Driving Woes

[Mr_Slice]

Alright, I can admit it... I need help.

Since my only true golf outings tend to be when I'm visiting my parents, I don't get much actual playing time in. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, my Dad and I decided to go to the range and smack around 100 balls each. After watching us for about 30 minutes, the owner of the range (who claimed he was a retired professional trick shot artist) came over with a few balls and tried to help us out.

He told us that we were using a baseball swing and that we needed to shift our weight to our front foot instead of our back foot by wiggling our hips. I don't doubt him at all. I have great built-in power, but nearly every drive my ball shoots off of the tee dead straight for about 100 yards and then takes close to a 90-degree turn due right. If I over-correct and aim to far left, I end up hooking the ball. It's rare that I ever get a decent shot off the tee and this is the area I need to fix before I start spending money on golf rounds more often.

Any tips or advice? Load me up.

[iacas]

I've always liked the the step-through drill (http://thesandtrap.com/archives/tip_of_the_day/step_drill.golf) for getting the feeling of a proper weight shift.

Another idea is this: put yourself in front of a mirror. Take a fake little swing through so that you can get into the right position. Really try to feel that position. Swing back half way and try to get to that finish position. The next time you hit balls, don't worry about actually hitting the ball: your swing thought should be getting to that position.

The third and final idea is this: swing with your feet together. Too often baseball players have wide stances, bend a bit too much in the wrong places, and really have a go at it. Tremendous power can be generated, but they don't feel the swing the way it should be: very much an upper-body swing against a resisting lower body. With your feet together, you'd be surprised - once you have a decent swing - how much power you can generate.

[pahonix]

Another thing that might help is to strengthen your grip a bit. Maybe there's a problem rotating your hands through impact. And by strengthen, for a right handed golfer, rotate your left hand position clockwise around the club slightly. If it feels wrong, it's usually right.

[iacas]

If it feels wrong, it's usually right.

That could describe just about the entire golf swing. :-D

[muskegman]

As a new golfer I'm not offering anyone advice. I was having a "right-right" problem for a long time. In other words, I left the face open so the ball started right and then it sliced further still. At least you start out on a strait path.

I worked on an inside to out swing path for a long time and then one day after reading a bit of Nicklaus' book "Golf My Way" opted for a grip that set the back of my left wrist facing the target (I believe). I don't understand why, but that straitened me out right away. Last time I went golfing I felt more confident about my driving than the rest of my game. Go figure. Maybe I squared the face of the driver in the process (obviously did).

The other thing I did prior to the grip change was to swing much easier. I've taken a lot of heat off my swing and I'm getting better results and hitting it further I'd say.

[pahonix]

I can't even begin to count the number of times that I've told myself to slow the swing down and then went on to make better contact. Great advice.

[gas_can]

I agree with pahonix, 9 out of 10 amateurs don't have a strong enough grip. Remember the both V shapes formed by your thumb/index fingers should point to your right shoulder. Here's an image: http://www.juniorlinks.com/imageLibrary/instruction/grip_strong.jpg
Furthermore, most also seem to clamp down on the club with vices instead of light grip pressure, that can prevent proper release of the club and lead to an open club face at impact which turns into slice. Grip pressure should be about a six or seven on a ten scale, just enough to keep the club from flying out of your hands. Excess grip pressure leads to tension in the arms and slower swing speeds. Hope that helps

[dale]

http://seniorparplusgolf.com/tips2/tip2.14.htm. Give this a try.