Novice Golfer’s Guide: Gaining Accuracy and Distance

When just starting out in golf, some players are confused as to what element of the tee shot they should be more concerned with – distance, or accuracy? Of course, they are both important. An extremely long drive won’t be much good if it drifts far off line and into the woods. At the same time, a dead-straight tee shot isn’t much use if it isn’t long enough to reach the fairway. Only when these two elements are combined successfully will a golfer start to be satisfied with their tee shots.

It can be difficult to work on both accuracy and distance at the same time, but it can be done. Once you understand what parts of the swing have to be in place in order to achieve both of these goals, you can get to work improving your technique and you should start to see better results.


Accuracy Requires Balance

Staying balanced during the swing is one of the biggest keys to hitting accurate drives. Swings that are off balance will always have trouble being consistent in terms of accuracy, so make better balance your top priority. Good balance starts with a stable base and athletic address position, and requires that you swing within yourself. Swinging too hard is an easy way to get off balance – not only will it not lead to more distance, it will likely cost you accuracy as well.


Distance Requires Timing

Not only do you need to get as much swing speed as possible into your golf swing, you also need to unleash it at just the right time. The club head should be moving at its fastest when it contacts the ball, and not a moment before. Many amateur golfers make the mistake of accelerating the club too early in the downswing to where the club is actually slowing down at impact. Work on your timing so that you can hold off the release of both your body and the club until the time is just right. You just might be surprised how far you are capable of hitting the ball when you properly use the swing speed you already have.

Good golfers have both accuracy and distance at their disposal, but it takes hard work and dedication to get to that point. By working through your swing one step at a time and refining both your timing and balance, impressive drives might be just around the corner.

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