Doc O’Leary here with another free golf tip for you. This week its all about hitting longer drives.

It’s practically impossible to hit long consistent golf drives without having a setup routine you follow each time you walk up to a tee shot. Even more important, you’re routine should be simple, quick, and get you in the optimum position to fire off long drives time after time. In the clip above, Bobby Schaeffer showed you how his simple routine prevents several common mistakes and prevents you from over-thinking the shot.

Proper Alignment is the first goal of any setup routine for you golf shots. Setting up too close or too far from the ball is a guaranteed way to send a tee shot into the trees. The best way to prevent this is to align the club to the ball and the target, then setup your stance based on where the handle of the club is.

One important thing to remember is that the higher you tee up any golf shot, the more you have to align the golf ball toward the toe of the club, when the club is resting on the ground.

Aligning the ball off center, toward the toe of the club, allows for the extra inch or two of arm extension at impact. Making this small adjustment ensures that you are striking the ball on the sweet spot instead of the heel of the club face.

Okay now that the golf club is lined up properly to the ball it’s time to get your feet set up.

As Bobby shows in the video above, using a few clubs to create a line perpendicular to the target is a great way to help you visualize your setup when practicing. Use this perpendicular line as a guide when you step into the shot. It will ensure that you are placing your left foot in the right spot, then you can choose a placement for your right foot based on comfort.

It’s the alignment of your left foot that needs to be precise. Many golfers walk up to a tee shot and then take some shimmy steps to get comfortable.

This may work sometimes, but it often leads to shifting your left foot out of position, all for the sake of getting comfortable. Using Bobby’s method you can still get comfortable, while maintaining proper alignment.

The final aspect of a good tee shot routine is pace. It shouldn’t be rushed, but it should be brief and to the point.

Don’t waste time standing over the golf ball. It will only get you thinking too much and throw your mental game off. As Bobby said in the video it’s best to think of it like riding a bike, you know what to do, there is very little to think about after the setup.

Now that you have proper alignment nailed down your tee shots will wind up in the fairway a lot more often. All that’s left is adding some serious “umph” to your swing, so you can start nailing those monster tee shots, you know…the kind that make you smile from ear to ear.

I personally can’t think of a better Christmas present for any golfer to give to himself than the gift of ridiculously long and accurate tee shots.

That’s why I’m running a killer deal on one of my hottest “long drive” packages, Bobby Schaeffer’s Beyond Long. Just use coupon code [XMAS2015] without the brackets at checkout to get 20% off the Beyond Long DVD Package.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP