When you’re standing on the tee box, you have to be thinking hit the fairway more than anything else. I’m one of the longest hitters on the LPGA Tour, but I don’t prioritize length—and it’s partly because of my distance. The longer the ball flies, the worse your misses can be.
A big key to accuracy is tempo, and I don’t mean having a pretty swing. Rather, I mean having a swing that has speed in the right place. The fastest part of your downswing should be from hip to hip. When my hands drop to the height of my right hip, that’s when I want my driver to start moving its fastest. And then as my hands rise past my left hip in the through-swing, that’s when the club really slows down. A good way to check if your speed is in the right place is by making practice swings and listening for a “whoosh” sound in that hip-to-hip zone. Try to make that happen again when you hit the ball.
You can work on your accuracy in the gym, too. Exercises that help me maintain balance as I swing make a difference in my tempo. My trainer, Kolby Wayne, has me focused on glute exercises, one-legged exercises and stuff using elastic bands for resistance. The idea is to make my lower body strong and more stable, so I can swing powerfully without falling off balance. — with Keely Levins
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