It’s official: Xander Schauffele is your Champion Golfer of the Year, shooting a bogey-free 65 during the final round of the Open Championship from Royal Troon to capture his second major title (both coming this season).
In previous years, the Monday after a major would often lead to criticism about Schauffele’s inability to get over the hump, with the 30-year-old answering questions about what he didn’t do right rather than what he did to win the tournament.
But 2024 is different.
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While everyone talks about Scottie Scheffler’s dominance (and rightfully so), it’s Schauffele who has two majors on his resume this season, proving to be the most consistent player during the biggest moments.
There are plenty of reasons why Schauffele is a two-time major champ, but one obvious one is his driving stats.
This year, he currently ranks 12th in strokes gained: off the tee, 11th in total driving, 38th in driving distance at 305.7, and sits 71st in driving accuracy. In those same categories last year, he was 47th, 101st, 68th, and 131st, respectively.
Could an improved driver really be the secret to his magical season? Possibly, and one key could be a simple step drill that helps generate more power off the tee — which you can check out below to try for yourself.
Try Xander Schauffele’s driver drill
In the video above (courtesy of DP World Tour’s YouTube channel), Schauffele walks through an easy driver drill that can help every golfer generate more swing speed. Naturally, more speed leads to more power and farther drives — which everyone enjoys.
“The easiest way for me to gain a few yards is this little step out drill,” he says.
To execute the drill, simply stand one step behind the teed up ball. Next, at the same time as starting your backswing, take one step forward and swing through impact — which is the feeling of a baseball swing meeting the Happy Gilmore swing.
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Schauffele demonstrates how the drill works in the video, showing how transferring his weight more towards the lead side as he steps up to the ball gives him added power.
“Even doing this right now, I can sort of feel a lot of load in my right side. Once I step, I can feel a lot of weight transfer from right to left [back to front for a right-handed player], sort of drastically,” he adds. “This helps the clubhead speed.”
Since that’s not a natural golf swing, Schauffele understands how it could feel a bit funky for most players. If that’s the case, he then offers up a simple alternative to experience the same feeling and increased power — simply lifting the back heel.
“If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, you can do a left heel lift [in your backswing] — and you can sort of feel the same motion,” Schauffele says. “You lift the heel, you load onto the right side, and you press hard down on the left. You’ll sort of feel this chain reaction through your body of one to release the club.”
By using your momentum and some ground force, you’ll slowly begin to see longer drives.
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