Ping Crossover off the tee?

[rudebhoy]

Anyone got any experience of this?

I have been playing for a year, high-handicapper, and my driving is abysmal. It's so bad that I have largely given up with the driver, and am now hitting my 5 iron off the tee. The 5 iron is going well, and I am generally getting it going pretty straight, nice and high, and about 170-175 yards.

The 5 is the lowest iron I have, I also have 3 and 4 hybrids, but have struggled with them off the tee, wayward is an understatement.

I've been thinking about getting a 3 or 4 iron, so I can get greater distance, both off the tee and on the fairway. The Crossover appeals given the amount of forgiveness that is claimed for it.

So, what do you reckon? Should I go for one, and if so, the 3 or the 4? I assume the level of forgiveness is the same for both?

 

[virtuocity]

What makes your driving abysmal?

 

[apj0524]

Have just been fitted for a Crossover, I could not see it replacing my driver but I can its appeal, just remember because of the lofts that the Crossover numbers don't relate to iron numbers, for instance when fitted for irons the 4i replacement was a 5 crossover etc

 

[rudebhoy]

What makes your driving abysmal?

,

They are generally pretty straight, but am struggling to get any height or real distance. I have had a couple of lessons specifically on driving, but they haven't helped. My driving now is worse than it was 6-9 months ago when I was just getting going. I feel much more comfortable and confident hitting my irons.

 

[bobmac]

,

They are generally pretty straight, but am struggling to get any height or real distance. I have had a couple of lessons specifically on driving, but they haven't helped. My driving now is worse than it was 6-9 months ago when I was just getting going. I feel much more comfortable and confident hitting my irons.

I would say the pro has given you good advice but you haven't implemented the changes he gave you.
Buying new clubs will not fix a fault in your swing.
What did the pro change in your lessons?

 

[shewy]

My driving kills me so I got rid, best thing i ever Did, I got a pro dhy not unlike the crossover and it's a real fairway finder about 200 yards. My mini driver is even better at around 220.

 

[rudebhoy]

I would say the pro has given you good advice but you haven't implemented the changes he gave you.
Buying new clubs will not fix a fault in your swing.
What did the pro change in your lessons?

I was using orange tees to try to get a bit more height. he told me to go back to pink tees, change my grip a little, and open the face of the club up a bit. have been trying to do that but the results have not been good.

 

[rudebhoy]

My driving kills me so I got rid, best thing i ever Did, I got a pro dhy not unlike the crossover and it's a real fairway finder about 200 yards. My mini driver is even better at around 220.

sounds good, just spotted a new one on ebay for £70, might give that a go instead.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I think really you have a decision to make. If you are happy just getting out and having a knock with mates then fine, look for something a bit more forgiving off the tee. But if you want to improve as a golfer then the solution is to take lessons. It is really important that you do as Bob says and stick to what the pro tells you. It can be really frustrating but very oftern in this game you have to go backwards to go forwards.

You will never play golf to a high standard if you are hitting irons off every tee but that may not be what you are looking for from the game.

 

[Beezerk]

sounds good, just spotted a new one on ebay for £70, might give that a go instead.

I have a 16 degree Sldr mini driver with reg shaft gathering dust mate. Well used but still decent condition. Was the best club I ever bought, gave me the confidence to start using driver after a year with the Mini.

 

[njrose51]

I was in exactly the same place - crap at driving with woods - D, 3 and 5. So I was using a 5iron. Got my Crossover and am hitting 70-80% of fairways or first cut of rough - averaging (according to garmen s20) 220 yards with the longest being 256 - down hill admittedly and my dispersion is better. So much easier then taking a wood! Also, when you have a long par 3 it is so much easier.

I have it in a 4 iron. I was hitting 3iron further but the dispersion was worse. Also, it is quite confidence building when PPs are taking woods and given it their all and you are only 20/30 yards behind them after hitting an iron. However, the Crossover is only a temporary measure. I am desperate to get back to my woods as I used to hit them well. (trackman at a 2015 golf day - 286, 293 and 316). My new teacher is literally going to start from scratch with the woods - breaking the swing down piece by piece as I am so confused when standing on the tee.

As others have alluded to, if you want to get better you really need distance and accuracy of the tee and you'll only get that distance with a wood. (far easier hitting 8 iron into the green than a 6 iron!). You have to invest in your swing. I've had 3 teachers - one gave me the basics but couldn't progress my scoring. one was great for mental side of the game and the current one - Sarah at East Sussex National - is brilliant at everything. If you don't like what the pro is telling, try another one as the lessons, when coupled with practise, should help.

But as a club, I think the Crossover is great - easy to hit, good distance and confidence building.

 

[rudebhoy]

have booked a lesson tomorrow to try to sort out the driving. If I don't see any improvement, then will deffo go down the route of the crossover or similar.

Played local 9 hole course this afternoon, made a point of using the driver rather than the 5 iron and trying to slow down my swing to make sure the technique was right, was a little better but not much. Doesn't help when the guy I play with is bombing his drives straight, high and long 9 times out of 10!

 

[rudebhoy]

I have a 16 degree Sldr mini driver with reg shaft gathering dust mate. Well used but still decent condition. Was the best club I ever bought, gave me the confidence to start using driver after a year with the Mini.

could be a good option. Had heard the SLDRs were not very forgiving though?

 

[Garush34]

I have the DHY its a great club and does the job on holes that driver isn't required. But I have to agree with others, its not going to fix the issue. Get some more lessons and get working on the driver, you have to put the work in with the changes and see an improvement over time.

 

[Beezerk]

could be a good option. Had heard the SLDRs were not very forgiving though?

That was the main drivers, the minis are fairway finding machines.

 

[rudebhoy]

Well ... had a lesson yesterday, the pro suggested a number of small changes which really seemed to make a difference on the practice ground. The main change was moving my right foot further forward, turned out that when I thought both feet were in a straight line to the target, they were actually about 30-45 degrees out.

Went out for a round straight afterwards, and my driving was totally transformed. Used the driver on every hole other than the par 3s, and the vast majority of my drives were straight, decent flight, and long for me (measured one at 250 which I was well chuffed with). Only duffed one low and left, on the 18th, reckon I was physically and mentally knackered by then!

Will persevere with the driver, just hope I don't forget what he told me to do!

 

[GeneralStore]

Thats positive.

From my limited experience, driving is something like putting in that so much of it is confidence based. If you hit a club off the tee that you love you tend to make a smoother swing with better rhythm, not rushing, keeping width etc...which results in better strikes and more fairways found. Also, depending on your swing you might be better suited to longer irons (steep) versus woods (shallow sweeping) and then a hybrid or crossover might be a good option, but its only an option. What I mean by that is, depending on what standard you want to get to, you are going to struggle to get to single digits hitting a 5 iron on every par 4 and 5, if you are happy with a mid-teens then it will might be good enough on most courses.

I cant remember who said it on here in a post a couple of years back, but it was an amazing piece of advice and they said course management is largely about preserving confidence. So my suggestion would be:
1) Keep taking lessons and improving your weakest clubs/distances by working on them on the range and on the course (different things)
2) Forget what your playing partners are doing and take the club that is going to result in the best scoring average on a hole for YOUR game. Sounds simple enough, but not easy to do for most. I often see someone standing on the stroke index 1 which is 420 yards with a tight fairway and heavy heather and rough on either side and they just hit driver because of the distance. Hit your hybrid, hit it again to just short if you dont catch it right, chip on, make a putt. This will result in some pars or easy stress free bogeys. On a stroke index 1 thats fine no matter what handicap you are. However if you hit driver really well, then no problem, hit driver. Even with your favourite club you will still hit the odd bad one, but it needs to minimised and you need to look at the average.

Bottom line is its about continuous improvement and while your game is in flux (which is every day) then you do whats best for your game to score at that time. You need to balance both. I personally take my 3 hybrid when I need to find the fairway, goes 230 yards for me and I will hit the fairway 8 out of 10 times (have measured). My driver goes 270 yards and will hit the fairway 5 out of 10 times). So when its open AND I can play from the rough AND I need the distance I hit driver, otherwise I will score my best by hitting hybrid and in the meantime I will keep taking lessons to improve the 5 out of 10 times with the driver.

Hope that helps, I am no expert, just telling you how I have managed the same issue. Good luck

 

[njrose51]

following on from my comment yesterday, I had my lesson with my fab Professional yesterday on the driver. It was a very simple change that has made a world of difference. I was too upright, so simply bending my knees, lowering my centre of gravity, making sure my weight was centre/back not centre/forward was pretty much it. BOOM. straight and long drives. This is giving me a very solid foundation to build the swing around. Also, I was straightening my right leg which wasn't helping so we have adjusted that as well. Whilst I'm still not 100% confident taking a wood out of the bag, I do feel very encouraged that things will get better. and in the meantime, there is the crossover!

 

[rudebhoy]

Thats positive.

From my limited experience, driving is something like putting in that so much of it is confidence based. If you hit a club off the tee that you love you tend to make a smoother swing with better rhythm, not rushing, keeping width etc...which results in better strikes and more fairways found. Also, depending on your swing you might be better suited to longer irons (steep) versus woods (shallow sweeping) and then a hybrid or crossover might be a good option, but its only an option. What I mean by that is, depending on what standard you want to get to, you are going to struggle to get to single digits hitting a 5 iron on every par 4 and 5, if you are happy with a mid-teens then it will might be good enough on most courses.

I cant remember who said it on here in a post a couple of years back, but it was an amazing piece of advice and they said course management is largely about preserving confidence. So my suggestion would be:
1) Keep taking lessons and improving your weakest clubs/distances by working on them on the range and on the course (different things)
2) Forget what your playing partners are doing and take the club that is going to result in the best scoring average on a hole for YOUR game. Sounds simple enough, but not easy to do for most. I often see someone standing on the stroke index 1 which is 420 yards with a tight fairway and heavy heather and rough on either side and they just hit driver because of the distance. Hit your hybrid, hit it again to just short if you dont catch it right, chip on, make a putt. This will result in some pars or easy stress free bogeys. On a stroke index 1 thats fine no matter what handicap you are. However if you hit driver really well, then no problem, hit driver. Even with your favourite club you will still hit the odd bad one, but it needs to minimised and you need to look at the average.

Bottom line is its about continuous improvement and while your game is in flux (which is every day) then you do whats best for your game to score at that time. You need to balance both. I personally take my 3 hybrid when I need to find the fairway, goes 230 yards for me and I will hit the fairway 8 out of 10 times (have measured). My driver goes 270 yards and will hit the fairway 5 out of 10 times). So when its open AND I can play from the rough AND I need the distance I hit driver, otherwise I will score my best by hitting hybrid and in the meantime I will keep taking lessons to improve the 5 out of 10 times with the driver.

Hope that helps, I am no expert, just telling you how I have managed the same issue. Good luck

thanks for the advice, it's appreciated. I am 55 and have been playing for a year. At the moment, my ambition is simply to be able to play to a handicap of 28. I am currently averaging +36 for 18, so it feels within reach, just need to cut out silly mistakes. Putting is definitely another area for improvement as I 3 putt the majority of holes.

 

[jmf1488]

My drive used to go 200 yards straight and about 170 with a slice. I was working and working on everything i could and just couldnt get that ball to go any sort of distance. It was so fustrating hitting a 170 yard slice off the tee.

I eventually started to take hybrid off the tee and it was going about 180. Not much further but I was keeping it on the fairway. Everyone I played with teed off much further than me. That started to then bug me and I got my driver back out. I went onto youtube and I youtube and I search for driver videos. How to set up to the ball and that instantly changed everything. I got the odd good one and still a lot of bad ones but I kept at it and kept hitting it and now its going great. I still get the odd slice. I get more hooks now but for the large part Im hitting 265 drives and the driver is my most comfortable club in the bag.

You can learn how to hit the driver. Perservere with it and youll get there in the end. Dont give up.