How To Hit Your Driver Out The Middle... Using Foot Spray

Strike location golf

We all want to strike the ball out of the centre of the clubface to get the most out of our driver – but how can you do that time after time? In the video and article below, PGA pro Dan Grieve shares some brilliant drills to help you improve your strike location so that you can find more fairways and lower your scores. 

Quite simply, the strike location is where you connect with the ball on the clubface. There are some simple drills that can help ensure that you are hitting the ball out of the middle of the clubface on a more consistent basis. If you do, you’re going to find more fairways and hit the ball long and straight.

All you need to get started is some foot spray, which you should be able to pick up from a pharmacy (Daktarin rubs off easily with a towel). Give your clubface a spray, wait 30 seconds or so to give it chance to dry, and then hit some drives.

(Image credit: Howard Boylan)

With a heel strike, I’d suggest popping a headcover down just outside the ball (see below). From there, if you were to hit out of the heel, then the toe of the club is going to catch the headcover. Maybe you’re coming over the top, but at least you’ll start to get a feel with what the issue is. After a time, your strike will improve and you should start to see that imprint move more into the middle.

If you're struggling with heel strikes, I’d suggest popping a headcover down just outside the ball  (Image credit: Howard Boylan)

With toe strikes, lay a scrunched up towel down low to the ground (see below). Should you be coming from too far on the inside as you approach the ball, you’re likely to catch that towel (something soft like a towel avoids getting an injury). As a result, you’ll start to get your arms out in front of you for a more centred strike.

With toe strikes, lay a scrunched up towel down low to the ground (Image credit: Howard Boylan)

This is another super drill to help groove a better driver swing and find the centre of the clubface more often. Simply lay two rods down to create tramlines (see below) – a gateway for your driver to travel through. If you give that yellow rod a nudge on the way down, you’re going to strike the ball out of the heel. Hit the white rod as you come into the ball, and that’s going to produce a strike out of the toe. It’s a super visual drill that gives you some instant feedback.  

To really work on that strike, this gateway drill is always a good one to take to the range  (Image credit: Howard Boylan )

When you do use the spray on your clubface, I’d suggest hitting a good number of balls and making a note of your impact location to establish what your pattern is. Then, you can work on the appropriate drill to find that sweetspot more often.