Is it right that a pro wont teach U how to hit a driver without startin on irons

[turkish]

Hi,

Obviously a Newbie so got many flaws in my game but the most obvious one for me is my driving, both in distance and slicing. It really is costing me most shots as I am often 3+ off the tee from either going OOB or hitting into the wilderness and not finding my ball.

Played and been a lot to the range and over past month have managed to lessen my slice, at the expense of distance(which wasn't huge to begin with).

There are a couple of holes on my course where generally you need a driver, or can get away with a 3 wood if a decent sized hitter.

I have now been to 2 different PGA pro's for lessons and asked for lessons with my driver and they've both said with me being a beginner they really want to start on getting the fundamentals right with the iron (which I understand) but surely there must be a bit of coming and going with this?

My irons weren't great as had been hitting them fat but they have improved since some drills I have been given, and some videos to help my understanding.

I've been watching a lot of videos about slicing and there have been things that have helped(on just watched another today which I am going to use tonight) but I do feel having a lesson where I can be told what to change helps more.

My iron shots are relatively straight with the odd slice or pull.

 

[brysoni23]

Why do you need a driver? Your aim cant be to play for GIR's and make birdies as a beginner.

So just work on the swing then introduce the driver later on.

I started back up 3 months ago, I can hit my irons great but i'm bad with the woods so i just tee of with a 3 iron.
Id rather be straight and in play than long and OOB.

 

[turkish]

Why do you need a driver? Your aim cant be to play for GIR's and make birdies as a beginner.

So just work on the swing then introduce the driver later on.

I started back up 3 months ago, I can hit my irons great but i'm bad with the woods so i just tee of with a 3 iron.
Id rather be straight and in play than long and OOB.

Thanks well to begin with- there is certain hole on my course where where a 170 yard tee off is a must (any shorter and you won't get your ball), too big a slice and you are OOB. You can't aim left as there are tons of trees. It is quite a narrow target area but isn't actually that hard a hole once you hit the fairway

I want to play competitions and get my (guaranteed 28) Handicap so I can work on it. I don't want to start playing these until I can get through this hole from the white tee. From the yellow I am less than 50% keeping it in play and/or finding it.

There are other holes similar to this where you need to be "quite" long off the tee but can still be ok if the slice aint too bad.

So in general I understand totally all aspects of working on the fundamentals, working continuously with the irons, which I am doing a lot!!!

But I also have no chance if I can't sort my driver out too!

 

[fundy]

basically you are trying to run before you can walk.

What the pro is trying to teach you with the irons will apply to the driver too, but it is far easier to learn to hit the irons first then apply this to the driver than just trying to learn to hit the driver first. Once you have got to a decent level of consistency with the irons then you can start to go through to the clubs at the longer end of the bag.

In the long term you'll thank him for sorting out your fundamentals this way

 

[duncan mackie]

basically you are trying to run before you can walk.

What the pro is trying to teach you with the irons will apply to the driver too, but it is far easier to learn to hit the irons first then apply this to the driver than just trying to learn to hit the driver first. Once you have got to a decent level of consistency with the irons then you can start to go through to the clubs at the longer end of the bag.

In the long term you'll thank him for sorting out your fundamentals this way

what Fundy has said +++

in extremely basic terms - until you can put a half decent swing on a 7 iron (some would suggest a 6 is the shortest full swing but that's semantics ) you will not be able to swing a driver.

once you have a good swing with a 7 iron it is basically your head that will stop you swinging a driver well; you will try and muscle the ball with the longer clubs to get that distance etc etc etc and it all breaks down.

you can argue all you want about a driver swing being different, woods being swept, driver hit on the up but the same basic swing underlies all these minor elements - and starting with a driver and working back isn't the best way to approach things!

 

[Khamelion]

A 6 or 7 iron to get the fundamentals right, either club gives you a bit of distance so you get the nice feeling of seeing the ball go down range when you get it right and both clubs are easy to control in your new swing.

Then as Fundy writes, when you get the fundamentals right with those clubs you can apply them to the longer clubs.

 

[Foxholer]

Also seems as if you are at too tough a course for a 'beginner'!

 

[turkish]

LOL so it is right only to be taught Irons from pros initially!!!

I am working on the fundamentals all the time; doing drills in my living room, at the range, without the ball, on practice area so will keep working on these with the irons.

Also constantly reading as much info as I can on fundamentals- bought faldos book which is helping, asking questions on here and watching a lot of videos- find menadmygolf guys the best

As for the course it's reasonably tough but I got a really good deal and is a lovely course and have a few mates there too. As for that hole in particular its only a S.I 9 as it's straight forward after the drive. The best i've had is a 6 on it. been many times 3 off tee, sometimes 5 and even the odd 7. Sometimes i've just NR'd too when not confident. Then the S.I 1 had a few pars and +1's....

 

[North Mimms]

basically you are trying to run before you can walk.

What the pro is trying to teach you with the irons will apply to the driver too, but it is far easier to learn to hit the irons first then apply this to the driver than just trying to learn to hit the driver first. Once you have got to a decent level of consistency with the irons then you can start to go through to the clubs at the longer end of the bag.

In the long term you'll thank him for sorting out your fundamentals this way

Agreed.
Despite playing for yonks, I recently developed a major problem with my driving.
Went to a pro and he - like yours - retaught me fundementals using a 7 iron.
All subsequent lessons have been iron based, we haven't used a driver yet.
But my driving has improved A LOT

 

[HomerJSimpson]

As others have said, learning the basics will stand you in good stead, and this will feed down into your longer clubs. Firm fundamentals will have much better longer term results than rushing to hit driver on one hole which to be honest indicates to me that the course may be too hard for a newbie golfer

 

[rickg]

In addition to what has already been suggested, I don't see any hybrids in your set up.
If that's the case, drop your 3,4 and 5 irons and get some hybrids, 28 degree, 24 and 21 degree would be good starting points.

These are easier to hit that your long irons and would enable you to hit the fairway on your difficult hole as they are much more accurate than a driver.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

You should swing the club the same for every full shot, all that changes is setup. Get it right for your irons and your driving will improve.

The biggest mistake made by amateur golfers is they try to lash the ball when they have a driver in their hands instead of swinging with the same tempo as all the other clubs.

 

[Oddsocks]

basically you are trying to run before you can walk.

What the pro is trying to teach you with the irons will apply to the driver too, but it is far easier to learn to hit the irons first then apply this to the driver than just trying to learn to hit the driver first. Once you have got to a decent level of consistency with the irons then you can start to go through to the clubs at the longer end of the bag.

In the long term you'll thank him for sorting out your fundamentals this way

SPOT ON,

When working on technique I don't hit anything bigger than an 6 iron, once it's working fluently with this I step up to 4i / low woods and once it's all firing onto the big dog

Bare in Milne most juniors/newbies will start with a 3/4/5w or hybrid as a " off the tee club " for no other reason other than consistency, I got to 11 as a junior using a 3w,

 

[SaintHacker]

In addition to what has already been suggested, I don't see any hybrids in your set up.
If that's the case, drop your 3,4 and 5 irons and get some hybrids, 28 degree, 24 and 21 degree would be good starting points.

These are easier to hit that your long irons and would enable you to hit the fairway on your difficult hole as they are much more accurate than a driver.

As a high handicap player myself I totally agree with Rick. If you're worried about getting it out over 180 yds a hybrid will do that easily, even with a less than perfect strike.

 

[JustOne]

I would contact a pro and ask him specifically for a driver lesson. I don't see why you should have to learn irons.

Lots of people (including on this forum) hit their irons OK already but can't hit a driver for toffee.

 

[garyinderry]

Lots of people (including on this forum) hit their irons OK already but can't hit a driver for toffee.

hello :whoo:


I have completely different swings for irons than I do for the driver! I know people talk about , same swing just different set ups. its not like that for me at all. for a start I hit down an awful lot with my irons. I doubt I have the same angle of attack with the driver!

 

[louise_a]

After playing for 12 months and getting my handicap down to 19, I went to a pro from "tweaking" like you I hit irons well but not woods. He said you need a solid setup to start with and changed my grip, posture and stance then we started working on my swing.

There is no point in teaching someone how to make the best of a bad job. You need to get the basics sorted first.

 

[JustOne]

Just turn up for your lesson with a driver and a 3-wood :thup:

 

[Foxholer]

Just turn up for your lesson with a driver and a 3-wood :thup:

:rofl: :clap: :thup:

 

[turkish]

Ok a wee update!!! Played my 1st medal on Saturday and scored an expected 113 from the whites(par 70)- My best so far without NR'ing is 111 from yellows. 1st time i'd played from whites.

played some good holes and some not so good; in general my medium to long irons I play pretty well- have good contact now i've sorted my ball positioning- as I said before where I fall down is my driver primarily, then would say short game, then putting(never recorded them but in general 3 putting too much and had one 4 putt).

Went for a (group) trackman lesson with a pga pro yesterday.

At first asked my handicap- told him not got yet but would be 28. From my irons he asked was I Bullsh**ing him with my handicap as irons seemed fine; told him about my driver issue so he got me on the trackman with driver.

Said I had far too negative an attack angle hence my slice. Also said this is likely why my irons seemed fine?!? He tried to show me what I was doing wrong and what I need to change and need to think more in terms of clubface than anything else- for the life of me I just could not get it! Anytime I tried to sweep more on the way up I usually got too far under the ball and it popped up like a PW. I said the tee looked higher than used to but he said it really shouldn't matter as it's the ball we're interested in coming up to not the ground?

I have ball positioned inside of left heel, reasonable posture and steady base.... I feel from what I've watched my set up is fine so I think it must obviously be coming from my clubface and downswing? Are there any drills I can follow to get my attack angle more positive or to neutral?