Nelly Korda's Power Drive

A little over a year ago Nelly Korda did an article for Golf Digest called Nelly Korda Shares the Three Drives You Need to Know How to Hit. I know, it's a long title but it's a good read. I'm going to focus on the first one, her power drive.

The photo above shows the basic position at the top. (She doesn't talk about the fact that her lead hand isn't on the club in this photo, so I guess she's just giving you an idea of how her shoulders have turned.) Here's how she describes her keys.

To pick up some extra yardage with your driver, you don't have to swing harder than usual. Instead, address the ball with more weight on your back foot, about 70 percent (above). It creates a more solid base, so you can maintain balance and increase the chance of hitting the ball in the sweet spot. This stance also will help you catch the ball on the upswing provided you play it far enough forward. If you hit up on the ball, you'll launch your drives higher with less backspin, and that creates more distance. I like the visual of the ball being at least somewhere near my left heel. It promotes good extension for longer drives and makes me feel like I can really smash it.

Note that Nelly isn't moving backward, away from the ball, when she starts her takeaway as some people would tell you to do. Rather, she says her address position BEGINS with about 70% of her weight on her trail leg. That positions her upper body behind the ball and allows her to make her turn without moving off the ball at all, which is why she says it helps you increase the chance of hitting the ball in the sweet spot.

This address position also puts the ball farther forward in your stance. It's not really closer to your lead foot than normal, it's just farther ahead relative to your upper body.

The result of this -- weight back plus ball position -- is that you don't have to swing harder. Instead, the address position creates the proper launch angle to create more distance with less backspin.

Again, you can read about her other two drives in that Golf Digest article. But this one seems like a simple way to get a bit more distance off the tee.