resource: Sudden lost of distance with the driver? (7 checkpoints)

Tip #2: Play the Ball Forward in Your Stance

You want the ball positioned forward in your stance with the driver.  If your goal is to hit the ball higher, a forward ball placement encourages the club to hit the ball on the way up increasing the angle of attack and the launch angle of the golf ball struck by the driver. 

Playing the ball forward with a higher tee is a great place to start and see what the results are.  You might find the quick fix and be all set.  You can adjust the height of the ball and the placement in stance to control your height on those shots into the wind or where it might be beneficiary to get the ball on the ground sooner and rolling out on a hard fairway.

On long par 5s, being able to maximize your carry distance is vital!

Tip #3: Tilt Your Shoulders

At address, you will want your back shoulder lower than your front shoulder.  For the right handed golfer this means a right shoulder that is lower than the left shoulder.  This might naturally happen for some as the right hand sits lower on the grip.  Others might need to slightly tilt back and keep the head behind the ball.  This encourages a higher angle of attack and a higher launch angle.  It can also help reduce the spin rate on the ball to maximize your distance.

Resource: Iron Swing vs Driver Swing (Similarities and Differences)

Tip #4: Increase Your Launch Angle

The three steps above are the fastest want to increase your launch angle in a positive manner.  You have to be careful that your increase in launch angle doesn’t start sending your shot more left for the right handed golfer.  The more the angle of attack increases the shot will want to start more to the left.  Be aware of this as your work to increase your launch angle.

Nothing like hitting a high flying, beautiful tee shot on the perfect looking golf hole!

Tip #5: Increase Spin Rate

If you hit a shot that seems to knuckle and not carry as far as possible you might have a spin rate that is too low.  This is rather rare for some golfers as most fight too much spin rate.  Did you know that the difference between a shot with 2500 RPM as the spin rate and 4500 RPM is often 20-30 yards.  There is an optimum spin rate which is typically between 1800 and 2800 RPMs. 

If the spin rate drops below 1800 your ball might knuckle and not get as high.  Many golfers want a higher launch angle with a spin rate around 1800.  For those that swing over 100 miles per hour this will help maximize the distance.  As the swing speed decreases the optimal spin rate will increase slight to ensure you maximize your carry distance without losing distance. 

Spin ultimately helps the ball fly higher, the golfer just must be careful not to add too much spin as this will cause a loss of total distance.  Find that optimum spot where the ball flies high enough, but not too height with a ball that appears to balloon up in the air.

Resource: Why can I hit my 3 wood straight, but not my driver?

Tip #6: Check Your Drive Loft

If you have an adjustable driver, you often have a 2-3 degree range in adjustable features on your driver.  Some drivers can be set as low as 8 or as high as 11 degrees of loft.  If you are hitting the ball too low and you are maximizing your loft on the driver, go ahead and try it at a higher loft. 

If you do not have an adjustable driver and have a driver under 9 degrees and find you are hitting your driver too low, it might be time to consider a different driver that has more loft.  This extra loft might help you gain some distance from being able to carry the ball further.

Resource: Are expensive drivers worth it?

The loft on many drivers is adjustable. Make sure you check where your driver set!

Tip #7: Check Your Golf Ball

If you have slower swing speed (under 95 MPH) it might be time to consider a lower compression ball that will help you launch the ball higher.  There are some quality options out that have decent spin rates and a soft feel. The lower compression golf balls seem to launch higher and fly higher.

Resource: Why doesn’t my golf ball go far? (5 Reasons)

Take Action: Measure Your Golf Swing

Did you know that for around 500-2000 dollars you have your personal launch monitor that you can use indoors or take with you the golf course or driving range.  You can have the following information:

  • Ball Speed
  • Launch Angle
  • Spin Rate
  • Spin Axis
  • Carry Distance

These 5 pieces of data on every swing can help you understand the impact of spin rate and launch angle on your total distance.  From there you can set your adjustable driver to the settings that help maximize yoru carry distance at a launch angle that provides the height your seek that matches your eye and gets you enough distance.

While you may not be able to afford a Trackman, there are three great options on the market today that can provide this quality information.

Here are our top 3 recommended launch monitors under 2000 dollars:

The ability to choose the right golf driver and golf ball combination will help you with confidence on the course by knowing you can hit the shots that you need to for the variety of tee shots you face with each round.

I personally selected the SkyTrak and have been thrilled with the results. The data and the ability to play simulator golf is incredible. If interested in a building your own golf simulator, check out the many links below!

My own golf lab to test out golf clubs and practice during the winter months. This is made possible by my SkyTrak

What Every Golf Needs: Train for Speed

One last tip!  Make sure you consider training for additional swing speed.  With training protocols and products like the SuperSpeed Training System, you can add 5-8% in swing speed as early as the first training session.  Stick with these protocols for a month to make these speed increases more permanent. 

Utilize the three different swing speed clubs, golfers are taken through a 15 minute protocol that helps golfers reach new speed maximums through swinging a lighter club as fast as possible. 

Check the current price of SuperSpeed Golf, here!

This trains the mind and body to swing faster and your swing speed is able to increase.  Did you know that your mind will only allow your body to swing as fast as it feels safe to brake at the end of the swing.  This is the science behind the overspeed training that the SuperSpeed System is built on.  I was able to gain 7-10 total miles per hour and this season I have really noticed a difference, not only on my drivers, but on those long iron shots as well! 

The extra speed is a gamer changer and I have much to credit to the SuperSpeed System.  This speed will help you launch the ball higher and further than ever before!

Resource: How to hit a driver 300 yards!

Final Thoughts: Hit Your Driver Higher and Further!

Hitting the golf ball high is a skill that many amateurs struggle with. There are many different ways to try and hit the ball higher, but they don’t always work. Go through the list and see which of the 7 tips might be best for your game. Add one at a time to see if you can start to hit the ball higher with the driver.

Also, don’t forget to bring some data into your game and consider adding a launch monitor and lastly, training for speed can be a game changer. Many professional golfers are using the SuperSpeed System and it might be right for your game!

Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better

What does this mean for you?  I believe in the following recipe to get better:

1 – Improve your motion in the golf swing by identifying a golf instructor.  Here are some options:

Here is a list of golf instructors that we have reviewed:

2 – Train to swing faster and improve your swing speed.  Here are some options:

Looking to gain more Speed and Distance in your swing. Two Options:

3 – Understand course strategy and work to break through your next barrier.  Here is a series on breaking through:

We have provided guides on how to break 100, 90, 80 and 70. Check out more below, if interested.

4 – Practice Frequently

Did you know that I build a golf simulator in my garage and have played over 500 rounds of golf on my SkyTrak system?  It has been a game changer and one worth checking out. Here are some of my other posts on golf simulators frequently asked questions:

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