How to hit driver off the deck, according to major winner — and how not to

“Again, that’s the problem when you’re hitting the driver off the deck — you’re always anxious to get it up in the air and if you do any hang-back, it’s harder to get a good strike,” he said on the video. “Obviously if you can, stay forward and cover it; that’s what you’re trying to do. It ended up a very nice shot — just in the left-hand hollow. 

“I did get the 270 out of it, into a cold wind, but I ain’t doing that in the tournament.”

Let’s keep the DOD conversation going. In 2022, GOLF.com’s Jessica Marksbury wrote a story headlined “The 4 keys to hitting a driver off the deck,” and you can read that story by clicking here, or by scrolling below. 

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Let’s face it — we could all use some extra distance, not only off the tee, but once we get to the fairway too.

But many of us leave the longest club in our bag — the driver — on the sidelines when we’re faced with a long approach or a second shot on a par-5.

As it turns out, hitting driver off the deck is easier than you think, and GOLFTEC instructor Brad Thorberg — with an assist from PGA Tour player Jim Knous — has the keys you need to be successful.

How to hit driver off the deck 

1. Set up like you would with a 3-wood.

2. Think about employing a downward or flat-attack angle — this is different from the usual upswing you use when you hit the driver off a tee.

3. Move the ball back in your stance a bit, so it’s in line with the inside of your heel on your lead foot.

4. Choke up on the club — about one inch — and move a half-step closer to the ball. This will make the shaft more upright and move the toe of the club down, making it more level.

You can expect to have a lower ball flight using a driver off the deck than you would with the ball on the tee, Knous says, and for a right-handed player, the ball may want to work a little bit to the right, so make sure to plan for that.

Finally, driver off the deck works best when you have plenty of room in front of you to run the ball up to the green. Give it a try, and enjoy the results.

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.