This highly recommended exercise transformed Rob Lowe’s driving

Welcome to Play Smart, GOLF.com’s regular game improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.

Golf is a great sport because it can be enjoyed by almost everyone. Go to a golf course and you’re sure to find people from all walks of life. There aren’t too many games that can accept it everyone just like golf.

The game also has a way of humiliating almost everyone who plays it. Perfection is impossible, and everyone from weekenders to the best in the world is reminded of that fact every day. The golf ball doesn’t matter WHO you are there when you swing the club. The only thing that matters is how the clubface touches the ball.

Watching celebrities, politicians and athletes play golf reminds us of this fact each time we see them putt together. Although in their everyday lives they are industry champions, on the golf course they have as hard a time hitting the ball straight as you or I. But like you or me, most of them are obsessed with finding that one thought that helps them hit it better.

Actor Rob Lowe recently gave us a great example of that. And while playing in the Champions Tour pro-am, he received advice from Rod Pampling that changed his driving. Check it out below.

Rob Lowe’s game-changing tutorial

Getting the ball off the tee safely is important if you want to lower your handicap. Often that is easier said than done.

To hit the driver well, you need to make sure that your lead shoulder is higher than your lane shoulder. This increases the angle of attack and helps you hit higher on the ball, which helps you get the ball in the air and down the fairway.

Many beginners struggle to stay away from the target and instead keep their shoulders square throughout the swing. Lowe is one such example.

To help remedy this problem, Pampling provided the actor with a simple exercise machine.

All you need to do is stop at your golf course with your driver. But instead of standing like you’re talking to the ball, hold the driver’s head down with the shaft pointing up. Then extend your lead arm and place your hand on the grip.

From this position, swing your right arm back while focusing on keeping the lead shoulder in place. If you do it correctly, you will feel that your lead shoulder is always higher than your trail shoulder throughout the turn.

“What I like is that you don’t have to be in the classroom to do it,” said Lowe. “Actually the best place to do it – and I say this as a vain, narcissistic actor – is in front of a mirror.”

If you try to hit up For ball and driver, try this exercise. Once you’ve mastered the feel, it’ll be easier than ever to get in the right spot to hit the ball and bomb it down the fairway.

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