Drive for success

This week the Royal Golf Club's PGA Teaching Professional, Martin Robinson, gives tips on driving the ball

. IF there's one thing a golfer loves it's hitting a well-struck tee shot with a driver straight down the middle of the fairway!

People probably devote most of their practice time to hitting the driver on the range but for all that practice they still tend to struggle on the golf course. When the driver goes cold it can ruin your day.

Every part of the game is important but driving the ball consistently well makes the game so much easier. I am going to run through some key points, both physical and mental, that are relevant to everybody when it comes to the using the 'big stick'.

Practice: When it comes to practicing on the driving range, many people's idea of practice is verging on the idiotic - they smash drivers into an open field with little thought given to the target. There must be a specific target. Furthermore, you should practice hitting to a fairway that you mark out in your mind.

Make the imaginary fairway narrower than those you find on the golf course and keep a score of how many balls land on the fairway and how many don't. Remember, every ball counts so approach each shot as if you were on the course, then keep a record of the percentage of fairways hit. This way, every time you practice you will be able to see if you are improving. (It may be handy to carry a small notebook in your golf bag).

Thought process: The mental routine that you employ before hitting the driver is very important in becoming consistent. You need to visualise what you would like the shot to look like, make the image as realistic as possible, taking into account the shape of the hole and wind conditions.

You should see the ball landing on the exact spot on the fairway that you want, and pick a small target in the distance to aim at. This will keep you focused and ready, particularly on intimidating tee shots with lots of trouble when your mind tends to wander! This is very harmful, so by using quality positive imagery there will be no room for the brain to sabotage itself.

Tempo: Driving the ball is the best part of my game and I attribute some of that success to the above, but I have found one key thought has produced consistency time and time again and helped me get my driving back on track when it goes astray. I, along with most people I teach, tend to sometimes swing the club too quickly from the top of the backswing.

So I purposefully put in a pause at the top of the backswing - an extra second at the top ensures I complete my backswing and makes my swing appear to be smooth and rhythmic. The difference in the outcome to when my swing gets too fast is very noticeable.

Try to be disciplined with the application of the above tips and make driving the ball your biggest strength instead of your weakness.