May 18, 2025 | Graves Golf

By: Tim Graves, PGA

One of the most common questions we receive (seems every day) is “How can I get more distance?”

There are three areas you can work on/improve to help you get more distance on all your golf shots, in particular, your driver.

And, all of these, you can and SHOULD work on over the fall / winter (training sessions).

Those three areas are:

Driver Technology
Flexibility and Strength
Swing Technique

Let’s break down each area a little.

1. Driver Technology:

A few years ago, the USGA put together a set of rules limiting how much a golf ball can “rebound” off the face of a driver (a vague description) – thus putting a limit on the distance of the drivers. Since then, the golf industry realizing they can no longer make drivers that can hit it further off the face, have been working on technology that has made the “big” headed drivers more aerodynamic (thus less air resistance in the golf swing) and more prominent sweet spots on the face.

Older technology drivers had sweet spots the size of a dime (some smaller), newer technology drivers have sweet spots the size of half dollars (some even bigger). What that means is balls hit slightly off the middle of the club face will travel much further now.

And the key is the “average driving distance” you have, not the “one” you catch that happens to fly a long way. Meaning, if your sweet spot on the driver is large and you miss hit a few shots (or more) around off the middle of the club face, you will still get good/more “average” driving distance. Meaning, overall you will have less club into the greens, etc. etc.

So, if you are looking to maximize or increase distance – you need to have a driver that is “modern” or at least less than 2 or 3 years old. These newer drivers have large sweet spots and have the highest technology for the least amount of wind/club head resistance in the golf swing.

2. Flexibility and Strength

The 2nd area to focus on with distance is flexibility and strength. And in that order. Too many worries about strength and not flexibility. Being strong with good, or great, flexibility “allows” you to get in positions in your golf swing to hit the ball with reasonable distance.

As we get older, we lose our strength and more importantly our flexibility, when we start to lose our elasticity, we can no longer create certain angles in the golf swing that will allow us to create “leverage” in the golf swing which in turn produces speed and distance.

We have produced an extensive DVD on this topic. This DVD is set up to test the areas of your body and its flexibility in these areas. It then gives you 3 or 4 exercises you can perform to regain or create increased flexibility (and strength) in those areas. This DVD designed around the single plane swing of Moe Norman – in other words, it takes the eight most significant positions of Moe’s swing and determines if you are flexible enough to “reach” those positions. If not, it gives you “easy” exercises to perform over time that in turn will help you gain those positions and eventually “allow” you to swing the club on plane.

You can see a lot more detail about the Flexibility and Exercise information at: https://watch.gravesgolf.com/

3. Swing Technique

Ultimately, the most crucial factor to get more distance is to improve your technique. It is always interesting, one of the things we do at all our schools and camps is to measure our students swing speed. We then correlate it to their driver swing speed and the average distance they should be hitting their driver. For most (those that swing 85 to 90 mph), they should be hitting their driver 230 to 240 yards (with a little roll).

For most, when they find out how far they should be hitting their driver with the speed they currently have, they are shocked. Why are they hitting it so short compared to where “their potential” says they should be hitting it? Because of technique. They are not hitting the golf ball off the “sweet spot” of the club with a “direct hit” from the club that is on the path.

In other words, they are hitting “glancing blows” that is creating side spin which is limiting or reducing the distance they should be hitting their driver.

Working on swing technique – working on getting the club on the proper single plane/path, with a square club face through impact and ultimately, limited to no side spin, will give you the maximum distance.

In conclusion, to answer the all too common question, we get from so many of our students/customers

How can I get more distance?

Answer:

1. Obtain a new/modern driver that has the highest technology for increased sweet spot and limited wind resistance (aerodynamic).

2. Work/continue to work on flexibility (especially over the “off-season” months when so many loose elasticities because of an increased static lifestyle) and…

3. Always work on improving your technique to maximize the optimal hit on the ball with limited side spin and enhanced sureness of hit.

P.S – Here is the P.S. to this article as EVERYONE will ask this question to us (in person, at schools, during webinars, across emails, etc….).

What is the fastest way to improve technique?

Answer – FIGURE OUT YOUR NEXT STEP TO IMPROVEMENT

To see more about YOUR NEXT STEP TO IMPROVEMENT: CLICK HERE

(You can see the specials associated with the Your Steps Video above)

Please feel free to contact me anytime at timg@gravesgolf.com with questions, comments, etc.

Golf teachers will often agree that there are many ways to hit a golf ball. Some swings are upright, and some are flat. Many will have the clubface closed or even open during the swing motion. Yes, all of these types of swings can, in some level of aptitude, strike a golf ball. Each of them, however, has built-in compensations for flaws.

Years ago a well-known teacher taught me that he shows swing flaw must have an accompanying flaw to fix it. What this means is that for every swing problem you must have a second flaw in make-up for the initial question. You can’t just have one swing fault – you must have at least two. Without the compensating correction, you can’t hit the ball.

For example, if you have a closed clubface during your backswing, you must have a movement to open the face in your downswing. One flaw always has an offsetting flaw.

In many ways, this is why golf lessons can make you worse before you get better. If you fix one flaw and the compensating flaw still exists, then you are caught in the dilemma of only having one swing problem resulting in lousy golf shots.

This is what initially attracted me to Moe’s swing. Not only did I recognize his abilities, but I saw a real swing motion – one without compensations.

I often call the address position of the conventional golf swing “The one mistake.” Why? Because it has a built-in problem – standing too close to the ball. The accompanying flaw/movement is to move the body upward to compensate.

The way I see it is that you have a choice to play golf.

You can use the grip it and rip it mentality and fight your way through your compensations OR you can build a swing that is pure technique. Of course, I prefer the Purity of Technique way for some reasons including the following:

Pure technique without compensations allows you to have a better chance of your bad shots being good.
without compensations, your swing becomes less maintenance.
Timing elements of the compensations are not necessary
It is easier on the body
Easier to repeat

*************

Why is water wet? Why is the sky blue? Moe would often ask me questions that seemed ambiguous. He would say “Once you know the answers to these questions, you will know.”

“Know what?” I asked.

‘The Secrets” he said.

The answer to Moe’s questions was not complicated. Water is wet because it is all that it can be. The sky is blue because it is what it is. Moe’s golf swing was simply because it was all that it could be. I call it mistake-proof.

Consider placing your body in a position where it has no choice but to move most efficiently. At address, your body position, arms, hands, and club extend so that when you turn, the club runs into a perfect backswing path. The “Sum” of your body position makes it the only place the club can go.

Moe would often say – “I can’t take the club outside “because the club was placed up to 12 inches behind the ball. Due to his spine position, club position and the relationship of the club to pointing to the lead hip, when Moe turned the club immediately when inside – back on the plane. It just couldn’t go anywhere else.

Moe’s address position was the beginning of being “Mistake-proof” This included many things that some consider idiosyncratic, these are the elements of what I think the Purity of Technique?

Moe’s legs were straight
This builds a stable foundation for the swing day after day. One of the issues with the traditional swing is: how much to bend the knees? One day it might be a little, another day a player may flex them more depending on his emotional and physical state, which leads to inconsistency. Starting with straight legs means there is no variance in the degree of knee flex from day to day.
Moe’s arms were straight–pointing directly at the ball
There is a natural position for holding a club to hit a golf ball; it is similar to a child holding a stick that he’s going to use to run a rock on the ground.
His club shaft began the swing on the impact plane
Starting with the club on the same plane that you are going to hit the ball makes sense. (How come no one figures this out before?)
His upper spine was tilted away from the ball (the lead shoulder is higher than the trail shoulder)
The tilt happens naturally because of Moe’s wide stance, straight arms and his right hand was lower on the grip than his left side.
He placed the club head five to 12 inches behind the ball (depending on the club)
This allows the body to move laterally into impact.

Taken together, these necessary elements of Moe’s address made his swing incredibly simple, certainly relative to the conventional swing. As I first began to study Moe’s swing and got deeper into examining his set-up, I was floored by the genius of its simplicity.

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