Ditch the driver

[londonlewis]

On many occasions after hitting a wayward drive, I have thought 'I should retire this club and concentrate solely on my 3-wood off the tee'. After all, it works for Stenson when he bombs it just shy of 300 yards.

But I feared losing distance.

My driver woes are probably directly influenced by a lack of confidence in using the club, which generally means I just don't get the strike or direction I am after.

On Sunday, I played against my father in law. I didn't use my driver once. I was significantly more accurate off the tee and typically gave myself more opportunities to score well on each hole.

But was I losing distance?

The acid test came on the Par-4 17th.

Father in law has the honours. He chirps 'I don't want to intimidate you but I'm going with driver' as he sees me take 3-wood again.
He hits a pure strike, which is in the middle of the fairway.
I drove it 5 yards past, over on the left side of the fairway.

I'll still carry it round the course but from now on I'll be ditching the driver.


P.S I had putts to win the match on 16 (lipped out after circling the hole and coming back to me), 17 (left it 2 inches short) and 18 (left it one inch short). We drew the match. Annoying.

 

[patricks148]

Thinking the same, only trouble is i just bought another one:rofl:

 

[Alex1975]

Umm, why not use the 3 wood for now while you get comfortable with the driver in practice or wide holes. No point making rules for yourself that might not need to be made.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Or get a driver with a spec that suits you?

 

[londonlewis]

Or get a driver with a spec that suits you?

I'm really not that fussed about using a driver at the moment.
Distance and accuracy with the 3-wood was spot on.

 

[kevster84]

This was how I felt two months ago. Practised at the range and worked out my faults. Now I generally hit it far and straight. The 3 wood is now almost redundant off the tee and struggling off fairway (see my post).

 

[Imurg]

I've dropped the driver on many occasions.
I found it an issue on long holes, I'd try to hit the 3 wood that little bit harder and mess up.
Into the wind I also found it a struggle. The extra spin that the 3w puts on the ball just knocked the distance well down.
Down wind is a different matter though.

 

[GG26]

I've been more accurate with my driver than 3-wood, so rarely used the 3W. I've now taken it out of the bag and replaced it with a 2-hybrid, which is as long as the 3W.

 

[Tarkus1212]

I had my best round of the year last Sunday and didn't use my driver once. I've got a 13.5 degree 3-wood which I used all the way round, except for the three par 3's and two of the shorter par 4's. I'll try doing it again at the weekend.

 

[huds1475]

I've had same issue. Dug out the X2Hot 3 Deep and noticed marked improvement in accuracy, very slight loss of distance, and I mean very slight.

 

[duncan mackie]

On many occasions after hitting a wayward drive...

don't want to intimidate you but I'm going with driver' as he sees me take 3-wood again

I had putts to win the match...

Tee shots are about putting the ball in play - absolute distance is only important in GM forum posts, or at meets (everyone knows that longest drive beats best gross or net everytime).

Anyone intimidated by being out driven by someone taking a longer club has already lost (but simply doesn't realise it)

Putting is everything - anything else is foreplay.

Bin the driver, target your tee shots and get putting lessons.

 

[Nashy]

Everyone has there strengths and weakness. My biggest strength is my driving and so leaving the driver out of the bag and using a 3 wood isn't the best for me. I will happily choose my driver over 3wood when I need to keep a ball in play. Choke down the grip 1-2" and just swing as normal.

I know some people have more confidence in hitting a 3 wood. Confidence is key in this game so if giving up 15-20 yards but trusting the club in your hands can make a huge difference to your scores.

 

[turkish]

Tee shots are about putting the ball in play - absolute distance is only important in GM forum posts, or at meets (everyone knows that longest drive beats best gross or net everytime).

Anyone intimidated by being out driven by someone taking a longer club has already lost (but simply doesn't realise it)

Putting is everything - anything else is foreplay.

Bin the driver, target your tee shots and get putting lessons.

Whilst in the main I agree completely surely it's situation dependant... At the weekend my driver stayed in the bag for all but 3 holes in a calm day.... Tonight I was practicing in 25-30 mph winds and was trying different shots. Into a face wind the higher loft on the 3 wood was going nowhere.... I ended up losing a ball on our 9th as you have 180 yards of crap to carry so in those conditions a 3 wood just isn't an option.

 

[Sashisg]

Sounds like you're I need of some solid time down the driving range. I had a similar situation but pushed through. I didn't want to risk losing total confidence in using the club but at the same time sacrificed my score for a while. I know it's different for everyone and I'm no pro but for me, it was a case of slowing my swing and coming up with a routine that ensured I had the swing right. Lost distance for a while but built it back up over time but this time straight 😊

 

[the_coach]

maybes this might be of help outlining a bunch of stuff and a couple of particular set-up points that are absolutely key

some work with Scott Hamilton down in Georgia - probably one of the best teaching Pro's most folks will never have heard of he does have though a whole bunch of Tour Pro's on his lesson book

though this primarily speaking to how important AoA is (along with all the other necessary launch conditions stuff like strike location, path, dynamic loft etc) to distance given a similar clubhead speed

crucially it's about how set-up is absolutely key to having the opportunity to produce any type of good shot outcomes how that relates to the driver - re ball position, stance width, the relationship of the lead shoulder point to the ball position how that dramatically affects AoA the distance possible with very near the same swing speeds

[video=youtube;sodnZKVouGM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sodnZKVouGM[/video]

 

[351DRIVER]

You shouldn't ditch a club you could previously hit, you should work out your plan of attack before you play 18 holes

I know that i used to pull a driver on 13 holes and in reality should really have only used it perhaps 3 times

Do not ditch the driver, use it with thought rather than just grabbing for it on every par 4 or 5

 

[Garush34]

I did the opposite. I ditched the 3 wood and kept the driver. Over time I learnt to hit it better and things improved and I get all the distance I need. Yeah some days I'm off with it but its not nearly as bad as it used to be. After a few months I purchased an Adams driving iron which goes just a bit shorter than the 3 wood I previously had. Its perfect for the holes I cant take driver on.

 

[351DRIVER]

I tell you something that will help you hit a driver

Buy a longdrive club, spend time with it, learn to hit it

now switch back to your regular driver (You feel like you cannot miss a fairway)

Worked for me anyhow.

 

[bernix]

after i "ditched" the driver (had it in the bag but simply didnt use it) i did some measuring. the loss of average distance between D and 3W was 11 yards (234 to 223). the big difference were the not-so-good shots, much straighter and longer (and much less) with 3W.
my travel bag does not feature a driver anymore
i recently bought a Callaway Apha Mini 1.5 to add some distance and consistancy, i will join my experience with it after i used it for a couple of rounds

 

[Deleted member 21258]

I just couldn't imagine not playing golf without a driver, but that is probably due to I love the buzz of hitting a driver. For instance I would rather hit a driver straight down the middle(or left field or right field), than get a birdie by playing safe, embarrassing or what to admit!! I do not play golf to score.