Sick to death of my driver! Is it now becoming a mental issue?

[njrose51]

So I played on Sunday in a roll up and thought as its nice and relaxed I'll use the opportunity to focus on the driver. No comp or team pressure.

After severely topping it 3 times and shanking it once, I thought... "hmmm, lets not use this wonderful club again today." well, it might have been a bit stronger language than that and it took all my will power not to snap my TayloreMade RBZ in half.

One more try - boomed it 259 yards.
Next driving hole - topped it
17th and 18th - nailed it both times! 243 and 239 respectively (Last one into wind and uphill)

(Garmin s20)

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME AND MY DRIVER!!!!

Went to the range yesterday - hook, slice, nailed it, shin smashers, nailed it. I am just so inconsistent. And I'm having lessons that focus on my driving. I just can't seem to get on with it in a way that gives me the confidence to pull it out of my bag.

So out came the RBZ 3 wood on the range. Nailed it in a way that I can live with on the golf course, maybe 80% of the time. Full of confidence, clear head/no swing thoughts, straight and great flight. Maybe averaging 220/230? hard to tell though with range balls and my local range slopes at the end.

So, do I...

Drop the Driver
Stick with it as when it delivers, it delivers well
Do I risk loosing holes or points with the Driver in comps?
Do I stick with my Ping Crossover and 3 wood?

The thing is, when it goes right, the driver is awesome. When it goes wrong, which is the greater average per round, then it really puts me in the sh*t

I'd welcome your thoughts.

Thanks,

Nick

 

[Beezerk]

Get a Mini.

 

[power fade]

I have similar issues though maybe not to same extent. Its probably not a technical thing and more if you are tense or uncomfortable over the ball.
I think when we feel relaxed and head not clouded with swing thoughts or uncertainty then its a slightly easier game.

 

[NorfolkShaun]

Had problems with mine for over a year.

Getting there now, took lessons and worked really hard on it with a few swing changes to help.

The problem I had was trying to hit it too hard. Slow the swing down to a smooth repeatable swing and bingo...

It is mental though, you have to think with nearly every other club you are trying to hit a target. With a driver it is easy to just try to go as far as possible.

 

[rksquire]

I'm a fan of sticking with it, although I suspect that's an opinion in the minority. If you can nail it on occasion (20&?) and the remainder are a mix of hook, shank, slice, top then the set-up is different each time. Go to the range and be patient. Set-up with the ball in the same position, same width, same grip etc. and hit it a few times. Even if it goes awry, keep exactly the same set-up and hit it again. If your set-up is the same time, it should go awry every time. There's something wrong, but at least it's consistent! Assess what happens, and only change one thing you think might help - keep everything else the same.

(When I've had similar inconsistent issues, it has come down to me dipping my head down and forward immediately when I started my backswing (so my head moved closer to the ball in 2 directions if that makes sense). Focusing on 'keeping tall' helped)

 

[power fade]

I agree with above. There is always a temptaion to really smash the driver that you dont feel with other clubs. When i am hitting it well i try to hit it harder and harder and end up throwing myself at the ball and all manner of nasty shots can occur!

 

[Coffey]

I had this issue at the start of the season, and it sometimes sneaks back into my game. What i found useful was working out what i was doing wrong on the bad hits. I went to a simulator and noticed that my club face at impact is so open that I slice it. As a result, i then close it too much and I hook it massively. I also noticed that my angle of attack was negative which meant i was hitting down on the ball rather than up at the ball. I adjusted my stance by leaning back slightly and therefore hitting up at the ball. Massively increased distance and accuracy from that. I also found that I was too tense at address, i was trying to make my swing like a robot and keep everything so still that I wasn't swinging naturally.

Now I stand on the tee and just relax, let the arms come through and keep the club face closed in comparison to my swing path. Obviously doesn't work every time as everyone has a bad hit. Just take a nice easy back swing and make sure you commit to the swing coming through.

I watched plenty of videos and got a good few lessons to fix it, but I spent a lot of time at the range to work out exactly what happens on the bad ones and then looked into how to fix it.

I would say my driver has went from being my worst club to being one of my strongest and would hit most fairways now.

Overall i would say stick with it, but make sure you practice at the range as you will just get frustrated on the course. I also believe that the rbz is designed for distance and the shaft is pretty long. May be worth looking at getting it shortened, but i am not 100% sure about this.

 

[patricks148]

Had the same sort of problems the last two years where i have lost all confidence with the driver... which was once the most consistent part of my game before.

I worked on my iron play and improved that quite a bit, the cost of that is the driver now is a liability.

as others have said its mostly trying to hit the thing too hard and being too aggressive with it. been working on tempo and length of swing. slightly shorter... working so far

 

[lukeysafc100]

Slow down! literally right down! I have issues with my driver at times - its generally a timing issue with the swing - hips to fast or to slow.
But I slow down for a few holes (yes lose 10-20 yards) but it gives a bit of confidence back.

 

[Rlburnside]

Might be as simple as the shaft is to long for you, when you think that players on tour are using shafts that are shorter than yours it might be worth asking a pro for advice.

 

[chip barm]

Slow down! literally right down! I have issues with my driver at times - its generally a timing issue with the swing - hips to fast or to slow. But I slow down for a few holes (yes lose 10-20 yards) but it gives a bit of confidence back.

i agree. my driver is the club i can rely on the most. it took some time to understand what worked for me but i'm happy hitting a slow 210 - 220 yard drive straight as and it only really goes wrong when i up the auntie and try to push for a bit extra. it depends what you want really. i'm happy with a straight drive to that distance. i know i'm not going to break any long drive records but i know i'm getting away well, which is important to me. whereas, before i slowed it down, i didn't know what i was going to get.

 

[njrose51]

Thanks everyone,

I don't think its down to the club as I could have the most expensive driver in the world, fitted by the worlds best fitter and I'd still top it because its me swinging the damn thing! I just seem to have this issue in that, from about 3/4 into my backswing, it all goes ... super ballistic, not completing the turn, looking up, sequencing, trying to hit too hard, head coming up, knee straightening, weight transfer, body shift etc. If there is a reason why you can't hit the driver, you name it, I'll do it!

But with the Ping Crossover - average 210-230 even longer in summer - and the 3 wood - 230 plus - then I'm currently struggling to see why I should put myself under pressure to hit the driver. Then I nail a drive over 250/260 and think YES stick with it.

It is THE most frustrating aspect of my game! I'm improving, albeit slowly, in all areas, apart from the often disgraceful, sometimes brilliant, driver!

#veryconfusedgolfer

 

[Hobbit]

Looking at the yardages you've posted suggests you're giving it a bit of umph. If you're good enough to do that consistently, carry on using it. If you're not you have two choices. Leave it in the garage or learn to hit it properly. Forget the fact the good one did x, what is making the bad one do y?

As a first try, I'd suggest taking your driver down to the range and trying to hit 3/4 swing drives at a specific target. You'd be amazed at how much control you will learn by doing this. Once you're comfortable with this, slowly increase the length of swing and power till you feel the level of control is unacceptable then dial it back to where you're happy.

Alternatively, go and buy a new driver. Subconsciously you will concentrate more and swing easier with a new stick till you're really comfortable with it. You break the cycle of lash/lost ball/lash.

 

[Region3]

Every club in the bag apart from driver we expect to hit a certain distance. Driver we want to go as far as possible.

Pick a point in the fairway that is a sensible driver distance away and focus on hitting it that far.

I'm guessing btw.

 

[User 105]

This is me all over. Definitely a mental thing with me. I've been going round and round on this for 3-4 years now.

I'll go through periods of driving well and I'll shot in the 70's with ease. Then I'll hit a could of bad drives and all the old thoughts and feelings come flooding back and I'll be all over the shop for months until I hit a patch of from.

I can only really describe it as the yips with the driver. I just can't commit to the swing no matter what I do, and I've tried everything my pro has suggested.

The really bad thing is if I haven't got over it withing 3-4 weeks it starts leaking into my other clubs and then I'm a complete mess and just want to quit the game. :angry:

 

[njrose51]

Every club in the bag apart from driver we expect to hit a certain distance. Driver we want to go as far as possible.

Pick a point in the fairway that is a sensible driver distance away and focus on hitting it that far.

I'm guessing btw.

that is something I have not tried before but I like it!

 

[garyinderry]

Work on strike. I can pretty much guarantee that if you go to the range and stick some impact tape on your driver, you will find you are hitting it all over the face. some good some shockers.


Work on getting your strike grouping on the face much tighter you will see a huge increase in your consistency.

Hugely over looked part of improving.

 

[mcbroon]

Let the big dog eat.

 

[Imurg]

Oh boy, does this sound familiar!
I'm finding a mini driver helps a little but it's not giving me much more than my normal 3 wood.
I've left the driver out plenty of times and just played with the 3 or 4 wood off the tee. Won enough too. But it does hold you back, especially into the wind.
What's really annoying is that 20 years ago I was a demon driver. I won many a longest drive prize with my Great Big Bertha and 270-280 were regular distances. Various breaks in playing - injury, parenthood to name 2 - and the driving had gone so far south it's shacked up with a bunch of penguins..
I'll have times when I drive pretty well - H4H this year for example. But for every good driving round there are 2 or 3 messy ones.
I've almost decided to ditch the driver completely but something inside keeps telling me to persevere. My tennis elbow definitely isn't helping and when that clears and we join the new club I might bite the bullet and actually get a lesson or two with the new Pro.
Until then its either a 3 wood, a mini or flipping a coin with a driver......

 

[MC72]

Thanks everyone,

I don't think its down to the club as I could have the most expensive driver in the world, fitted by the worlds best fitter and I'd still top it because its me swinging the damn thing! I just seem to have this issue in that, from about 3/4 into my backswing, it all goes ... super ballistic, not completing the turn, looking up, sequencing, trying to hit too hard, head coming up, knee straightening, weight transfer, body shift etc. If there is a reason why you can't hit the driver, you name it, I'll do it!

But with the Ping Crossover - average 210-230 even longer in summer - and the 3 wood - 230 plus - then I'm currently struggling to see why I should put myself under pressure to hit the driver. Then I nail a drive over 250/260 and think YES stick with it.

It is THE most frustrating aspect of my game! I'm improving, albeit slowly, in all areas, apart from the often disgraceful, sometimes brilliant, driver!

#veryconfusedgolfer

Have a look at the video link below, one of a series of 3 short videos (the 2 others will be listed below this one on YouTube) which should help:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=72-UFjSlpvM