THE DRIVER
Tips from Tiger Woods: Part VI

Excerpts from the book How I Play Golf by Tiger Woods

07/01/2002

If one club in my bag qualifies as being more important than any other, it's the driver.

	Part I: Putting

	Part II: The short game

	Part III: Bunker shots

	Part IV: The swing

	Part V: The irons

	Part VI: The driver

A good drive makes all things possible. My chances of making a birdie or eagle are increased enormously when I crush the ball long and straight. What's more, if my swing with the driver is sound, my swing with the irons tends to be good as well.

But the biggest thing about the driver isn't tactical or mechanical. To me, the driver has the special capability of giving me an emotional lift and a big edge psychologically. A super drive that stops on the center mowing stripe fills me with strength, energy and confidence.

A foundation for power

My stance is wider with the driver than for any other club. That's because my driver swing is longer, wider and (on the downswing at least) a lot faster.

Spreading my feet slightly wider than my shoulders gives me the stability I need to really go after it. I flex my knees just a little, enough to make them feel alive and promote easy movement in my trunk and torso.

I also pay close attention to my foot position at address. I've found that by flaring my right foot out to my right ever so slightly, I'm able to make a modest hip turn without straining my knee and thigh.

As for my left foot, I flare it out slightly in the opposite direction, toward the target. This prevents me from turning my hips too far on the backswing, and allows me to rotate my upper body freely on the downswing and into my follow-through without putting too much pressure on my leg and back.

Finally, I like to angle my knee in just a bit at address. That encourages me to turn rather than slide on the backswing and makes it easier to shift my weight to the left on the downswing.

A powerful start

The sequence of motion on the backswing is the same for the driver as for every other club. But I do pay special attention to my hips. I make absolutely sure that my hips turn rather than slide to my right.

Turning the hips is one of the first signs I'm accumulating power. This rotary motion in my hips and shoulders is much like loading a giant spring. By the time I reach the top, my hips and shoulders are primed to unload with tremendous speed.

Shifting your hips laterally to the right kills your backswing. If your right hip moves outside of your right foot, you have to slide back to the left just to hit the ball. It's hard to time that move properly.

What's more, you've cut your power by about 50 percent, because a sliding motion on the downswing isn't anywhere near as powerful as a rotary unwinding of the hips and shoulders.

A good thought is to keep your weight on the inside portion of your right foot, keeping the your right leg constant throughout the backswing.

Think 'long and wide'

I have two goals on my takeaway: to establish a very wide swing arc, and to shift my weight fully to my right side without sliding to my right.

I try to extend the butt end of the shaft as far from my right hip as I can, my shoulders turning to make it possible.

Turn the shoulders

With the driver, I turn my shoulders as far as they'll go. My hips turn too, but my shoulders turn a lot farther.

There should be a healthy feeling of tension and resistance down your left side at the top. From here, all I have to do is unwind my hips a bit, and my shoulders will follow, unturning with tremendous speed on the downswing.

I know I'm making a full shoulder turn when my left shoulder turns under my chin. A full shoulder turn means I don't have to force the issue on the downswing. My shoulders will unwind fast but smoothly, carrying the arms along with them on their powerful route to impact.

Although I believe in a big shoulder turn, I don't like the club dipping past parallel with the ground. When this happens, you tend to "throw" the club from the top with the hands, rather than letting the unturning of the shoulders transport the club into a sound position.

At the top

The position you establish at the top serves as a preview of where you'll be at impact. One of my goals is to achieve a "square" clubface at the top of the backswing, meaning it should be parallel with my left forearm.

If the toe of the clubhead were pointing more toward the ground, my clubface would be open and I'd tend to hit a big slice. If the clubface were aimed dead at the sky, the clubface would be closed and I'd lean toward hitting a big hook.

The downswing

On the downswing, the sequence of motion is from the ground up. First you shift your weight to your left leg, then you turn your hips with all you've got. The shoulders come next. I keep them square to the target even though my hips are aligned well to the left.

The arms and hands come last. If you've performed everything in order, they'll deliver the clubhead into the ball along the correct inside path.

Remember, the chain of events occurs slowly at first. If you rush, you'll likely unwind your shoulders too soon and perform the dreaded "over the top" move, where the club is delivered into the ball on an out-to-in path. That means a loss of power and, more than likely, a big slice to the right.

Fancy footwork

A lot has been written about footwork during the swing, but I've never looked at the feet as superactive components. I believe the feet merely react to the motion occurring elsewhere in your body. If your footwork appears loose and sloppy, it's because something else in your swing isn't right.

I allow my right foot to come off the ground just before impact. I really have no choice; my hips and shoulders rotate so fast and my weight has shifted so aggressively, I'd hurt my back if I kept my right heel on the ground.

And follow through

One of my coach Butch Harmon's favorite reminders on the follow-through is to "shake hands with the target." When my right arm is fully extended straight own the target line, that shows I've tried to generate as much clubhead speed as possible.

From the book How I Play Golf by Tiger Woods with the editors of Golf Digest. Text copyright 2001 by ETW Corp. Reprinted by permission of Warner Books, Inc, New York. All rights reserved. Distributed by New York Times Special Features.

Playing those

mind games

Gamesmanship in golf is a lot more subtle that in other sports. Baseball great Babe Ruth would point to an area of the outfield where he intended the ball to exit the park. Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown would drag himself up after a hard run as if he were taking his last breath, then plow through the line with even more force on the next run.

If you can get into your opponent's head and throw him off his game, that might be the edge you need in a close game. I've had players pull a variety of things on me, from giving me a cold, hard stare after making a putt to hitting a certain club on a par 3 and suggesting to their caddie that they had hit another.

I love the mind games. I have mine too. Here are my favorites:

• Really lean on a drive, then react as if you mis-hit it.

• On your way to a drive that you've nutted, take a quick look at your opponent's ball as you walk by, hesitate for a moment as if you think it's yours, then proceed to your drive.

• Concede two or three short putts, then make your opponent putt a kick-in.

• After you've outdriven an opponent on a day marred by swirling winds, take a club you have no intention of hitting on your approach shot and make a few practice swings. If he's stealing your club selection, you might get him to guess wrong.