How to Increase Launch Angle with Driver: 6 Easy Adjustments for Higher Launch

Clint McCormick

Jun 9, 2025 . 5 mins read

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One of the most important components of driving is getting the correct launch angle. When your launch angle is good, you get more carry and increased roll on all your drives.

A good launch angle will also help reduce spin, control your ball flight, and keep it on your chosen target line.

While many people may think buying a new driver or completely overhauling their swing is the only way to improve, the pros use these tips to keep their tee shots long and accurate.

Increase Launch Angle with Driver (Key Takeaways)

For anyone rushing to their tee time right now, check out these key takeaways and choose one or two to implement. Then, when you have more time, you can test each tip thoroughly to see which is the most effective for you.

• Adjust the loft on your driver by adding up to a degree.
• Ensure wrists are hinged early by using Hackmotion and keep them there until impact.
• Tee the ball higher for more forgiveness, as well as a higher launch angle.
• Move the ball more forward in the stance.
• Hold the handle of the club a little higher at address and manage wrist flexion through impact so you are not delofting the driver.

6 Ways to Increase Launch Angle with Your Driver

There are only a few ways to increase your launch angle. Utilize one or more of the tips below to get your tee shots up in the air and fly further. The key is to keep spin at a minimum while you find the optimal launch angle.

Add Loft to Your Driver

The easiest way to increase the launch angle of your tee shots is to physically add loft to your driver.

The more loft you have, the higher the launch, but before you buy a 12-degree driver, you should know that adding loft also adds spin, which can decrease distance.

Adding launch angle without adding spin is a tricky task. Each golfer must find the happy medium of a good launch angle while keeping their RPMs at a minimum. When adjusting your driver loft, make a half or one-degree change to start with. See what that does, as it will likely be enough.

Stable Wrists

A more technical way to increase your launch angle is to optimize your wrist action through impact.

Hackmotion can identify and diagnose exactly how your wrists affect your drives and suggest how to optimize.

If your drives are too low you may have too much flexion in the lead wrist through impact.

If you start your swing with too much forward shaft lean or manually close the clubface by adding flexion, you may notice lower drives.

Work on delivering the clubface square with a lead wrist that is flat or just slightly flexed for driver shots.

Tee the Ball Higher

The club faces of drivers these days are very deep. Most amateurs don’t generally tee the ball up high enough.

You want to see about half the ball over the top of the clubhead when it is teed up.

• More forgiveness – A high tee allows you to make contact anywhere on the face. Teeing it too low means you will only strike the lower half of the face and pretty much guarantees a lower launch angle.
• Less backspin – When a tee is too low, it encourages a steeper attack angle, producing more backspin. Backspin makes the ball go higher, but not on a good launch angle. Teeing the ball higher allows the club to pass through the ball on a more neutral swing plane that launches the ball on a flatter, more optimal line. 
• Higher launch – Attacking the ball from a neutral swing plane or even from underneath the ball creates the most effective launch angle. Tee the ball high to allow your driver space between the ball and the ground. This helps the ball in the air without having to make any physical swing changes.

Correct Follow Through

Every golfer eventually develops a unique finishing position that complements their swing and provides a stable completion.

By addressing a couple of points, all golfers can tweak their follow-through to encourage a higher launch angle.

• Video timestamp – 6:23-14:38

Shallow Swing Plane

If you hit your irons high but struggle to get a high launch angle with your driver, your swing plane is too steep.

A steeper swing creates more backspin and causes the ball to climb and drop out of the sky. In comparison, an optimal launch sends that ball on a gradual climb and then a gradual descent.

This trajectory can cover a lot of ground in the air and provide some rollout once it hits the ground.

To swing flatter, focus more on rotating your body. One great trick is to drop your trail foot back a few inches when you set up to hit. This opens up some room for you to swing the club on a better path. Most golfers also find that it increases their swing arc allowing for longer distance.

Move Ball Forward

Moving the ball forward in your stance can cause the ball to launch higher.

In general, you’ll want to play the driver off your lead heel. If the position ends up further up in the stance than this, it could cause you to top the shot.

You never want to give up accuracy for any reason when trying to hit a driver consistently for more fairways in regulation.

Final Thoughts

Thanks to technology and experience, any golfer can improve their tee shots by optimizing their launch angle. This isn’t the only metric to address, but it does play a significant role in getting the most out of your drives.

Using Hackmotion will save time and take the guesswork out of whether or not you are improving.