I tell people often that I’ve never seen anyone win a million dollars standing too far from the ball and reaching out for it.
Similarly, in pro long drive, my observation of hundreds of athletes is that the further from the ball they stand, the less balls they hit in the fairway. They are usually quite wild in both directions.
I like a spread out hand span from the ball like this:
The right pinky touches the left thigh while the right thumb sticks out to the butt end of the driver. A fist and a stretched out thumb works well too.
For a golfer who is 6′ and up, this distance usually ends up around 7 inches from thigh to the butt of the club. For golfers around 5’4″-5’10”, it is around 6 inches. And golfers who are 5’2″ and under end up standing around 5 inches away, from thigh to club.
Let’s take a look at how some of the best in the world have done it:
Dustin Johnson, current world #1 is 6’3″ and stands around 8 inches away. The butt end of the club is directly under his shoulders, while the hands sit just a bit outside this line. This is fairly typical among PGA players.
Some love to the lefties for once! Bubba Watson (another very tall golfer) stands around 8 inches away and reaches just a bit more than DJ. The club handle is just outside the shoulder line.
Here’s a taller Tiger (not the Sean Foley version) standing around 7 inches away, with the handle directly underneath the shoulders. At one point Tiger was bending much more from the hips, around 45 degrees, and therefore the shoulder line was far outside his toe line. This would result in a much bigger measurement from thigh to club.
And last but not least, the oracle, Mike Austin.
Here again we see the arms extending out just beyond vertical towards the ball. The handle rests straight down from the front edge of the shoulders.
Successful drivers of the golf ball simply do not reach out for the ball more than this. Yet I see on a daily basis unsuccessful drivers reaching 10, 12, even 15 inches from the thigh.
Reaching can cause many issues including promoting improper plane, compromising the arm and handle path, and balance issues. While it might feel powerful, is may actually hurt your overall driving distance.