In order to improve the direct drive robot (DDR)’s trajectory tracking accuracy, a hybrid controller consisting of an adaptive sub controller and a PD sub controller was proposed. Firstly, the dynamical uncertainty of the robot was investigated while the uncertainty friction in the robot joints was modeled and the kinematics equation of the robot manipulator was derived. Then, a two close loops control system with position and speed feedback was built for the robot, and an adaptive controller being capable of identifying the uncertainties of the robot’s manipulator was employed so as to compensate the control error brought from the robot’s dynamic uncertainty. Moreover, a PD controller was embedded in the hybrid controller so as to improve the robot’s tracking accuracy. With the aim to guarantee the stability of the system, an adaptive law was presented. Finally, simulations have been accomplished to validate the feasibility of the controller. The results show that the position error and speed tracking error of the robot are limited to -0.02°~0.03° and ±0.005rad/s, which means that hybrid controller can make the robots track the desired trajectory with higher precision, and it exists widely application prospect.