10 Best Drills for Longer Drives

What this is

A compact, no-fluff training guide built around ten power drills and exercises, each designed to attack a different cause of lost distance off the tee. From the hip-shoulder separation that fuels the downswing, to a heavy-club routine that strengthens the very muscles you swing with, every drill is explained step by step and illustrated with swing photos.

This isn't theory for theory's sake. The guide is upfront that reading alone changes nothing — pick the drills that make the most sense to you, practise them repeatedly, and let them do their work.

What's inside

The downswing separation drill — Why longer hitters widen the gap between hips and shoulders early in the downswing — and a club-across-the-shoulders drill to train it into your swing.
Winding up your torque — How to start the backswing with the big muscles and keep your shoulders turning further than your hips, with two simple rehearsals to groove the correct sequence.
The heavy-club routine — Build a weighted club and use slow, full swings to strengthen your golfing muscles, widen your arc and improve flexibility — with clear safety warnings.
Forearm and wrist strengtheners — Targeted exercises for the lower arms and wrists — the muscles that deliver speed and precision at impact — progressing from a single club up to a heavy one.
Wide-arc and leg-power drills — Create a low, wide, sweeping arc through the ball, plus leg exercises to build the stable base that real power comes from.
Power chipping for impact — Train a flat-left-wrist, bent-right-wrist impact position through controlled chip and pitch shots before taking it to the full swing.
The 10% speed-up drill — Swing back at a fraction of your normal pace, then explode through the bottom — teaching you to be fastest exactly where it counts.
Speed without losing balance — Why swinging harder usually backfires, and the upside-down 'whoosh' drill that trains maximum speed through impact while keeping your balance and timing intact.

Who it's for

The once-a-week golfer who's tired of leaving yards on the tee.

Anyone losing distance to a fade or slice and ready to do something about it.

Players who'll actually put in the reps — these drills reward practice, not reading.

What you'll get out of it

Work through the drills that suit your game and you'll build the genuine sources of distance — more clubhead speed, more torque, a wider arc and a sounder impact position — rather than chasing a quick fix. The guide is honest that this takes persistence, but the payoff is a tee shot that travels further, finds the fairway more often, and holds up under pressure.

The full story — why most 'swing harder' advice loses you distance, and what the longest hitters actually do differently.

Most golfers chase distance the wrong way. They swing harder, lose their balance, lose their timing — and the equation the guide spells out is blunt: faster swing minus balance minus timing equals no gain, or a loss, in distance. The drills here are built to break that cycle.

The starting point is something many players never address: ball flight. The guide cites a 1981 Golf Digest test that found a draw travels about 17 yards further than a fade — so every slice off the tee is costing you yards before you've even worked on speed. Fix the flight, and you bank distance for free.

From there it digs into what genuinely separates long hitters from short ones — not simply turning the shoulders more, but widening the gap between hips and shoulders early in the downswing, winding the upper body against restricted hips to load real torque, and delivering it through a wide, sweeping arc. Drills like the heavy-club routine and the forearm-and-wrist work strengthen the exact muscles that produce speed, while the 10% drill and the upside-down 'whoosh' drill teach you to unleash that speed precisely at the ball without wrecking your balance.

Throughout, the tone is practical and honest. Several drills come with plain safety warnings — stop the moment you feel pain, build up gradually — and the guide repeats that results only come to those who put the work in. Do that, and the distance follows.

What this is

What's inside

Who it's for

What you'll get out of it

Put in the reps. Watch the ball fly.