Embrace the bad?

[Scozzy]

So....I'd say I'm a pretty strong and straight iron player and decent putter.Like many of us I am also a terrifying driver of the ball.Over the years of lessons and diligent practice no one person alive knows where the next drive will go and as a result my hcap has hovered around 11 for quite a while now, single figures and my driver are in league with the devil... Anyhoo went to the range with a pal last week,got fed up trying to hit "good" drives and instead set up and purposely tried to hit massive hooks and cuts to a target...a thing of beauty! Same again yesterday, lovely 25 yd "draws" & fades, cough! cough! back into target area. so I'm thinking of going full bubba and giving up trying to keep driver straight of the tee and setting up for the thrill of actually aiming nowhere near my target...can't hurt can it? Anyone else aiming away for better results? It's as many drives to a target I've hit in a decade.........🤔

 

[Maninblack4612]

Is your swing very steep? Jim Hardy says that a lot of steep swingers ("Two Plane" in his parlance") pull from outside with the hands on the downswing instead of the more common "inside throw". This leads to the clubface opening & closing during the swing a lot, as opposed to remaining more square to the swingpath in a flatter swing. Because of this, he says, the likes of Mickleson &, especially, Bubba find it really hard to hit a straight ball & feel much more comfortable working the ball from left to right or vice versa. So perhaps you're working on the right lines. Hardy's highly technical book, "The Release" explains it & it makes a lot of sense.

 

[Scozzy]

Is your swing very steep? Jim Hardy says that a lot of steep swingers ("Two Plane" in his parlance") pull from outside with the hands on the downswing instead of the more common "inside throw". This leads to the clubface opening & closing during the swing a lot, as opposed to remaining more square to the swingpath in a flatter swing. Because of this, he says, the likes of Mickleson &, especially, Bubba find it really hard to hit a straight ball & feel much more comfortable working the ball from left to right or vice versa. So perhaps you're working on the right lines. Hardy's highly technical book, "The Release" explains it & it makes a lot of sense.

Not sure I'd say I'm steep, ive been a longtime Snead squat fan and feel like I bring club through fairly shallow with plenty of juice,over drinks over the years with pals and regular partners who know my game,I think, if anything it stems from my cricket background and a lofted off drive I could sell, leading to huge blocks and snap hooks trying to save it with my hands.thanks for tip will check it out 👍

 

[Maninblack4612]

Not sure I'd say I'm steep, ive been a longtime Snead squat fan and feel like I bring club through fairly shallow with plenty of juice,over drinks over the years with pals and regular partners who know my game,I think, if anything it stems from my cricket background and a lofted off drive I could sell, leading to huge blocks and snap hooks trying to save it with my hands.thanks for tip will check it out 👍

Using the hands a lot will open & close the face rapidly, leading to the clubface not being square for long at impact. This would explain the variable results.

 

[Scozzy]

Using the hands a lot will open & close the face rapidly, leading to the clubface not being square for long at impact. This would explain the variable results.

No doubt! Hence the inevitable! I'm going to give 6 mths to bubba golf and see how it goes setting up for big movement through the air off the tee,from 160yds in I'm straight as you like... ....

 

[Deleted member 25172]

With the driver I always aim left of the target as I know the probability of it fading in is more likely than for it to go straight. When it does goes dead straight it is really frustrating though.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I just want to stop shanking the bleedin' ball...

Should improve my score - would most definitely calm my fevered brow...

But I don't do it with my driver (no hosel I guess) and can easily ping it down the middle 250yds - just that I follow that up with a mighty shank - does my head in.

Ah well - I must embrace the bad, my imperfections and my fallibility.

 

[Scozzy]

Think it's time to go full rogue off the tee and consider a straight drive my " bad shot"…

 

[Deleted member 25172]

Think it's time to go full rogue off the tee and consider a straight drive my " bad shot"…

Ooops. Saw now that this post is under the category "Ask the experts", so I should keep out of this really.

But, if going full rogue aka Bubba is working for you, go for it.

If you want to come to a point where you don't have to go full rogue to get the result that you want, practise it on the range until you feel comfortable with it and then take it out on the course.

In the mean time, just do it, as a big sports brand would say.

/Your full rouge driver friend - Lilyhawk

 

[BubbaP]

... Anyhoo went to the range with a pal last week,got fed up trying to hit "good" drives and instead set up and purposely tried to hit massive hooks and cuts to a target...a thing of beauty! Same again yesterday, lovely 25 yd "draws" & fades, cough! cough! back into target area. so I'm thinking of going full bubba and giving up trying to keep driver straight of the tee and setting up for the thrill of actually aiming nowhere near my target...can't hurt can it? Anyone else aiming away for better results? It's as many drives to a target I've hit in a decade.........🤔

#BeMoreBubba 😁

I was thinking the other day that in my 1st incarnation at trying to be a golfer I never tried to hit a straight shot. It was all about having a reliable shape.
These days, I am similar handicap but regularly set for straight. Not sure if my swing is better or technology or a bit of both.

Anyway, I am typically quite a sensible course management kind of player but my nickname at the club is Bubba . I quite often of late have given myself the BeMoreBubba talk when pushing myself to go for some more risky shots.
Hope you have fun!

 

[Roops]

Ahhh the cover drive........Anyone who tells you Cricket is good for your golf is talking tosh. Sounds like you have the same issue as me. I can hit all my other clubs straight, or draw fade them as I want. Driver, who knows, set up for a draw, huge block.......want a fade, double cross, left of left........Unless I make a perfect swing it could be going anywhere. So I took a look at what was going on, defo miles to steep/vertical on the downswing (exactly like a cover drive), hands trying to lead into impact (like a cover drive), club face aiming right (like a cover drive), standing up through the shot etc etc.

I found some really interesting stuff online by Monte Scheinblum about how to shallow out your downswing to get a more consistent path and face to path relationship. He's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like him, because of the direct and honest approach. He also doesn't preach from the PGA Coaching guide, he will provide very reasoned arguments as to why he believes his approach is better (he doesn't say "right", he always says there is no one size fits all solution).

Has it helped with the Driver ? Without a doubt, and with all the other clubs too. Strike, direction and distance all improved.

 

[Scozzy]

Ahhh the cover drive........Anyone who tells you Cricket is good for your golf is talking tosh. Sounds like you have the same issue as me. I can hit all my other clubs straight, or draw fade them as I want. Driver, who knows, set up for a draw, huge block.......want a fade, double cross, left of left........Unless I make a perfect swing it could be going anywhere. So I took a look at what was going on, defo miles to steep/vertical on the downswing (exactly like a cover drive), hands trying to lead into impact (like a cover drive), club face aiming right (like a cover drive), standing up through the shot etc etc.

I found some really interesting stuff online by Monte Scheinblum about how to shallow out your downswing to get a more consistent path and face to path relationship. He's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like him, because of the direct and honest approach. He also doesn't preach from the PGA Coaching guide, he will provide very reasoned arguments as to why he believes his approach is better (he doesn't say "right", he always says there is no one size fits all solution).

Has it helped with the Driver ? Without a doubt, and with all the other clubs too. Strike, direction and distance all improved.

I’ll check him out cheers,yeah love my cricket although It’ always got me in trouble one way or another 🤔

 

[Maninblack4612]

I used to be a member of a local cricket club &, as they've got older, many members have turned up at the golf club where I'm a member. Some have absolutely horrendous swings & it must frustrate them to be so bad at golf when they were so good at cricket. One, however, was a club champion a couple of years ago, although his swing isn't quite text book. It never bothered me, I do everything left handed, bat, bowl, tennis etc. but I play golf right handed. As a result I don't confuse the two swings. I also feel that the right hand doesn't do much in the swing apart from hold onto the club. Imagining myself playing left handed I'd give the ball a big whack with the left hand with a completely different kind of swing.

As for shallowing the club on the downswing, this is what Jim Hardy, in "The Release", recommends for a "Right Inside Throw" downswing.