As an amateur golfer and a mid-handicapper, I often wonder what I need to do in order to generate more driver distance. Sure, swinging faster would help, but it’s never that easy — increasing club speed needs to come after developing the proper fundamentals and sequencing.

I’m convinced that somewhere in my 40-year-old body is a 300-yard bomb. But what’s it going to take to do that consistently and not just get lucky once in a blue moon?

To help answer that question, I reached out to GOLF Top 100 Teacher Mark Durland, who delivered three common flaws that are costing me driver distance. Durland not only shared some traits holding me (and most amateurs) back, but offered up some solutions that should have me hitting it longer off the tee. Check out his advice below!

Improve your driver distance by fixing these common issues

Find the center
If you’re not making center-face contact, you have little chance of getting the driver distance you’re hoping for — and Durland says this is one of the more common problems he sees with students, as many hit the driver off of the toe or heel of the clubface.

In his eyes, hitting off the heel of the clubface is the worst place when seeking more distance.

“I see students lose 30, 40, or even 50 yards off the tee by hitting the heel of the club,” Durland tells me. “Most golfers don’t know they’re missing center-face contact because they don’t have a way of knowing. But by using foot spray on the clubface, you can get instant feedback.”

Once the student establishes a baseline of where contact is happening, they can make some educated decisions on finding the middle.

“If the student’s consistently missing off the heel of the clubface, they should stand further away from the ball at address,” he adds. “Finding the other side of the clubface (the toe in this instance) is a healthy exercise to help find the middle.

“On the contrary, if they’re consistently missing off the toe of the clubface, they should start by standing closer and even addressing the ball with the heel of the clubface. If a golfer can hit both the toe and the heel, they should be able to find the middle through some experimenting and self-discovery.”

In addition to binstant all-striking feedback, Durland says using foot spray on the clubface can help determine where your tee height should be.

“Another great advantage of using the foot spray is that it can help with tee height,” he adds. “Many students wonder how high the tee should be when using driver, and using foot spray can help decipher if they’re hitting too low or too high on the clubface.”