I'm giving up on the bloody driver

[Lord Tyrion]

Absolutely, seems to be some kind of throwback to our Neanderthal days, the bigger the stick the harder we must hit with it, just don't seem to be able to control ourselves do we... :thup:

I think what he meant:thup: to say was "channel your inner Dustin and belt the everloving Christ out of it"

Love it. I actually do try to hit it as slowly as I can but every few holes the inner numpty takes over and I swing like Dustin, or maybe Dustin's 3rd cousin twice removed who prefers baseball to golf. I can hit a 9 iron quite gracefully and have no issue with that swing speed. The minute I go to rescue or driver the inner numpty takes over.

 

[garyinderry]

What shape are you trying to hit?

If straight then forget about that and set up for a fade. Work on reducing how much shape there is from there.

 

[ManinBlack]

I don't understand the problem people have with the driver. It's the biggest club head in the bag, how can you miss? Please could you say just what your problem is with the thing and I'm sure they'll be loads ready to help, myself included.

+ 1 for this. I would hate to be unable to hit the driver, it's the most satisfying shot to hit. If you can't, it has to be loft &/or length. A 3 wood with a bigger head must be easier to hit.

 

[the_coach]

nothing wrong with using the 3metal (or whatever) off of the tee-box if the club with which you got confidence in & can find fairway more regularly

for sure understand the driver the club that a whole bunch of folks have a deal of trouble with
even though it might not seem it right about now it is a situation that can improve a good deal though just takes looking at what's goin on with it & why then making a few changes

with most folks the majority of issues stem straight from the get-go with how the hands are placed on the handle
- common theme see often times with this is lead hand either too strong but more often a lead hand that's too weak (turned counterclockwise too much) & also handle to high in the palm & that combined with a trail hand that's too strong (turned clockwise too much) so to 'under' the handle & again to high (too near the thumpad) in the hand

then the alignment & posture of the upper body being out of whack (twisted some) to the lower body along with trail arm that's a ways too straight & also too high (relative to the lead arm)
plus issues with ball position relative to the head & sternum position

this all or some of the above puts folks way behind the 8 ball before even any motion takes place as the starting point at set-up just means that so many compensations would have to take place during the swing to get to a functional impact position

get that this was not what the initial post was about
but the issue/s with driver is something that is fixable - would be happy to help should the OP want that

 

[Jensen]

A good tip I picked up was as Driver is the longest club, it takes the longest time to get back to the ball. So don't rush it

 

[Imurg]

I wish I could swing my driver with the freedom I swing my 3 wood....
When I get the driver right it goes and stays gone - but it doesn't happen more than 2/10 times
The others could, literally, be anywhere. Even with shorter shafted drivers, they just don't feel right when I swing them.
Put a 3 wood in my hands and I can give you 230-240 yards in the fairway 7/10 times.,.
I think I'm going to try the mini drivers again with a variety of shafts....

 

[Khamelion]

I wish I could swing my driver with the freedom I swing my 3 wood....
When I get the driver right it goes and stays gone - but it doesn't happen more than 2/10 times
The others could, literally, be anywhere. Even with shorter shafted drivers, they just don't feel right when I swing them.
Put a 3 wood in my hands and I can give you 230-240 yards in the fairway 7/10 times.,.
I think I'm going to try the mini drivers again with a variety of shafts....

Same here, When I get the driver flushed, it's straight and gone, when it goes wrong, it's awful. With a three wood I'll hit that more regularly more accurately and almost as far as my driver.

 

[Face breaker]

Our '13th' is 337 off the yellows, medium breeze from behind, 3-wood in hand, I've caught it sweet and am now stood watching my ball disappear into the distance and over the brow of the fairway...

I put said 3-wood back in the bag and trundle off down said '13th fairway' and when I finally reach my ball it's about 25/30yds out from the pin...

Anyone done the maths yet ?...

That's 'approximately' 310 off the tee...

Remind me again exactly why it is I need a driver...

Oh and by the way, that's an all to common occurrence... :thup:

 

[ManinBlack]

I wish I could swing my driver with the freedom I swing my 3 wood....
When I get the driver right it goes and stays gone - but it doesn't happen more than 2/10 times
The others could, literally, be anywhere. Even with shorter shafted drivers, they just don't feel right when I swing them.
Put a 3 wood in my hands and I can give you 230-240 yards in the fairway 7/10 times.,.
I think I'm going to try the mini drivers again with a variety of shafts....

Is that not because the swingweight has changed? If you shorten the driver you need to add weight to the head to keep the swingweight the same.

 

[Face breaker]

Is that not because the swingweight has changed? If you shorten the driver you need to add weight to the head to keep the swingweight the same.

I was thinking this, not just as simple as shortening the shaft...

 

[jim8flog]

The what??

Rebound face otherwise known as coefficient of restitution (COR).

They banned a lot of drivers because the COR figure was too high. It sadly included my TM R580 .

Hopefully you would have heard of the term 'illegal faced drivers'

 

[ManinBlack]

I was thinking this, not just as simple as shortening the shaft...

I've used this swingweight estimator a lot. It's very accurate

http://www.leaderboard.com/SWINGWEIGHT

 

[Imurg]

Is that not because the swingweight has changed? If you shorten the driver you need to add weight to the head to keep the swingweight the same.

Feels the same even with OEM short shafts...tried a Fusion with the 44" shaft with a different weight in the base a to bring the swingweight up again and still didn't feel right.
I haven't really felt comfortable swinging a driver since I came back to golf after a year off through injury in 04...

 

[ManinBlack]

Feels the same even with OEM short shafts...tried a Fusion with the 44" shaft with a different weight in the base a to bring the swingweight up again and still didn't feel right.
I haven't really felt comfortable swinging a driver since I came back to golf after a year off through injury in 04...

That's curious, it's just another club & if it's swingweighted the same it shouldn't be a problem. I can understand a high handicapper having a problem with the length but not someone off single figures.

 

[Imurg]

That's curious, it's just another club & if it's swingweighted the same it shouldn't be a problem. I can understand a high handicapper having a problem with the length but not someone off single figures.

Good job I can get decent distance with my 3 wood. I use it a lot around the Zoo and it was my go to tee club at Forest Pines.
Have been known to get one out to 270 yards......

 

[tsped83]

I wish I could swing my driver with the freedom I swing my 3 wood....
When I get the driver right it goes and stays gone - but it doesn't happen more than 2/10 times
The others could, literally, be anywhere. Even with shorter shafted drivers, they just don't feel right when I swing them.
Put a 3 wood in my hands and I can give you 230-240 yards in the fairway 7/10 times.,.
I think I'm going to try the mini drivers again with a variety of shafts....

I could quote this verbatim, although a little less distance! Sack the Mini's, go with the 3W ALL DAY LONG.

 

[patricks148]

I've had 2 years of being terrible with the driver. I was a very good driver of the ball and hardly ever missed a fairway, but had quite a flat swing. always hit a big draw with a fair bit of run. But my iron play was't all that so worked on that changed my swing to being more upright. My iron play now is pretty good, unfortunately its been at the expense of my driving. I hit the ball further in the air than i used to and it goes further, but not always straight. Tempo is a big issue for a lot of guys, on the hole most try and smash the skin off the ball.

When i swing smooth and have a slow takeaway and stay behind the ball i can it some great drives, i don't always manage to do that though.

When we had a few very dry months, i could get away without using the driver at all and not sacrifice any distance, same with down wind. its fun hitting a driver when it comes off and thats why we play to have fun at the end of the day. some days and courses you don't need it but some you do

 

[ManinBlack]

Good job I can get decent distance with my 3 wood. I use it a lot around the Zoo and it was my go to tee club at Forest Pines.
Have been known to get one out to 270 yards......

I can get 270 yards out of both my driver & 3 wood but that's hitting them one after the other.

 

[Lazkir]

I've had a bad back since Jan, and it's made my driving far worse than it was. I need to learn a new slower, smoother swing.
I might lose some distance, but as long as it goes where I expect it to then that'll do for me.

 

[Face breaker]

I've had 2 years of being terrible with the driver. I was a very good driver of the ball and hardly ever missed a fairway, but had quite a flat swing. always hit a big draw with a fair bit of run. But my iron play was't all that so worked on that changed my swing to being more upright. My iron play now is pretty good, unfortunately its been at the expense of my driving. I hit the ball further in the air than i used to and it goes further, but not always straight. Tempo is a big issue for a lot of guys, on the hole most try and smash the skin off the ball.

When i swing smooth and have a slow takeaway and stay behind the ball i can it some great drives, i don't always manage to do that though.

When we had a few very dry months, i could get away without using the driver at all and not sacrifice any distance, same with down wind. its fun hitting a driver when it comes off and thats why we play to have fun at the end of the day. some days and courses you don't need it but some you do

You too hey, sounds a familiar story that, set to work on yer swing technique for yer irons at the expense of yer driver swing...