i'm an 18 handicap and i think the biggest flaw in my game is my driver. i played this past weekend and after a while, this guy in my group made some comment like, "you don't know WHERE his drive is gonna go..." i guess people usually miss one way. they might slice consistently or hook consistently but i hit fades, hooks, slices and every once in a while, i hit one right down the middle. it's tough when there's water on the right but can't figure out which way to hit it because it might be a hook or it might be a slice. :eek:
it's hard to say where the problem lies without looking at your swing. one problem obviously is confidence. if you're not confident on a hole with no water on the right, you'll be even less confident when there is. the first thing i'd do is go to the range and build some confidence with your driver. then the feeling of being able to hit a good drive will be ingrained into your mind when you get into tough situation.
now, the tough part is being able to hit good drives on the range. one common problem is trying to swing too hard. idk if this is the case with you but you may try swinging easier and more on tempo so your body, arms and hands are in total control. you may lose distance but it's better to be shorter and in the fairway than long and behind some trees.
as for playing a tee shot with water on the right. if you've been hooking and slicing all day (if you're a right hander), i'd favor the left side so that if you hit a slice, you'll still be safe. it's possible that you might hit a hook but it's better to be left than in the water.
from the sound of it, you're really not confident and the course is not the place to get your confidence back.
another tip is to leave the driver in the bag. go with a 3 wood. get really good with that club. then you can start working on the driver. if you ever lose your confidence on the course, you can pull 3 wood out of the bag with confidence.
yeah, i guess i've been playing a lot of twilight golf instead of practicing at the range recently so i've been trying to fix my driver in the wrong way. i was driving the ball well for a 2 week period but it just went awry all of a sudden. the thing about the 3 wood is, i almost never hook or draw that club but my slices are even worse with it. i'd say i'm even more inconsistent with my 3 wood than the driver, believe it or not.
If your driver is so bad that you don't know whether it's going to be a pull hook or a slice, you should just get lessons. There's obviously a fundamental flaw in your swing and even one lesson would help you out a great deal. You can practice as much as you want but the fact is, you'll probably be practicing the wrong thing. This will make your swing even worse as it gets further ingrained into your muscle memory.
i, too have similiar problem with the driver.. i usually push the ball a bit..
bad drive usually lowers my confidence.. and it affects my whole game..
i wish i could hit straight drive once in a while..
good luck with your problem.. :)
Sometimes I hook the ball, sometimes I slice. I'm doing a lot better lately remembering to stand further away from the ball (my playing partner says I stand too close and collapse my left arm), ball more forward in my stance, don't collapse my left arm at the top, and keeping my head down much longer.
Those tips helped me greatly improve my driving accuracy.
Hitting slices and pulls is a result of incorrect path....the clubface is approaching the ball from out to in...sometimes with an open face, sometimes closed or closing...lotta things will cause a cut path...most common is hitting from the top...that is, the trail upper body is controlling the DS move...almost immediately throwing the club forward of the correct plane....the best advice I can give is seek a few lessons from a reputable pro...if you're a committed *do it yourselfer*....give your hands, arms and club room to work...that'll probably entail setting up much further from the ball than you're use to with all the clubs....square yourself and the clubface to the target line....position the ball in the middle of your stance and use that as a starting point for ball position...eventually you'll need to position the ball more forward in the stance with the longer clubs...but not by a bunch....hope this helps...but really, you should seek pro help....spyder
Im working on switching drivers and this is common for me. One of the things I've found with honing in on my natural swing when tinkering (and maybe thats part of your problem here) is that a 'chicken wing' sort of thing starts to happen from working the shot. When things go wrong, I try to remember, tempo and feel for the clubhead. I take a favorite iron and swing that with what makes it work it's wonder, then translate that to my driver.
Another thing I do, is let the pull or hook happen consistent, then try to make the other extreme consistent (slice / push). Then I try to work toward the worst of these extremes 'till I get to the middle - teaching myself in the process. If it doesn't work or if you cant consistently hit the extremes, a pro will show you the right path. Ask the pro how to hit fades and draws so you can fix this later yourself.
i'm an 18 handicap and i think the biggest flaw in my game is my driver. i played this past weekend and after a while, this guy in my group made some comment like, "you don't know WHERE his drive is gonna go..." i guess people usually miss one way. they might slice consistently or hook consistently but i hit fades, hooks, slices and every once in a while, i hit one right down the middle. it's tough when there's water on the right but can't figure out which way to hit it because it might be a hook or it might be a slice. :eek:
I think the greatest fix in driving is your set-up and preshot routine. You have to "feel" balanced and at ease when you are addressing your ball. This to me is 90% of my swing at the t-box. Basically, you shouldn't feel tense and rigid when you are set to start your backswing.
Here's what I do (BTW 15 HDCP)
1. Look down the fw and find your target landing spot.
2. Place your ball down and then find a marker a foot or two in relation to your fw target. (are you with me..?)
3. Now just concentrate on hitting you ball to that marker a foot or two in front of your ball.
This has helped me tons. Once I address the ball and my marker in front of the ball, in relation to my target landing spot on the fw, I never even look down the fw.
May 18th, 2004, 06:59 PM
my driver is killing me!!!!
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