New driver?

[SaintHacker]

Looking for a bit of advice before I spend anything pointlessly.
I don't currently carry a driver, mainly as the one I have (rbz) I'm quite frankly crap with. I probably hit 3 out of 10 shots straight-ish, with the rest generally fading/slicing off into the distance. The odd shot I do connect with puts me about 260-280 yards. My rbz 3 wood is more accurate by far, probably 7 out of 10 find the fairway or the light rough, but I probably lose 40 yards. I'm debating if its worth going to AG and trying out some more adjustable drivers to see if it can help straighten me out a bit and gain those extra yards off the tee, round my course this would make some of the par 4's driveable, or at least approach with a wedge, and would bring some of the 5's in range in 2. Or would I just be throwing money away? Any thoughts/advice?

 

[MGL]

Personally, I'd spend the money on lessons.

Your playing off 25 and you want to make par 4's reachable in 1 and some par 5's in 2?? I wouldn't be worrying about the 40 yards you 'lose' with the 3 wood. You need to find where the rest of the shots are going because no adjustable driver can make that much of a difference.

 

[SaintHacker]

I know where the extra shots are going. too many silly 3 putts and poor GIR, hence wanting a bit more distance to make my approaches easier.

 

[USER1999]

Hitting the ball a long way is fun, I'll grant you, but it does sound like your chipping and putting are holding you back more than your distance off the tee.

 

[dotty001]

The drivers not your problem it's your ability to use a driver! Plus if you reduce duff chips pitches and 3 putts you will see the h/c come tumbling down

 

[Hunka Turf]

I know where the extra shots are going. too many silly 3 putts and poor GIR, hence wanting a bit more distance to make my approaches easier.

Forgive me because I know you don't want to hear this but a new driver will more than likely not help. If you want to improve your driving then I would suggest lessons on your swing.

Saying that, if your goal is to reduce your handicap it sounds like you don't need a driver. You're hitting 70% of fairways with your 3 wood and hitting it 200-220 which is more than good enough to score well.

GIR isn't the problem surely? If you hit every green in one over GIR, then two putt, you've taken 6 shots off your handicap!

 

[USER1999]

Even off say a 13 h/cap expected GIR is only about 5 in 18 holes.

 

[virtuocity]

If you're hitting your 3 wood 230 yards + then I would recommend a short game or irons lesson.

 

[Khamelion]

HI Saint, I'm with the rest of the 'go for lessons' brigade. I'm a big fan of lessons, thus far in the 2 years since I started playing they have helped me alot, I've a long way to go, but without lessons I just know I will not be able to get where I want to be.

 

[Slab]

Sorry another saying don't do it when it comes to spending your cash on another driver

Not least because a quick look round your signatured course & I see at least 9 holes where I wouldn't take a driver (& I only nudge 200) so it isn't distance off the tee that's gonna make scores fall

 

[SaintHacker]

OK, thanks for all the replies. the wallet is safe. For now

 

[SaintHacker]

Even off say a 13 h/cap expected GIR is only about 5 in 18 holes.

Seriously? I'm amazed by that, I would have thought you would need to be hitting nearly double figures.

 

[tallpaul]

Here are some interesting stats to put anyone's GIR/FIR (and distances!) in context...

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Seriously? I'm amazed by that, I would have thought you would need to be hitting nearly double figures.

Hitting double figures and averaging 2 putts per hole gets you to a single figure handicap.

My order of priority:

1) Get to a point where I'm never (or very rarely) 3 off the tee, even if that means teeing off with a 4 iron on every hole;
2) An extension of 1) improve my course management - play the low risk shot that I'm confident of making; and
3) Practice my short game as much as possible.

 

[USER1999]

Stenson tops the GIR stats on the PGA tour at 72%. That's around 13 per round.

 

[Tommo21]

Looking for a bit of advice before I spend anything pointlessly.
I don't currently carry a driver, mainly as the one I have (rbz) I'm quite frankly crap with. I probably hit 3 out of 10 shots straight-ish, with the rest generally fading/slicing off into the distance. The odd shot I do connect with puts me about 260-280 yards. My rbz 3 wood is more accurate by far, probably 7 out of 10 find the fairway or the light rough, but I probably lose 40 yards. I'm debating if its worth going to AG and trying out some more adjustable drivers to see if it can help straighten me out a bit and gain those extra yards off the tee, round my course this would make some of the par 4's driveable, or at least approach with a wedge, and would bring some of the 5's in range in 2. Or would I just be throwing money away? Any thoughts/advice?

Ill just stick to your driver issue..............I use a RBZ and the stock shafts are crap IMO. Just tried a new stage 2 and the same result, crap. My std RBZ has an Accra shaft and it's night and day, again IMO. I would try a better quality shaft for starters, even if it just gives you a mental boost.

 

[Sid Rixon IV]

Every so often my natural fade worsens or even becomes a slice again and I've been seen fondling a TM Sldr in the pro shop.
But I know that I can reach greens equally well with a different combination of clubs so I put the driver away, take it to the range and sort it.
But, as murph says, it's fun hitting the ball a long way and I'll succumb one day.

 

[sawtooth]

At West Hill Paul you carved a few out to right early on admittedly but when you got going you hit some lovely tee shots. The last 2 were particularly good - straight down the middle and with good distance.

I agree, a lesson or two would give you a bigger pay back right now.

 

[BoadieBroadus]

i'd suggest just ditching the driver altogether and just play with a 3 wood for the time being. i doubt you'll see any difference in a new driver seeing as your current one is pretty modern. i don't see a lot of logic in peoples' insistence on playing a driver.

how many times in a round do you really need it? not on the par 3's. the par 5's aren't really reachable in 2, unless one's single figures there's no need to take it on long, low SI par 4's (that are only reachable GIR with two flush hits) and there's bound to be shorter par 4's that are too tight off the tee.

so that doesn't leave many tee shots where a driver is vital, though it will depend on the course. focus on hitting fairways and getting the hcap down in small regular increments. only worry about driving when hcap starts to get towards 12ish.

watch how many poor drives your playing partners hit, and how many times you have to look for a ball that wasn't hit with a driver cf with ones that were. then reassess how vital using a driver off the tee actually is...

 

[Curls]

Here are some interesting stats to put anyone's GIR/FIR (and distances!) in context...

Very interesting stuff that cheers for posting.

To the OP, while I agree with the sentiments above about short game etc etc if you have room in your bag for a club and the money to spend on it then I don't see why you can't add this while doing the short game work too. Agreed it is possibly HOW you are swinging the driver, the set up is very different from that of an iron shot and many struggle with it so by all means have a lesson. I don't think getting an adjustable driver is the magic answer to straightening out your drives, if only it were that simple!

If you go on ebay and have patience you could pick up a good, older model driver that may be a great addition to your arsenal. Again your pro could advise you about what would work best but it doesn't have to be adjustable to be good, a good shaft that suits your swing speed will be more important and anything that can be adjusted. Good luck on shaving some more off your handicap - you're on the way down so you must be improving! Golf on.