Slow Swing, Short Drive

[Fabia999]

Hi,

Played my 2nd comp yesterday and it didn't go too well. my already bad handicap is going up.

Now im playing off the whites, I'm really feeling my short drives are racking up extra shots for me.

Is there any fellow slow swingers out there? How far can you drive the ball? Do you also feel the extra distance hitting from the whites?

I hope some of these answers will make me feel better! haha

 

[JGolfer]

What are you considering a slow swing ? My PP has a slow swing averages about 170 off the tee Inc roll he plays off 23. He struggles from whites but I've mentioned while he may be short off yhe tee there are other ways to save shots of he feels he can't get anymore distance. Now he is working on 100 yards and in, give him few months and I can see he scoring dropping if he puts in the correct practice.

 

[Grant85]

Hi,

Played my 2nd comp yesterday and it didn't go too well. my already bad handicap is going up.

Now im playing off the whites, I'm really feeling my short drives are racking up extra shots for me.

Is there any fellow slow swingers out there? How far can you drive the ball? Do you also feel the extra distance hitting from the whites?

I hope some of these answers will make me feel better! haha

My suggestion would be for the immediate to manage your game better and not worry too much about how far you are hitting the ball, and especially how far others are hitting the ball.

If you are playing a midlength par 4 and you know that you can't get there in 2, then just play it as a 3 shotter. This way after 2 shots, you are going to effectively turn every par 4 into a par 3 (with a par 4 sized green).

Problem with playing Driver then 3 wood or hybrid on every hole is that you are going to bring bigger numbers into play. If you can plonk a 3 wood into play off the tee, lay up with a 6 iron, then hit a 9 iron towards the green - then I'm guessing you will score better than by going with a more typical approach of trying to hit every shot as far as you can. You will also feel a lot more in control of your game.

Appreciate I'm making a generalisation about your game, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Ultimately if you aren't hitting the ball far enough, then get better. But likely this will involve lessons and some adjustments to try and get more speed / distance.

 

[ScienceBoy]

A slow swing speed will only cost you shots if your missing the fairway with your drive or then trying to hit too far with your second and going into trouble.


If your short off the tee and not great from the deck with longer clubs then consider playing two shorter clubs. Yes your taking three to the green instead of two but you will have less disaster holes. More bogeys yes but also less triple bogeys!

 

[pendodave]

How slow is slow??
Efficiency of strike can make a huge difference. This can be in terms of hitting the ball in the middle of the club, or optimising the launch and spin characteristics of your shots.
Without knowing all these, is almost impossible to suggest ways of getting more distance.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I'm quite a slow swinger and hit around 185-195. I do suffer on longer courses, I only play comps at my place off the yellows, 6400yds compared to 6,800 off the whites, because of this. I do enjoy away courses that are a bit more strategic than all about length.

The key to good scores in this situation is to really improve your short game. If that is tight then you can still score well. Accept your length off the tee, for now anyway, and really focus on your shots from 50yds and in. You will be amazed how much that helps your scoring.

A slow swing does not always mean short distance incidentally. A fellow forumer, he likes black 😉, has a very easy and slow looking swing but he really hits it out there. Good technique, something I don't have, is the key.

The upside to this for us, if we are 10 degrees out off the tee then we are still likely to be in play. 10 degrees out for a bomber is oob or in the rubbish 😄

 

[duncan mackie]

Length of the tee is one of the primary reasons for senior handicaps....although once you get to 18 that excuse starts to wear thin!
Everything is relative and whilst within the vets many consider I hit it miles, playing the last couple of medals with someone (different each time) who hits the ball properly (apex heights on all shots well over 100') I'm 40, or more, yards back of every tee!
When playing for enjoyment pick your tees carefully - when playing comps think about your tee shots as much as your approach strategy ie possibly counterintuitively I will rarely hit a driver on a hole I can't realistically reach in regulation. It's much better to plot the strategy including the tee shot than from the rough 150 off the tee with 250 left to go!

 

[Sats]

Hitting it further CAN make huge differences - especially if you can get it into play. I play with a friend who is nearly 60 and hits it so short that I've out drove him with my 7iron against his 3 wood in the past. We played the other day on a long 440 yard par 4 and he had nearly 260 left in whilst I was on the fairway hitting an 8iron. I walked away with a birdie while he blobbed the hole by a considerable amount.

On the other hand we played holes where he's plodded up the fairway and got a par.

If you do want to hit it further you'll have to get better at strike, whilst getting stronger and faster. Or learn to accept your strengths and weaknesses and try to find a strategy that best suits you.

 

[fundy]

how slow is slow, how short is short and why are you a slow swinger?

is it age or physical restriction? if it is then read above and work out how best to play with it (or if you dont like harsh recommendations)

if not then personally i would be looking to address this sooner rather than later than accepting taking 3 to reach every par 4 etc as some suggest. go and have a lesson or two and tell the pro you are looking for extra yardage. that or buy a new driver (joking!)

 

[jusme]

As already said stop worrying and just focus on 100 in. A regular PP of mine is about 160 of the tee and he hits 40 points plus as often as the rest of us. He has a good short game and accepts that most par 4's are out of his reach in 2. Hits woods on most par 3's.

Many seniors get no where near 160 of the tee.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We have several single figure guys that average about 200-210 with driver at best and play with a distinct left to right cut. They know they can't get to many of the par 4's in two and every par 5 is a three shotter but they get to within 100 yards and pitch, chip and putt you to death. For me, if the OP can improve those areas he'd see long term gains in the scoring

 

[jim8flog]

Hi,

Played my 2nd comp yesterday and it didn't go too well. my already bad handicap is going up.

Now im playing off the whites, I'm really feeling my short drives are racking up extra shots for me.

Is there any fellow slow swingers out there? How far can you drive the ball? Do you also feel the extra distance hitting from the whites?

I hope some of these answers will make me feel better! haha

When you have a higher handicap it is about using the handicap wisely. 18 and over you are not expected to get to the green in the regulation number of shots so stop trying to.

 

[Slab]

Length of the tee is one of the primary reasons for senior handicaps....although once you get to 18 that excuse starts to wear thin!
Everything is relative and whilst within the vets many consider I hit it miles, playing the last couple of medals with someone (different each time) who hits the ball properly (apex heights on all shots well over 100') I'm 40, or more, yards back of every tee!
When playing for enjoyment pick your tees carefully - when playing comps think about your tee shots as much as your approach strategy ie possibly counterintuitively I will rarely hit a driver on a hole I can't realistically reach in regulation. It's much better to plot the strategy including the tee shot than from the rough 150 off the tee with 250 left to go!

I think its really worth bumping this post to highlight the above statement

Probably something all of us have thought standing over a Par 4 2nd shot on many occasions, "I cant get there with this so I'll do xyz" but how many of us routinely do it on the tee

 

[Fabia999]

how slow is slow, how short is short and why are you a slow swinger?

is it age or physical restriction? if it is then read above and work out how best to play with it (or if you dont like harsh recommendations)

Speed: 70/75 I believe.

Reason is physical restriction. I'll never be a fast swinger and I've accepted that.

I'm just hoping that people are roughly the same and can hit it a respectable distance so I know its possible.

 

[Fabia999]

The reason for original post:

I scored 28, I admit not good, however my battery died and i had to push my trolley, and with my restrictions that really tired me out. However, I really thought my 29 handicap would have still gone down with that.

Any idea how much ill have to score before its starts to go down? or is it because I was hit and miss (3 on 1 hole then 0 then 3 on the next etc).

Really appreciate all the help so far. Thanks guys!

 

[Marshy77]

If your driver is getting you into trouble off the tee then it's time to switch to a club that can get you in play from the tee. If you can hit your hybrid/fairway/4/5 iron 150+ yards plus roll out consistantly then I would switch to that for the time being.

Use your shots. Try playing to your handicap and then maybe get a lesson or try practice more to try keep the consistancy going.

 

[pendodave]

With a 75 mph swing correctly optimised you could get it out to 200yds...
https://trackman.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115006035208-Driver-Optimization
Would probably be enough to play good golf on most courses. However, it would require an investment in time and money ( having lessons with someone with the kit to measure these things) to get there I guess...

 

[Lord Tyrion]

The reason for original post:

I scored 28, I admit not good, however my battery died and i had to push my trolley, and with my restrictions that really tired me out. However, I really thought my 29 handicap would have still gone down with that.

Any idea how much ill have to score before its starts to go down? or is it because I was hit and miss (3 on 1 hole then 0 then 3 on the next etc).

Really appreciate all the help so far. Thanks guys!

I take it this was stableford? Without getting overly complicated and involving CSS etc, par in stableford would be 36 points. There is a small zone around that where you neither go up or down, called the buffer. To get cut you probably need to be scoring 38 points or more.

There are more detailed, more accurate, responses to what I have written but I would not get overly involved in them at this stage. Keep it simple, 36 is your target.