Five driver-distance myths: what to test before changing your swing
PGA Professional Emma Booth challenges five common driver myths. Learn why tension and forced positions can cost contact—and how to compare shots without chasing promises.
Driver distance: five popular swing tips worth testing instead of blindly following
PGA Professional Emma Booth raised a familiar problem in Golf Monthly on 23 October 2026. A golfer wants more distance, so they swing longer, squeeze harder and try to hold every body part in a supposedly perfect position. The result can be less reliable impact rather than a longer drive. Her article challenges five myths. The practical testing routine below is GOLFTWITT's own editorial addition, not a controlled study or Booth's prescribed program.
Start with what the ball actually does
Driver distance isn't simply a contest to move your arms faster. Clubhead speed sets potential; strike quality, ball speed, launch and spin help determine the actual flight. TrackMan calls smash factor the ratio of ball speed to club speed. It is a useful efficiency indicator, not proof on its own that the ball was struck perfectly in the middle. A hard-looking swing and an effective shot are different things.
Myth 1: A longer backswing always produces more distance
Extra turn can help some players create speed, but reaching beyond your comfortable mobility can disturb balance and timing. Booth suggests finding a backswing length you can control. Try several shots with a slightly more compact turn, keeping your normal athletic motion. The question is whether contact and useful carry improve—not whether the swing looks more like a Tour professional's.
Myth 2: Keep your head pinned down
An instruction to keep your head down can turn into an attempt to freeze your neck and upper body. The head normally moves as the torso turns. PGA Master Professional Jonathan Yarwood separately explains why forcing it to remain still can inhibit rotation. This does not mean lifting your head abruptly before impact. It means letting your body turn rather than imposing an artificial fixed point.
Myth 3: A stronger grip automatically creates more power
A strong grip describes how the hands are rotated around the handle, not how tightly it is held. Changing it can affect clubface orientation and ball flight, but it does not automatically add clubhead speed. For some players it encourages excessive face closure. Suitable grip strength and hand placement are individual; avoid radical mid-round changes based on a single generic tip.
Myth 4: Hit every drive as hard as you can
Maximum perceived effort doesn't guarantee maximum ball speed or useful distance. Excess tension can upset sequencing, balance and centered contact. Booth advocates developing speed while remaining athletic and free to move. Distinguish the feeling of working hard from measured club speed—and measure whether extra speed survives at impact.
Myth 5: Your lead arm must be perfectly straight
The lead arm is the left for right-handed players and the right for left-handed players. Keeping it relatively extended can support swing width, but forcibly locking the elbow can create tension. A small natural bend need not be a fault if the player maintains balance and reliable contact. Structure is useful; rigidity is not the goal.
Try a 15-ball range check
This is a GOLFTWITT editorial practice suggestion, not a clinical experiment or an official Emma Booth drill.
After warming up, choose one target and a reasonable landing corridor. Hit five baseline drives with your usual swing. Hit five more with a slightly shorter backswing while keeping your other choices constant. Finish with five using your normal backswing length and an emphasis on a loose, balanced tempo. Reset your setup between shots and don't change grip, ball position and swing length all at once.
Record launch direction and whether each ball finishes inside the corridor. If available, check face-contact marks and carry distance. A launch monitor can add club speed, ball speed and smash factor. Five shots per group are far too few to prove a permanent gain: use the results to decide what deserves further supervised practice. If a change causes pain or worsening control, stop rather than forcing it.
Takeaway: an effective driver swing combines usable speed with solid contact and predictable dispersion. There is no universal head position, grip or backswing length that every golfer should copy.
Sources: Emma Booth, Golf Monthly, 23 October 2026; TrackMan University: Smash Factor; PGA Play: the head-still myth.
Image: archival golf-swing silhouette from 2006, Tourmandarin / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0. It does not depict Booth or demonstrate any specific drill.
Read more on this topic
