# Irons only off the tee



## rudebhoy (Dec 20, 2018)

My driving was dreadful the last time I played, so decided yesterday that I was going to leave the driver in the bag, and just hit irons off the tee. I hit a mixture of 5 and 6 irons, and it worked out well. Never missed a fairway with them, and was generally only 20-30 yards behind my PPs even when they hit a decent drive. Had a solid 20 points on the front 9, and was going along steadily on the back 9 until i stupidly decided to go with the driver for the last 3 holes - result 1 OOB, 1 duffed drive, and 1 really bad hook into the trees.

I guess it's glaringly obvious, but it did bring it home to me that the driver is more trouble than it's worth sometimes.

The other benefit was that my iron striking was generally very good, no doubt because of the repetition of hitting them hole after hole.

Not sure that irons only is a good long term strategy, but it did prove to me that it's still possible to play well and score well even when the driver isn't working.


----------



## Grant85 (Dec 20, 2018)

I think it's genuinely very difficult to maintain this kind of strategy as you will eventually feel like you want to hit driver and takes enormous discipline to continually hit a 5 iron off the tee. And even more so when you are in a matchplay situation or a medal from the back tees. You are turning most par 4s into par 5s.

I go through phases of hitting the 3 wood as it is probably my most consistent club, however after a few medals doing this (and staying in play) I realise I am giving myself too much to do with second shots and a lot of par 4s become a lay-up with no chance of reaching the green.

The solution for me is to get more consistent with the driver by practising / taking lessons (still working on it). I feel this will help with enjoying my golf so much more.

My next club I am going to look into is getting a custom fit driver and am going to ask about getting a slightly shorter shaft to help with accuracy and control.


----------



## dronfield (Dec 20, 2018)

I have also done this at times, and generally scored ok - have even looked at buying a driving iron as a permanent tee option.

The obvious downside is loss of distance, meaning that just about every par 4 now becomes a par 5!

A more longer term solution that i have now adopted is to replace my driver with a TM mini driver - 43.5" shaft with decent sized head. Have found this to be pretty consistent - also use my Ping K15 5 wood off the tee.

Rich


----------



## jim8flog (Dec 20, 2018)

I had a period of about 3 years when I did not carry *any* woods.  I used to carry a 1 iron which I could hit around 240 which is plenty long enough for the course where I play.

At the end of that period (after a suggestion) I started to use a 2 wood.

These days I only use the driver on about 8  holes and firmly believe in the correct club off the tee for the hole being played.


----------



## Orikoru (Dec 20, 2018)

Quite handy to hit a driver though if you can sort it out. More fun as well.

I wouldn't want to only hit irons as this time of year, I just feel like I'd be miles back and having to hit a long iron again for all my second shots. In summer though I hit 3 iron off plenty of tees and the extra roll made it a very viable and useful strategy.


----------



## Garush34 (Dec 20, 2018)

I did this at the start of the year when I couldn't hit driver. Worked out alright for me, managed to beat a 13 handicapper in matchplay, and posted some good scores. Eventually though I thought I have to try hit driver, irons work well at my course but if I go else where I need to be able to get something out there and not leave too long an approach shot. 

For me what worked was going back to a Titleist driver, and just ended up hitting driver off every par 4 and 5 tee, just to get used to hitting driver. Didn't care where it went just had to get used to hitting it. Yeah it cost me some scores in the middle of the year but I'm now at a point where driver is a strength of my game. Also add in one online lesson via the skillest app, which sorted out my big miss. Just wish I had done the lesson earlier in the year.


----------



## Crow (Dec 20, 2018)

Several years ago this was how I played as I couldn't hit a driver to save my life, I bought a Mizuno Fli-Hi 3 iron as my tee club.

Then had some lessons and the Pro convinced me that this strategy is okay for some holes but you'll never get your handicap right down as driver will get you 30 to 40 yards up if you're hitting it well which on the longer par fours and par fives is significant. So I learnt to hit the driver.

Moving on a few years and I ran into a shanking brick wall (on the longer irons) that lasted a couple of years and I barely hit any iron over a 6, buying myself a Dunlop 9 wood for an option.

Right up to date, the shanks have all but disappeared and I'm loving my irons again. I think that on many courses you can hit an iron off the tee on quite a few of the par fours and not be too disadvantaged, especially as the shorter par fours are often penal if you go off line. On my course from the white tees I'll probably take an iron on three of the par fours and from the yellow tees on five of them.


----------



## Dando (Dec 20, 2018)

I am quite happy hitting irons off the tee and a well hit 2 iron doesn't leave me that far off where my driver finishes and sometimes it isn't in the trees, pond, next fairway or OOB


----------



## DRW (Dec 20, 2018)

It comes down to why you play golf. 

If it is for scoring, then take the club that gets you the lowest score on a regular basis

If it is for the buzz, then you would probably find you cant help but to resist hitting the driver and a result it is the right club. So for me I always hit driver when I can, even though that will probably not lead to the lowest scoring on a regular basis. Yeah I have rounds when I can not hit the planet and will lose 3-5 balls in a round but other drives that are just 'yeah that's why I play golf'


----------



## shortgame (Dec 20, 2018)

I've done this plenty of times before now, the result was lots of steady rounds in and around buffer but no really low (for me) ones.  Longer 2nd shots resulting in too few GIRs so lots of chipping and putting to save pars but not too many real birdie chances.

Buying a driving iron helped as a 'fairway finder'- especially in the hot dry summer (lots of run).

Works as a short solution but long term solution really has to be to learn to hit driver.


----------



## rudebhoy (Dec 20, 2018)

dronfield said:



			I have also done this at times, and generally scored ok - have even looked at buying a driving iron as a permanent tee option.

The obvious downside is loss of distance, meaning that just about every par 4 now becomes a par 5!

*A more longer term solution that i have now adopted is to replace my driver with a TM mini driver - 43.5" shaft with decent sized head. Have found this to be pretty consistent *- also use my Ping K15 5 wood off the tee.

Rich
		
Click to expand...

Was moaning about my driving to a 12 handicapper the other day, and he said he struggled until he bought a mini driver, and reckons he is far more consistent with it. Might have to look at one of them!


----------



## need_my_wedge (Dec 20, 2018)

I've done this many times, and still do for the main, but there are a couple of holes where I just can't resist getting the driver out. My longest iron is a 5 iron, which even on the par 5's at ours is long enough off the tee if I could just get past the driver urge. The simple solution is to leave the woods at home - which again I have done on occasion, it removes the temptation. When it's behaving, my hybrid more than suffices, but it has been on the naughty step for most of this year.  Have been on the look out for a driving iron, but haven't pulled the trigger on a purchase yet. Irons only is a sound policy, but we're mostly blokes on here and the blokey thing to do is smash the big stick


----------



## rudebhoy (Dec 20, 2018)

need_my_wedge said:



			I've done this many times, and still do for the main, but there are a couple of holes where I just can't resist getting the driver out. My longest iron is a 5 iron, which even on the par 5's at ours is long enough off the tee if I could just get past the driver urge. The simple solution is to leave the woods at home - which again I have done on occasion, it removes the temptation. When it's behaving, my hybrid more than suffices, but it has been on the naughty step for most of this year.  Have been on the look out for a driving iron, but haven't pulled the trigger on a purchase yet. Irons only is a sound policy, but we're mostly blokes on here and the blokey thing to do is smash the big stick

Click to expand...

Did think yesterday morning that I should just leave the driver at home, but couldn't bring myself to do it!


----------



## dronfield (Dec 20, 2018)

rudebhoy said:



			Was moaning about my driving to a 12 handicapper the other day, and he said he struggled until he bought a mini driver, and reckons he is far more consistent with it. Might have to look at one of them!
		
Click to expand...

Certainly worth condideration, they made them in 12, 14 & 16 degree lofts. I tried the 16 for a while, but as only for use off the tee, reverted to 14 degree. I know some bought the 16 and also use it on the fairway.

You should find one easily on Ebay - Callaway made a similar model.

Rich


----------



## IanM (Dec 20, 2018)

Whatever gets you on the short grass with managable distance more often as not, will improve your score.... simple as.   3 off the tee is always that! (Currently  )

Been leaving my driver at home recently and score are miles better....


----------



## Imurg (Dec 20, 2018)

IanM said:



			Whatever gets you on the short grass with managable distance .
		
Click to expand...

This, for me, is the important part.
If your mid-long irons deliver you to a point that's acceptable distance wise then it's often a shrewd play.
I know some can hit 2 irons or similar a goodly way and that can negate the need for a fairway or driver
But your average golfer isn't likely to be able to hit a 5 iron more than 180 yards.
On a 400 yard  you're not hitting the green in 2 - because if you're using irons off the tee you sure as hell can't hit a fairway wood off the deck. You're relying on your short game too much
So your handicap isn't going to improve. 
It can be a short-term plaster but everyone needs to find a club they can reasonably reliably hit 200 yards with.


----------



## Junior (Dec 20, 2018)

I'm all for scoring well but i always find it surprising that someone can hit a 3i / 4i / 5i and not a driver or 3w with the same degree of consistency.


----------



## Curls (Dec 20, 2018)

Yeah I reckon there's a limit to what you can achieve by doing this. It depends on what you want from your golf. As has been said, learn to hit the driver, it's a slightly different set up but other than that I think people make too much of it being a very different swing, in fact if you could swing your driver with the smoothness of a long iron you'd be doing quite well. How did you come about the driver btw? I wonder if the shaft isn't suited to you, could be that a whippy shaft is making you lose the clubhead and you're constantly adjusting with little sucess. Or it could be too stiff/boardy for you to activate. Worth looking at imo, as Junior just said if you can hit a long iron off the turf you should be able to launch a decent driver more often than you are doing.


----------



## SwingsitlikeHogan (Dec 20, 2018)

From time to time when out of an evening by myself playing a part-round I'll just use my 3i or 4i off the tee - not that my driving is ropey - it's not - but just to practice hitting longer irons.  I know that if I manage to hit these clubs OK then 5-PW will usually follow suit.  And yes - like the OP - I usually score well - but then again on a good day I hit my 3i about 210 yds.  And I get more kick out of a good strike with a 3i than I do from belting a driver 260yds.


----------



## Dando (Dec 20, 2018)

Imurg said:



			This, for me, is the important part.
If your mid-long irons deliver you to a point that's acceptable distance wise then it's often a shrewd play.
I know some can hit 2 irons or similar a goodly way and that can negate the need for a fairway or driver
But your average golfer isn't likely to be able to hit a 5 iron more than 180 yards.
On a 400 yard  you're not hitting the green in 2 - because if you're using irons off the tee you sure as hell can't hit a fairway wood off the deck. You're relying on your short game too much
So your handicap isn't going to improve.
It can be a short-term plaster but *everyone needs to find a club they can reasonably reliably hit 200 yards with*.
		
Click to expand...

I have been known to hit a wedge 200 yards. just a shame I only needed to hit it about 80!!!


----------



## rudebhoy (Dec 20, 2018)

Curls said:



			Yeah I reckon there's a limit to what you can achieve by doing this. It depends on what you want from your golf. As has been said, learn to hit the driver, it's a slightly different set up but other than that I think people make too much of it being a very different swing, in fact if you could swing your driver with the smoothness of a long iron you'd be doing quite well. How did you come about the driver btw? I wonder if the shaft isn't suited to you, could be that a whippy shaft is making you lose the clubhead and you're constantly adjusting with little sucess. Or it could be too stiff/boardy for you to activate. Worth looking at imo, as Junior just said if you can hit a long iron off the turf you should be able to launch a decent driver more often than you are doing.
		
Click to expand...

I think it's a mental block as much as anything. I can go to the range and hit my driver reasonably well. Step onto the course, it's a different matter, will duff 2 or 3 low and left most rounds, and slice a good few as well. Mind you, it does help at the range that if you hit a bad one, you just pick the next one and hit that straight away. Big difference on the course with 10-15 minutes between drives.

I had a lesson 5 or 6 weeks ago, and it did help a lot, I was hitting them well, but I'm slowly reverting back to more bad shots than good with the driver. 

With iron shots, I don't think about much other than rotating and keeping my eye on the ball, with the driver I'm thinking loads of things- weight on the back foot, visualise a window up in the sky so that my left shoulder is higher than the right, pull the club back with my right rather than push it with my left etc etc. plus the fear of failure is in my mind - it's no wonder I don't hit it well with all that going on!

Current driver is a Ping G SF Tec with regular shaft, picked up 2nd hand from ebay 3 or 4 months ago. Changed to this from a Cobra F7 senior shaft as was slicing badly and it did work great at first, but has slowly went downhill. But like I say, I think it's a mixture of mental issues and bad technique rather than the wrong shaft.


----------



## SwingsitlikeHogan (Dec 20, 2018)

Dando said:



			I have been known to hit a wedge 200 yards. just a shame I only needed to hit it about 80!!!
		
Click to expand...

...and that's just the thin end of the wedge...


----------



## shortgame (Dec 20, 2018)

Dando said:



			I have been known to hit a wedge 200 yards. just a shame I only needed to hit it about 80!!!
		
Click to expand...

The easiest way to hit a 150 yard wedge is to try to lay up short of water at 140!


----------



## bobmac (Dec 20, 2018)

Hitting an iron off the tee is like riding a 3 wheeler bike.......easier than a 2 wheeler but not as much fun.


----------



## SwingsitlikeHogan (Dec 20, 2018)

bobmac said:



			Hitting an iron off the tee is like riding a 3 wheeler bike.......easier than a 2 wheeler but not as much fun.
		
Click to expand...

Depends...when you are infected by the Sh**k virus, hitting a driver or other big headed club off the tee is unfortunately a lot, lot easier than hitting _any _iron off the tee.


----------



## Grant85 (Dec 20, 2018)

I think there is also the mentality of people wanting to play to their handicap every time and going conservative. 

i.e. thinking I'm a 15 handicapper so I should be shooting at least an 85 (assuming par 70) and simply not wanting to bring a double or triple into play. 

However your handicap is really a reflection of you on your good day so you only really need to play to your handicap once every 5 to 10 rounds, depending on the difference between your low round on the days you play well and your average score of the other days. 

So for me, a far better process would be to go to a driving range, or a coach, and convince yourself that you can at least hit a few good drives and that you are a decent driver. Clearly we all struggle with different clubs at different times, but I'm sure that everyone who plays golf regularly has the capacity to get 8 to 10 decent drives in play on their good days. 

In reality, spending dozens of hours a month playing golf and not spending a couple of them on getting something useful out of your driver seems crazier than hitting an iron off every tee for years on end.  

Obviously, yes, play the shot your feel comfortable with and if a tight tee shot requires less than driver and there is OOB / bundai in play, then by all means take the correct club and don't just go hitting 15 drivers at all the par 4s and 5s.


----------



## 6535 (Dec 20, 2018)

During the winter off a shortened course I hit irons to the areas where Iâ€™d normally be when playing off the white medal tees in the summer. The only time I hit driver would be on par 5â€™s or if itâ€™s windy. Itâ€™s great way to practise as you need to strike your irons well.â€


----------



## Dasit (Dec 20, 2018)

Grip down your driver until almost on the shaft


I could not hit driver for most of this year, the last month I changed nothing else but gripping right down and now find hitting driving as easy as hitting a 7 iron.


----------



## Curls (Dec 20, 2018)

rudebhoy said:



			I think it's a mental block as much as anything. I can go to the range and hit my driver reasonably well. Step onto the course, it's a different matter, will duff 2 or 3 low and left most rounds, and slice a good few as well. Mind you, it does help at the range that if you hit a bad one, you just pick the next one and hit that straight away. Big difference on the course with 10-15 minutes between drives.

I had a lesson 5 or 6 weeks ago, and it did help a lot, I was hitting them well, but I'm slowly reverting back to more bad shots than good with the driver.

With iron shots, I don't think about much other than rotating and keeping my eye on the ball, with the driver I'm thinking loads of things- weight on the back foot, visualise a window up in the sky so that my left shoulder is higher than the right, pull the club back with my right rather than push it with my left etc etc. plus the fear of failure is in my mind - it's no wonder I don't hit it well with all that going on!

Current driver is a Ping G SF Tec with regular shaft, picked up 2nd hand from ebay 3 or 4 months ago. Changed to this from a Cobra F7 senior shaft as was slicing badly and it did work great at first, but has slowly went downhill. But like I say, I think it's a mixture of mental issues and bad technique rather than the wrong shaft.
		
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like you've tied yourself up in swing thought knots there chap, you should barely be thinking about 1, max 2 things really and a window in the sky certainly aint one of them!!!

Some people do well with mechanical thoughts and some are best when they think about something far away from them. Go to a good pro and talk it out, there's no point in smashing them on the range and duffing them on the course and as much as you can avoid the driver for now, the better you get the more it will hurt your ability to score if you cant rely on it. Good luck and keep us updated on the progress!


----------



## Wolf (Dec 20, 2018)

I agree with everyone that so far has said whilst it's smart and will keep you in play it's limited in its ability help you progress. 

I'm having major issues with my driving at the moment to, as a junior driving was my strong point was always very accurate however now when I hit the driver 9/10 are so far right of target I barely find the course. So been hitting a lot of 3 Woods to keep it in play. Got chatting last night with my dad who taught me how to play and he talked me through how when I had a fitting at Callaway when I was about 18 years old, I was fitted with a Driver spec of 43.5 inches. The driver I'm currently using is  at 45.5 inches and I do feel I struggle with it and it maybe a complete coincidence but 3 wood shaft in my XR is 43.5 and that feels ideal to me for off the tee. 

So I'm going to book a fitting session for driver and 3 wood then look at some lessons to iron it all out properly instead of getting in more of a mess.. 

Maybe you could do the same get your driver checked to see if its right fit and get a lesson to go with it..


----------



## SwingsitlikeHogan (Dec 20, 2018)

One of the lads in our Sat am roll-up has recently had a few lessons - he has been struggling real bad of late - the lessons were aimed at primarily making him able to keep the ball at least vaguely straight and on the short stuff - and not worry too much about distance.  

He hasn't gone 'all iron' (work was principally on his grip) but on Saturday for the first time ever (after many years) he won the roll-up - with 30pts over 13 holes.  And when asked 'how did you do it'.  Well - he said - I lost a fair bit of distance but I was keeping it on the short stuff (as it happens I spoke with the pro who gave him the lessons and he said that our man wasn't actually losing very much distance at all - he is just thinking that he is).

You wanna just win something - anything - off your handicap? Then keep it on the straight and narrow - however you can.


----------



## garyinderry (Dec 20, 2018)

If you can hit a driver you are probably trying to smash the cover off the ball.   You should be able to poke , clip, cosey, what ever you want to call it. A simple prod of the driver should be able to match and beat any pounded iron off the tee. 

You would be surprised how far one of these clipped drivers will run in right conditions as it hasn't been struck hard enough to produce too much back spin.


----------



## Maninblack4612 (Dec 20, 2018)

The only way you're going to learn how to use your driver in proper play is to use it in proper play. Using irons all the time isn't proper golf. The match you're playing isn't that important that the score is the most important thing. Just persevere with it. It you're thinking of too many things stop. One key thought on the backswing & one on the downswing is as much as anyone can manage. Understand what the clubface is doing when it meets the ball, face open /closed, swingpath in to out / out to in, then do ONE thing to correct it. Get to know your own swing. When you have a lesson make sure the pro explains the mechanics of your bad shots. If you don't know this you don't understand your own swing & can't help yourself. And, having seen your swing, I would say, SWING IT FURTHER BACK!


----------



## hairball_89 (Dec 20, 2018)

At my handicap, going round playing bogey golf would be an excellent score. I've done this once or twice 5i-Sw in the pencil bag. Both times, albeit on a shorter course than id usually play (5300 off the yellows), I've scored as near as makes no difference to scores with driver & 4 wood in the bag. My 5iron is 175-180yrds, so the longer par4s aren't reachable, but as it stands they're not reachable in 2 for me from the rough or the trees, or the next field! 

Driver is my biggest aim over winter. When I catch it perfectly out the middle it goes like a rocket and good god it's fun, but sadly it's not often enough at the moment and playing the courses I play most often, I can get by without one it's a vicious circle of non-use!


----------



## Hobbit (Dec 20, 2018)

As a halfway house why don't you only use the driver on the holes with wide open fairways with little in the way of 'killing grounds' either side. We have 4 holes where hitting the driver can ruin a card, i.e. hit the fairway or almost certainly lose a ball. They're short holes anyway, do why even consider a driver. Each of them can be played with a 3 iron and a wedge. Its more fun hitting the driver but apart from 1 eagle there's been too many double bogies. 3 iron every time.

I'd recommend playing the driver on just a few holes. As your game improves add in a few more holes.


----------



## HomerJSimpson (Dec 20, 2018)

Personally I'd be hitting the range and working out the gremlins with the driver. If I can hit it well there I know I can hit it on the course. After that, it's a case of picking a target and trusting the swing. It's hard when you don't trust it and it's easy to sub-consciously steer it. Try to ignore the score and just play with it


----------



## Captainron (Dec 20, 2018)

Junior said:



			I'm all for scoring well but i always find it surprising that someone can hit a 3i / 4i / 5i and not a driver or 3w with the same degree of consistency.
		
Click to expand...

Youâ€™ve met me? Right?


----------



## anotherdouble (Dec 20, 2018)

Captainron said:



			Youâ€™ve met me? Right?
		
Click to expand...

Well letâ€™s be honest, he would never meet you left


----------



## GG26 (Dec 21, 2018)

When then ground was dry this summer I took my 4-iron off of the tee on all but our longest par 4s and the par 5s.  With roll out was getting 220 yards.  Wouldnâ€™t work in current ground conditions on most par 4s as would be looking at 170 carry and little roll out.


----------



## Dannyc (Dec 21, 2018)

Had my best ever round when I decided not to hit the driver apart from par 5s 
My home course ainâ€™t very long though


----------



## Roops (Dec 21, 2018)

It's a way to score, but if you want to improve then at some point you need to be able to hit some kind of wood of the tee. I never had a driver for the first few years that I played and could score, but couldn't get my handicap down. A driver changed all that, when you only need a short iron into a green after a good drive your chances of making par or better are vastly improved. Apart from the putter a modern driver should be about the easiest club in the bag to make decent contact with. You don't need to hit them, go to the range and try and hit your driver no more than 100 yds, guarantee it will go at least 150 reasonably straight. Work from there.


----------



## Orikoru (Dec 21, 2018)

garyinderry said:



			If you can hit a driver you are probably trying to smash the cover off the ball.   You should be able to poke , clip, cosey, what ever you want to call it. A simple prod of the driver should be able to match and beat any pounded iron off the tee.

You would be surprised how far one of these clipped drivers will run in right conditions as it hasn't been struck hard enough to produce too much back spin.
		
Click to expand...

This, and try gripping further down the grip to essentially shorten the club. I've noticed recently that if I grip my driver normally, at full length I tend to hit a bit of a fade, but if I grip down it's more of a fairway-finder with a bit of draw. So I tend to do that on the narrower fairways.


----------



## Curls (Dec 21, 2018)

bobmac said:



			Hitting an iron off the tee is like riding a 3 wheeler bike.......easier than a 2 wheeler but not as much fun.
		
Click to expand...

Plus it'll get you there, but it take you a lot longer


----------



## Wolf (Dec 21, 2018)

garyinderry said:



*If you can hit a driver you are probably trying to smash the cover off the ball.   You should be able to poke , clip, cosey, what ever you want to call it. A simple prod of the driver should be able to match and beat any pounded iron off the tee.*

You would be surprised how far one of these clipped drivers will run in right conditions as it hasn't been struck hard enough to produce too much back spin.
		
Click to expand...

I don't agree with this at all I know my driving issue don't come from trying to smash the cover off the ball and if I try to cosy, clip or poke a driver I get literally the same result straight right or a a straight pull so I end up with a 2 way miss. It's frustrating as driving always use to be strong point.


----------



## Grant85 (Dec 21, 2018)

Wolf said:



			I don't agree with this at all I know my driving issue don't come from trying to smash the cover off the ball and if I try to cosy, clip or poke a driver I get literally the same result straight right or a a straight pull so I end up with a 2 way miss. It's frustrating as driving always use to be strong point.
		
Click to expand...

Agree. When I am hitting well and straight, I need to be playing a full swing at a decent pace. Not trying to hit it hard, just hit a full swing with good rhythm and being fully committed. 

i.e. not babying it around.


----------



## SwingsitlikeHogan (Dec 21, 2018)

Maninblack4612 said:



			The only way you're going to learn how to use your driver in proper play is to use it in proper play. *Using irons all the time isn't proper golf. *The match you're playing isn't that important that the score is the most important thing. Just persevere with it. It you're thinking of too many things stop. One key thought on the backswing & one on the downswing is as much as anyone can manage. Understand what the clubface is doing when it meets the ball, face open /closed, swingpath in to out / out to in, then do ONE thing to correct it. Get to know your own swing. When you have a lesson make sure the pro explains the mechanics of your bad shots. If you don't know this you don't understand your own swing & can't help yourself. And, having seen your swing, I would say, SWING IT FURTHER BACK!
		
Click to expand...

Oooh - now there is one contentious statement I might suggest...

Tiger winning Open 2006 at Hoylake - didn't use driver once after the first round.  Now I don't know whether it was all irons but I have a feeling it might have been for the final round (?).  But even if it wasn't - it was playing the course in the conditions as required to win.  It was magnificent golf.


----------



## Wolf (Dec 21, 2018)

Grant85 said:



			Agree. When I am hitting well and straight, I need to be playing a full swing at a decent pace. Not trying to hit it hard, just hit a full swing with good rhythm and being fully committed.

i.e. not babying it around.
		
Click to expand...

Exactly the same if I try to steer it in anyway I make a less committed swing and it can go anywhere. I've got a fairly lazy rhythm anyway so if I slow that down further I go from a bad shot being straight right to a complete 2 way miss. 



SwingsitlikeHogan said:



			Oooh - now there is one contentious statement I might suggest...

Tiger winning Open 2006 at Hoylake - didn't use driver once after the first round.  Now I don't know whether it was all irons but I have a feeling it might have been for the final round (?).  But even if it wasn't - it was playing the course in the conditions as required to win.  It was magnificent golf.
		
Click to expand...

Wasn't that open that the Stinger 2 iron won. Hit the shot off pretty much every tee much like his earlier win at St Andrews, a master class in Links golf


----------



## Maninblack4612 (Dec 21, 2018)

SwingsitlikeHogan said:



			Oooh - now there is one contentious statement I might suggest...

Tiger winning Open 2006 at Hoylake - didn't use driver once after the first round.  Now I don't know whether it was all irons but I have a feeling it might have been for the final round (?).  But even if it wasn't - it was playing the course in the conditions as required to win.  It was magnificent golf.
		
Click to expand...

What I mean is, I suppose, hitting a club off the tee guaranteed to make you unable to reach the green with your next shot. Don't think Tiger had that problem.


----------



## Curls (Dec 21, 2018)

If I could hit Tigers Hoylake 2 iron stinger I'd never hit anything else off the tee. 

But yeah, can't.


----------



## rudebhoy (Dec 21, 2018)

Dasit said:



			Grip down your driver until almost on the shaft


I could not hit driver for most of this year, the last month I changed nothing else but gripping right down and now find hitting driving as easy as hitting a 7 iron.
		
Click to expand...


went to the range this morning and gave this a try. was hitting it ok with my hands just about on the shaft, but wasn't getting any distance, it was going about 150.

done a fair bit of messing around with grip and clubface, and found that if I had my hands a bit lower on the grip (but not just above the shaft), brought my left hand further round on the grip, and closed the clubface more than usual, I was hitting it really nicely, good trajectory, and going 200 or so. tried not to think about anything, particularly not windows in the sky!

not playing again until next Friday, so will be interesting to see how that technique transfers to the course.


----------



## Curls (Dec 21, 2018)

rudebhoy said:



			went to the range this morning and gave this a try. was hitting it ok with my hands just about on the shaft, but wasn't getting any distance, it was going about 150.

done a fair bit of messing around with grip and clubface, and found that if I had my hands a bit lower on the grip (but not just above the shaft), brought my left hand further round on the grip, and closed the clubface more than usual, I was hitting it really nicely, good trajectory, and going 200 or so. tried not to think about anything, particularly not windows in the sky!

not playing again until next Friday, so will be interesting to see how that technique transfers to the course.
		
Click to expand...

One other thing that may be at play here is alignment. At the range it's very easy to align your feet to the target because there are so many paralell lines around. Indeed we still manage to misalign even so. And we often misalign our bodies, the most common being shoulders open to the target line (think about your body/shoulders being turned more towards the target at address). However on the course the teeing ground usually doesn't have the same effect, so we can end up aligning way left or right of where we intended with either our feet, clubface, shoulders, maybe all three. Even the best pros in the world have to constantly work on their alignment, stands to reason we should work on it more than we do. If in doubt maybe ask a playing partner to check if youre aligned properly, can't do this in a comp but in a bounce game you can. If you are way out but then subconsioucly swinging to compensate (your mind knows where the target is) that would produce crazy results. Best of luck this weekend!


----------



## Wolf (Dec 21, 2018)

Had a play at the range myself today as it was far to wet.. Driver straight right, made some tweaks to set up then straight right with a slice to boot so pretty much hit it wide of the range. Went back to normal set up shot service resumed to a straight right shot, only common denominator was nothing was coming out the middle of the club face. Tried hitting the 3 wood everything was nice and straight or straight with a nice soft cut my usual preferred shot shape plus out the middle of the club.

So have now ordered a 43 inch shaft to put in the driver to try that out over the festive period to see if in my case it really is those extra 2.5 inches in shaft length that is causing my issue.


----------



## HomerJSimpson (Dec 21, 2018)

rudebhoy said:



			went to the range this morning and gave this a try. was hitting it ok with my hands just about on the shaft, but wasn't getting any distance, it was going about 150.

done a fair bit of messing around with grip and clubface, and found that if I had my hands a bit lower on the grip (but not just above the shaft), brought my left hand further round on the grip, and closed the clubface more than usual, I was hitting it really nicely, good trajectory, and going 200 or so. tried not to think about anything, particularly not windows in the sky!

not playing again until next Friday, so will be interesting to see how that technique transfers to the course.
		
Click to expand...

If I was being brutally honest, rather than adding in all the tweaks and compensations get a driver lesson and get it sorted once and for all. If you can start hitting a driver a reasonable distance (220-230 but on the fairway or semi-rough at worse most of the time) then it does make the game a tiny bit easier.


----------



## Dasit (Dec 26, 2018)

HomerJSimpson said:



			If I was being brutally honest, rather than adding in all the tweaks and compensations get a driver lesson and get it sorted once and for all. If you can start hitting a driver a reasonable distance (220-230 but on the fairway or semi-rough at worse most of the time) then it does make the game a tiny bit easier.
		
Click to expand...

Why would a lesson work?

They are not some magic cure


----------



## Deleted member 3432 (Dec 26, 2018)

Dasit said:



			Why would a lesson work?

They are not some magic cure
		
Click to expand...

Problems with lessons is the majority of people who have one don't put the work in after the lesson to get any benefit. 

Work hard, carry out the drills given you by your pro, practice properly and you can see real benefits.


----------



## chrisd (Dec 26, 2018)

Dasit said:



			Why would a lesson work?

They are not some magic cure
		
Click to expand...

Exactly why they should work. The pro improves your swing, you play better, you score better, your handicap comes down - no magic you just learn something that makes you do it better


----------



## bobmac (Dec 26, 2018)

As long as the changes the pro gives you make sense and you understand how they will help your game.


----------



## Hobbit (Dec 26, 2018)

Does it matter if you miss 50%-60% of the fairways? If you're playing off a relatively high handicap, you've got shots that you can use to knock it back in play. I'm all for ambition and hitting good shots but it sounds like some are almost too fussy about missing left, missing right. Unless you've got a really destructive shot, which a pro can help you with, just get out there and smash it. Its only a game.


----------



## Deleted member 3432 (Dec 26, 2018)

bobmac said:



			As long as the changes the pro gives you make sense and you understand how they will help your game.
		
Click to expand...

Agree with that.

I think its very important the the pro works with what the player 'has'. No point in teaching certain things if the player cannot physically get into a particular position.

I'm really enjoying working with my current pro, yes progress in erradicating totally my main swing fault is slow but recent practice sessions are showing a big improvement in tightness of dispersion and consist quality of strike. Clear idea of what we need to do at present and the next step in the process which is going to be a Trackman combine test to add a pressurised situation and highlight weaknesses.


----------



## HomerJSimpson (Dec 26, 2018)

Hobbit said:



			Does it matter if you miss 50%-60% of the fairways? If you're playing off a relatively high handicap, you've got shots that you can use to knock it back in play. I'm all for ambition and hitting good shots but it sounds like some are almost too fussy about missing left, missing right. Unless you've got a really destructive shot, which a pro can help you with, just get out there and smash it. Its only a game.
		
Click to expand...

Its a valid point unless a player has a two way miss and doesn't know which way the next one will go and more importantly why. I seem to have managed to take the left to right out of the equation which really helps as I can aim centre right with more confidence.


----------



## Orikoru (Dec 27, 2018)

Wolf said:



			Had a play at the range myself today as it was far to wet.. Driver straight right, made some tweaks to set up then straight right with a slice to boot so pretty much hit it wide of the range. Went back to normal set up shot service resumed to a straight right shot, only common denominator was nothing was coming out the middle of the club face. Tried hitting the 3 wood everything was nice and straight or straight with a nice soft cut my usual preferred shot shape plus out the middle of the club.

So have now ordered a 43 inch shaft to put in the driver to try that out over the festive period to see if in my case it really is those extra 2.5 inches in shaft length that is causing my issue.
		
Click to expand...

Did you not try gripping a bit further down to test if a shorter shaft would do anything??


----------



## Wolf (Dec 27, 2018)

Orikoru said:



			Did you not try gripping a bit further down to test if a shorter shaft would do anything??
		
Click to expand...

 Tried it in the past and doesn't feel right to me gripping down. Even though in theory it's the same it's just one of those feel things. When I grip down a club automatic tendency for me is a punch shot of to ease off to much. So gone with the slightly shorter shaft, plus now have a spare of a slightly different length to get the right mix for me.


----------



## User 105 (Dec 27, 2018)

I've done this a bit this year and put Srixon UDI in the bag. I think it depends what you're trying to achieve.

For me taking iron off the tee does make my score far more consistent. i.e. Far less variability. Which usually means shooting around my handicap reasonably comfortably.

But on the days when my driver is working (very rare) I will shoot 5-6 under my handicap. But when it isn't can easily shoot 10-20 over


----------

