After teaching for 28 years and giving over 50,000 lessons, I am still waiting for the student that says, “Scott, I am hitting it too far and we need to fix that so I can play better golf.” I can assure that will never happen.  

With that being said, I know without a doubt you want to hit the ball farther. When looking for MORE POWER, it is vitally important for you to understand a term called “Swing Direction.” This term comes from Trackman III, the radar system used to measure all the PGA Tour players distance data. Trackman is an extremely accurate, highly sophisticated launch monitor which I am fortunate enough to be using everyday on the lesson tee for every lesson. 

I have included a few pictures with visuals on how to improve your swing direction ultimately leading to longer drives. Picture #1 shows a hula hoop. At the top of the swing the hoop is aiming towards right field.  This is the ideal position to try and get into with driver. Picture #2 shows it aiming over towards left field. Here is the significance of these two pictures. If from the top of your swing you get the hoop to aim over to the left then you are over the top. This is where 95% of all golfers play the game from and will regularly produce a slice. However, if you can get that hula hoop pointing over to the right, as in picture #1, you will see a dramatic improvement in your total driver distance.   

Now head to the front cover picture of Arizona Golfer with my feature story this month, look at the second box, first line with numbers that is called swing direction. This is what Trackman produces after each shot. If you look at Swing Direction in the second box it is 4.1. That is very efficient for a driver.

When you can consistently learn to apply swing direction to m your game, it will change forever. After putting each student I teach on Trackman III, I am able to get an average of 7-10% more total distance with your driver by improving ONLY swing direction. I did not say 7-10 yards but 7-10% more total distance! I see this happen day after day and lesson after lesson. This is the power of swing direction. 

So if you are interested in getting more distance, it would be well worth your time to contact me and let me show this to you first hand. On the other hand, if you are happy with your current distance then maybe short game would be an area which you and I can concentrate our efforts. 

To learn more on Trackman III, read Scott’s blog or see Scott’s latest tips and drills by visiting www.scottsackett.com. Scott Sackett, GOLF magazine’s Top 100 Teacher since 1999, just voted as one of Golf Digest’s Best Teacher in the State for the fifth year in a row is also Director of Instruction at Park Meadows CC in Park City, Utah. While in Scottsdale Scott teaches at McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale. He can be reached by email at Scott@scottsackett.com.