Instruction
Help your driving with an “Air Divot”
Many times, there seems to be an unexplained void between a golfer’s ability to strike the driver as consistently solid as they do with their irons. They feel like they are making the same swing, but the contact is just not as sweet.
Obviously the driver is not designed to squash the ball between the club face and the ground, so the question is:
How do golfers get the same compressed strike with a driver that they get when squeezing an 8 iron off of the turf?
My suggestion is to take an “air divot.”
The air divot concept is one that I use to help golfers transition from irons to driver by heightening impact awareness when they no longer have the ground to compress the ball against.
We have all seen the photos of touring pros at impact with the driver. A straight line can be drawn from the fulcrum of the lead shoulder all of the way down to the club head. We know this means that the hands were slightly ahead of the ball at impact, the lead wrist was flat, the trail wrist was bent and the same relative alignments were achieved as when hitting a solidly stuck iron shot.
So what changes should there be when switching between the irons and driver, apart from ball placement and the fact that the object is now sitting in the air on a tee? Well, nothing has changed from a swing standpoint. The forward position and height of the tee places the ball at the proper low point on our swing arc, while the correct swing plane provides angle of attack and launch.
Most likely, the only thing that has changed for many golfers is the perception of impact and what they think they are trying to accomplish. So let’s use our same 8 iron swing, adjust our perceptions, and mash that driver!
Get your head out of the clouds and learn to take an air divot.
Impact Bag Forward Drill
(Use easy swings when hitting the bag with a driver so as not to damage the graphite shaft. Substituting a soft pillow is every bit as effective.)
- Just as with the irons, we use an impact bag to freeze frame impact conditions; however, this time we are going to position the bag well forward in our stance.
- Remove the ball.
- Now make your swing and clip the tee before crashing into the bag.
- You will feel impact occurring well ahead of your normal position, which will heighten your awareness of contact when you start hitting from your standard ball position.
- This forward placement of the bag also insures that you are swinging through impact by forcing the lead shoulder to continue aggressively move up and back, as well as the grip end swinging left to maintain a flat lead wrist.
Two Tee Driver Drill
- Tee up a ball with your driver and place a second tee in the ground in front of your ball.
- Hit the ball while clipping the second tee. The secondary tee will assist with lead arm extension and width of swing arc.
Junior Driver Drill
- This drill can be done with your standard driver, but I prefer to use a junior length club for heightened air divot awareness. Hitting from our knees reduces lower body activity and simplifies shift in swing plane.
- Now hit some drives. You will find it much easier to focus on your impact sensations and air divot from this set up.
- The Impact Bag Forward drill can also be performed from here.
Catch some air
- Here is a backyard exercise I came up with that requires some balloons.
- Insert a tee though the extra rubber end that is located behind the knot where you tied the balloon.
- Stick the tee into the ground, there by holding the balloon in place.
- Swing through and make it pop at impact!
Putting it into play: Make a swoosh instead of a divot
- This can become part of your pre-shot routine. Take two practice swings before each tee shot and let the swoosh sound represent your air divot.
Now you have several different ways to create some resistance through the hitting area when the ball is teed up. Try this concept the next time you play and mash that driver!
The LPGA Tour is kicking off its 2026 season this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, and the pros are dealing with something most Florida golfers rarely face: freezing temperatures.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” said England’s Charley Hull during Wednesday’s media day at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Even Lydia Ko, who lives at Lake Nona, seemed surprised by the cold snap. “We’re pretty much getting to below zero in celsius here, which maybe in other parts of the country they would be thankful, but when you’re in Florida it is a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
If the world’s best players are adjusting their games for cold weather, recreational golfers should, too. Here’s how to play smart when the mercury drops.
Understand What Cold Does to Your Game
Before you change anything, you need to know what you’re fighting against. Cold air is denser than warm air, which means your ball won’t fly as far. Period.
Hull noticed this immediately during practice rounds at Lake Nona. She mentioned hitting a gap wedge into the 18th hole during a previous win but needing a 4-iron during Tuesday’s practice round. That’s a difference of four or five clubs for the same shot.
Action item: Expect to lose 5-10 yards on every club in your bag when temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Plan accordingly and don’t be stubborn about club selection.
Layer Up Without Restricting Your Swing
Hull admitted she wore three pairs of pants during practice. While that might be extreme for most of us, staying warm is critical to playing well in cold conditions.
Your muscles need warmth to function properly. When you’re cold, your body tightens up and your swing gets shorter and faster. Neither of those things help you hit good golf shots.
Action item: Wear multiple thin layers instead of one bulky jacket. Look for golf-specific cold weather gear that stretches with your swing. Keep hand warmers in your pockets between shots. And don’t forget a good hat because you lose significant body heat through your head.
Take More Club Than You Think You Need
This is where ego gets in the way of good scores. When it’s cold, the ball doesn’t compress as well off the clubface. Combined with denser air, you’re looking at serious distance loss.
The pros at Lake Nona are dealing with a course that measures 6,642 yards but plays much longer this week. If they’re adjusting, you should too.
Action item: Take at least one extra club on every approach shot. In temperatures below 40 degrees, consider taking two extra clubs. It’s better to fly the ball to the back of the green than to come up short in a bunker.
Adjust Your Expectations on the Greens
Cold weather affects putting in ways most golfers don’t consider. The ball is harder and doesn’t roll as smoothly. Your hands are cold, making it harder to feel the putter. And if there’s any moisture on the greens, they’ll be slower than normal.
Ko mentioned that she still sometimes reads the greens wrong at Lake Nona despite being a member for years. Cold weather makes that challenge even tougher.
Action item: Hit putts more firmly than usual. The ball needs extra speed to hold its line on cold greens. Take a few extra practice strokes to get a feel for the speed before you putt.
Embrace the Mental Challenge
Hull said something interesting about cold weather golf: “I like the mental toughness of it.”
That’s the right attitude. Everyone on the course is dealing with the same conditions. The player who stays patient and doesn’t get frustrated by the extra difficulty will come out ahead.
Action item: Lower your expectations by a few strokes. If you normally shoot 85, accept that 90 might be a good score in 40-degree weather. Focus on solid contact and smart decisions rather than perfect shots.
Warm Up Longer and Smarter
This might be the most important tip of all. Cold muscles are tight muscles, and tight muscles get injured easily.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul revealed she’s been protecting a wrist injury that bothered her late last season. Cold weather makes those kinds of injuries more likely if you don’t prepare properly.
Action item: Spend at least 20 minutes warming up before your round. Start with stretching, then hit easy wedge shots before working up to your driver. Keep moving between shots on the course to maintain body heat and flexibility.
The pros at Lake Nona this week will adapt and compete at the highest level despite the cold. You can do the same at your local course by following these tips and keeping a positive attitude.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and whether you love him or hate him, the guy knows how to win when it matters. After his LIV Golf stint, the five-time major champion returns this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
What makes Koepka fascinating? He doesn’t fit the mold. His swing isn’t textbook. He doesn’t obsess over mechanics. Yet he’s won three PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens, regularly making it look easier than guys with prettier swings.
So, what can average golfers learn from someone who treats the game so differently? Quite a bit.
Stop Overthinking Every Shot
Koepka describes his approach as “reactionary” rather than mechanical. While most tour pros grind over swing thoughts, Brooks sees the target and hits it. No mental checklist.
This might be the most valuable lesson for weekend golfers who’ve watched too many YouTube swing videos.
How to actually do this:
On the range, hit five balls where you stare at the target for three seconds prior to addressing the ball. Don’t think about grip or stance. Just burn that target into your brain. You’ll be shocked at how pure you hit it when your brain focuses on where the ball is going instead of how you’re swinging.
Next time you play, give yourself a rule: Once you pull the club, you’ve got 15 seconds to hit. Koepka is one of the fastest players on tour because he doesn’t give his brain time to sabotage him.
If you feel tension in your hands at address, you’re trying to control too much. Koepka’s grip pressure is famously light. Loosen up until the club almost feels like it might slip, then add just enough pressure to hold on. That’s your swing thought: soft hands, see the target.
This approach works better under pressure. When you’re standing over that shot with water left and OB right, the last thing you need is a mental checklist. See it, feel it, hit it.
Play to Your Strengths (Even If They’re Not Pretty)
Koepka uses a strong grip that wouldn’t pass muster in some teaching circles. But he’s built his game around what works for him, elite driving distance and recovery skills. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
Here’s how to build your game like Brooks:
Look at your last five rounds and figure out where you’re actually gaining strokes. Bombing it off the tee, but can’t hit greens? Lean into it. Play courses where distance matters more than precision. On tight holes, grip down on your 3-wood instead of trying to thread a driver through a keyhole you’ll miss seven times out of ten.
Koepka knows he can scramble, so he’s not afraid to miss greens. If you’re deadly from 50 to 75 yards, start leaving yourself those distances on the par 5’s instead of going for them in two every time.
Know when to take your medicine. Koepka in the trees at the PGA? He’s punching out to 100 yards, not trying to bend a 6-iron around three oaks. You’re in the rough with a flyer lie and water short? Hit your 8-iron to the middle and move on. That’s not playing scared, that’s playing smart.
Save Your Best for When It Counts
Here’s a wild stat: Koepka’s putting average in majors is often more than a full stroke better per round than in regular events. He elevates when pressure is highest.
How does an amateur tap into that gear? It’s not about trying harder, it’s about caring differently.
Here’s what actually works:
Decide which rounds matter to you. Club championship? Member-guest? That annual trip with college buddies? Circle those dates and treat them differently. Koepka doesn’t care much about regular tour events, but majors? That’s when he locks in.
Two weeks before your big round, change your practice. Stop beating balls mindlessly. Play nine holes in which every shot has consequences. Miss the fairway? Hit from the rough on the next hole too. Three-putt? Twenty push-ups. Koepka’s practice intensity ramps up before majors because he’s rehearsing pressure, not just swings.
Develop a between-shot routine that resets your brain. Koepka is famous for his blank expression after bad shots. Try this: After any shot, take three deep breaths while walking, then find something specific to notice, a tree, a cloud, someone’s shirt. That’s your reset button. By the time you reach your ball, the last shot is gone.
The Bottom Line
Brooks Koepka’s return reminds us there’s no single path to success in golf. His “substance over style” approach proves that results matter more than looking good.
You don’t need a perfect swing; you need a reliable one that holds up under pressure. You don’t need to hit every shot in the book; you need the shots you can count on. And you don’t need to play great every time; you need to play great when it matters.
Welcome back, Brooks. Thanks for the reminder that golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole, not winning style points.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Blades Brown made a big impression last week in the California desert, and not just because he’s only 18. He put up numbers that would catch any weekend golfer’s attention. Most of us won’t hit 317-yard drives or find 86% of our greens in regulation, but there’s a lot to learn from how Brown managed his game at The American Express.
Here are three practical lessons from his performance that you can use on your own course this weekend.
Step 1: Give Priority to Accuracy Over Distance Off The Tee
Brown’s driving stats are impressive. He averaged almost 318 yards off the tee, ranking 12th in the field. More importantly, he hit 76.79% of his fairways, tying for fourth place in the tournament.
Think about that ratio for a second. Brown could have swung harder, chased more distance and tried to overpower the course. Instead, he played smart golf and kept his ball in play.
Your Action Item: Next time you’re on the tee box, ask yourself a simple question before pulling the driver. Do you need maximum distance here, or do you need to be in the fairway? If there’s trouble lurking or the hole doesn’t demand every yard you can muster, take something off your swing. Grip down an inch. Make a three-quarter swing. Do whatever it takes to find the short grass. Brown’s approach illustrates that fairways lead to greens, and greens lead to birdies. He made 22 of them last week, along with an eagle.
The math is simple. When you’re hitting three out of every four fairways like Brown did, you’re giving yourself legitimate looks at the green with your approach shots. That’s when scoring happens.
Step 2: Commit To Hitting More Greens
This is where Brown really separated himself. He hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, an 86.11% clip that tied for first in the entire field. Read that again. An 18-year-old kid tied for the lead in one of the most important ball-striking statistics in professional golf.
How did he do it? By keeping his ball in the fairway (see Step 1) and giving himself clean looks with mid-irons and wedges.
Your Action Item: Start tracking your greens in regulation. You don’t need a fancy app or a statistics degree. Just mark down whether you hit the green in the regulation number of strokes. Par 3s in one shot. Par 4s in two shots. Par 5s in three shots.
Once you know your baseline, set a goal to improve it by 10%. If you’re currently hitting five greens per round, aim for six. The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think strategically about club selection and shot shape. Brown’s strokes gained approach number was positive (0.179), meaning he was better than the field average. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be on the dance floor more often.
When you hit more greens, you eliminate the need for heroic short game shots. Brown only had to scramble 10 times all week, and he got up and down 70% of the time. That’s solid, but the real story is that he rarely put himself in scrambling situations to begin with.
Step 3: Minimize Mistakes And Stay Patient
Here’s the stat that jumps off the page: Brown made only three bogeys all week. Three. In four rounds of professional golf against the best players in the world.
He also made just one double bogey. That kind of clean card doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you play within yourself, avoid the big miss and trust that pars are never bad scores.
Your Action Item: Before your next round, decide that you’re going to play boring golf. No hero shots over water. No driver on tight holes just because you can. No aggressive pins when there’s a safe side of the green.
Brown’s performance shows us that consistency beats flash every single time. He didn’t lead the field in any single strokes gained category, but he was solid across the board. That’s how you post numbers and cash checks.
Give these three steps a try. Your scorecard will thank you.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
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Michael Howes
May 20, 2013 at 11:51 pm
Narf
Great going and I am very happy for your success!
A few things that I really liked about your comments:
•Now you’re thinking and the gears are turning.
•Your focus has started shifting away from the Ball as being your target. That is why I suggest hitting tees, bags, balloons, etc. Get the alignments first, then simply change the object that’s sitting on your circle.
•You are starting to sense impact and where it is occurring, which is the whole point behind the air divot concept. Most of the time if a golfer is driving their hands to the ball they will release early.
•Those trees on the range didn’t move any closer overnight – you’re making better contact!
I don’t have a problem with you setting up to the driver with the clubhead a little farther back. This is kind of like pre-setting the takeaway. Some players did similar versions of this when they used to start the swing with what we called a Scottish Lag.
Let the Swoosh be your air divot when you make your rehearsal swings on the tee box – then let it fly.
jed
May 9, 2013 at 9:10 pm
This makes it seem like you should be “hitting down” on your driver. It seems like I have heard multiple people say you need to be hitting the ball ever so slightly on the upswing.
Michael Howes
May 10, 2013 at 12:30 am
The “Air Divot” concept is certainly not meant to encourage you to hit down with the Driver. The idea is to help players achieve a compressed strike and proper impact alignments with the Driver when we do NOT have the sensation that we are hitting down and squashing the ball against the ground.
For example: Let’s say that you were struggling with thin iron shots and weak drives. We identified that your lead arm was bending through impact (chicken wing) and the club shaft was leaning backwards. So we grab an 8 iron and do some pivot/ impact drills. Soon we are getting a good divot, your hands are ahead of the ball at impact, the club shaft is leaning slightly forward, and that 8 iron is now flying with authority. The next day you tee one up on the first hole and all of the good sensations that you felt when punching the short iron are gone? You know that there is only one golf swing, not iron golf swing and driver golf swing, but how do you recreate those same sensations when the ball is teed up? You take an “Air” Divot.
I like to see the angle of attack +3 or +4 degrees with the Driver. This is a result of the path coming slightly from the inside and the ball position moving opposite your lead armpit. This makes contact occur more on the ascending side of your circle. Same swing, different address conditions.
The drills outlined here are designed to encourage making the same iron swing but moving it farther on the ascending side of your swing arc, achieving the same relative impact alignments with a + launch angle.
I hope that makes it more clear and thanks for posting.
Narf
May 15, 2013 at 1:53 pm
Eh, I still agree with Jed, particularly with the Two Tee Drill. There’s no way I can contact the ball on the upswing and still clip that forward tee. Focusing on clipping the forward tee will definitely cause me to move my “air divot” forward until it’s probably ahead of the ball…meaning I’m hitting down on the ball.
Seems to me, if you want to get the feeling of hitting up on the ball, you should work on hitting the ball but NOT hitting the forward tee.
Michael Howes
May 15, 2013 at 7:12 pm
We have to be aware that what we are attempting to accomplish with “Air Divot” is a way to transfer correct impact alignments from irons to driver. So first we have to be sure that those impact conditions with our irons are correct. Once that has been verified we are now working towards reproducing the same swing with our driver – not an iron swing and a driver swing. We don’t hit “up” with our irons, so we don’t want to hit “up” with our driver just because it is on a tee. Changes in set up and club design take care of that for us. If you look at the article’s “Impact Bag Forward” picture, you will see that my shoulders and spine are titled more away from the target, as well as my weight being less forward than with an iron. Both of these conditions, along with ball position promote the “up” that you seek.
The Two Tee Drill is a way to duplicate the impact bag forward drill, but while actually hitting a ball from normal position. This helps with lead arm extension (opposite of chicken wing pulling lead arm) and maintaining a nice wide swing arc (some long drive competitors perform drills by hitting balls teed in front of their lead foot to accomplish the same thing).
I started using the “Air Divot” concept after an aspiring mini tour player told he was having problems getting the same solid feel with his driver that he had with his irons. I suggested to “Feel” like he was taking an air divot. This concept has helped him and others adjust their perceptions of impact when the ball is teed up.
The article includes several drills, so try them all until you get one that “clicks”. Keep in mind that the goal is to keep your lead shoulder aggressively moving up and back, there by transporting our good flat lead wrist along with it. Thanks for reading!
Narf
May 20, 2013 at 12:19 pm
Michael,
Thanks for the responses, I appreciate the feedback. Just wanted to let you know I tried this stuff out at the range, and it was amazing.
I have to add a caveat here. I am a low-100’s player that struggles with the driver more than any other club, so I’m sure not everyone will see the type of improvement that I did.
Anyway, I was at the range and didn’t have balloons, an impact bag, or a junior club, but I started concentrating on the air divot concept, basically just focusing on putting the bottom of my swing arc in the right position, a few inches behind the ball. This did three things for me.
First, it gave me an additional, intermediate reference point for my club head path. If you think about the backswing, there are well known reference points along the way. For example, when the club shaft gets to horizontal, the shaft should be parallel to the target line, the toe should point up, etc. But I never really had good reference points on the downswing. But now, knowing that the club head would have to pass through the spot I was picturing for the air divot, and knowing that the club head has to contact the ball, I had a better visualization of my swing path and started coming into the ball straighter. By the way, after making this realization, I finally figured out that the Two Tee drill can help by adding even a third reference point in front of the ball. I still think that front tee needs to be teed up really tall for me to clip it on the upswing, but I’ll play with that later.
The second thing I noticed was that I no longer paid any attention to the ball itself. I’ve heard it said several times that one should not try to hit the ball…one should just make a smooth swing and let the ball get in the way. I was never really able to make that work, since, as I mentioned before, the only reference point I had was the ball itself. But now that I was just focusing on swinging through my Air Divot, I never even had to look at the ball, and it smoothed out my swing, and took the “hit” out of it. I even played with a setup change that was interesting, and I’d like your feedback on this: When you setup for an iron swing, you set up with the club head *behind* the divot you will take (with the ball between them). So I tried that with the driver. I saw the ball on the tee, pictured the air divot behind it, and then set up with the club head behind the air divot, some 8″ behind the ball. This seemed to really help make the driver swing much more similar to the iron swing.
The third thing I noticed, and by far the most dramatic for me, was that the air divot concept fixed my release issues. I had a tendency to try to “guide” the club head with my hands and wrists, and usually ended up casting pretty bad. By focusing on the air divot, I was forced to pay attention to putting the bottom of my swing arc in the right spot, and that helped me release at the right time. Of course, that leads to much more club head speed at impact, and my drives were all of a sudden going 15+ yards further than before…hard to judge exactly how much farther, because they were flying into the trees past the end of the driving range (It’s not a particularly long range).
Anyway, just wanted to thank you for the tip. I still need to groove this new swing before it gets consistent, but I’ve been tickled with what I’ve seen so far.