Driver...What About It?

I've heard numerous people on these boards say how they drive with their 3 wood, because they just can't hit the driver.

I was the same way until I dropped a good amount of cash just for a club that can correct my slice. I felt the same way..almost every hole I tee'd off with my 3W.

What is it about the driver? Is it the loft? The clubhead size? What?

If it's the clubhead size, why don't they make drivers anymore that are smaller than the size of Alaska?

To me, I think it's the club head size...what about you?

One, I think the length of the shaft comes into play. The longer the shaft the bigger the possibility of mistakes. Two, I don't think people get fitted properly for a shaft. There are so many factors that goes into a proper fitting other than club head speed. Find a good fitter even if it costs you some money. I've seen people spend $300 plus for a driver but they won't spend $100 to get fitted, properly. Three, let the driver do the work. I've seen people who have incredibly good mechanics and let their irons do the work. They grab a driver and it looks like they're sword fighting. An exaggeration, yes, but not by much.

As I agree with the shaft/fitting part, the guys that don't get fitted for a driver also don't get fitted for a 3W, yet say they do so well with it.

I'm guessing that the swing with the 3W is easier than the driver. I bet you've seen this:

1) Player A takes his warm up swings on the tee. Nice take away, good shoulder turn, and smooth finish. He addresses ball, is much faster on his take away, his front shoulder pulls out and sends a screamer down the right side. How many times, though, do you see guys become over-aggressive with a 3W like they do a driver?

Very true.

Anyone else?

The biggest reason is loft. A 9.5 degree driver will put a lot less backspin on a ball than a 13 degree 3 wood, and with less backspin, there's more room for sidespin (hook/slice), but the catch is: more loft = less distance.

Same reason why a 5 iron will hook/slice a lot more than a wedge, even though you're putting an identical swing on the ball.

Agreed, and less distance = less potential to get into trouble, another advantage of the 3W over driver.

OTOH, the bigger club face of the driver makes it a bit more forgiving on mishits - personally as a high handicapper with a lot of off-center hits, it's a wash for me.

I guess there is a lot about pride with the driver. You are supposed to bomb that ball with the club and do at least 250yds to prove your manhood, while with a 3w you are just supposed to be "playing" the ball.

Its, I guess, something about "man-hood", or stupid stuff like that. Just look at the faces of people when swinging a driver and a 3w and you'll see a huge difference....

I have worked hard over the past month on a 3 wood stinger off the tee, and am very confident in it. Very happy with the results.

Driver is a green light to me if the hole merits it, and if downwind or a crosswind...Wind up, and off we go!

As a few others noted having less loft on the driver may be responisble for bigger directional misses. The lower loft of the driver mean the ball will have less backspin, and in turn more sidespin. The larger head of the driver should work to your advantage. The large face should provide more forgiveness on mishits, and more distance (making your second shot shorter, and in turn eaiser to hit near your target). If you want the best of both worlds I'd recommend looking into the HT (High Trejectory) drivers on the market which have the same loft as your three wood (or close to it).

In my view if you're not using a driver in todays day and age you are putting yourself at a disadvantage.

length - sometimes people don't get their 46" drivers cut to a length that they can handle. I swing a 45 and I'm proud to say I had my driver cut b/c I couldn't handle a 46 consistently

juevos - a lot of people get caught up in the distance of the ball so they try to crank it out with the grip and rip mentality. once you start trying to power the ball, if you don't have the muscle memory to keep the mechanics of your swing sound, then your swing's gonna break down.
you tend to be too quick with 1 side of your body. and either push or hit a nasty duck hook and wonder: "what did i do wrong"

setup - it's long and I don't see people square their drivers like they square their irons. i like to do my pre-shot routine behind the ball so I can square the clubface as I step to the ball. I see a lot of people do their pre-shot routine as they're setup over the ball, they move their feet, and they're not square anymore. or they move their feet and are setup for a hard draw or a fade...which turns into a hook and slice when they try to crank it.

driver comp. - is it me or most people want to swing a 9.5 w/ a stiff shaft?
the lower the degree in driver, the more compounded side spin becomes which exponentially increases the negative outcome on a poorly hit shot. And, if you're swinging your driver 80 - 90 mph...even 95 I'd say, don't pick up a stiff shaft. If you're borderline b/t the company specs of stiff and regular, go with what you want, I'd say stiff for better control...

confidence & mentality - if you don't practice with the club, then you won't have the confidence. I see A LOT of people just grip and rip at the range to try to showcase their distance..but they spray the ball all over the place. when i'm at the range, I practice EVERYTHING. I target practice. I'll hit the driver to only 200 and about 15 yards in variance on the side. then I'll work my way up WITH my preshot routine before every swing... yeah, I take a good 2 hours at the range.... i'll end the driver portion with cranking out 5 - 10 to see if I can control when I really try to go after the shot.
So if you're gonna try to grip and rip on the course...why not practice and have the confidence so you can fix your mistakes right away?

understanding - if you don't understand swing mechanics, I'd say read or take a lesson for it. you won't know how to correct your misses unless you know what you did wrong. When I push the ball to the right, I know what was wrong with my setup as soon as the ball comes off of the club face. When it turns from right to left more than I want, I know that I was too closed at address. When I skull an iron shot, I know my arms weren't fully extended on address of the ball, or I bent my left arm at the top of the swing (which is my biggest flaw in iron play). Understand, then correct.

It's the swing. Someone who gives up on the driver has a faulty swing and is too lazy to do anything about it. Swinging with the driver is no different than swinging with the 9 iron, if you can hit one you can hit the other, or something is wrong.

I never believed the confidence thing in golf... a good swing will preform better the more pressure you put on it.

If you give up on the driver, you should just forget about working on your swing and learn to play good golf with your current one.

Shaft length and flex is a huge factor when driving... my current driver is taking away my true potential game, as it is broken practically. There is a dent on the top of it thanks to my brother driving into it when it was in my garage over winter storage. And the club face is pretty rounded for a driver (poor technology). And it's true it can effect your game and people get so fed up with it they move to there 3 wood off the tee. My cousin gave his driver away because he couldn't hit it so now he hits his 3 wood.

really? i have basically no confidence to control a draw...so when I'm forced to play a draw off the tee or even with a longer iron, I think to myself: I wonder how this is gonna turn out... but tell me to cut it with a fade, and i'm all day everyday turning that corner....ask me to turn it hard and I'll cut it hard... i just have no confidence when you ask me to setup closed to work the ball right to left.

But when I walk to the ball with confidence that I know it's a type of shot that I can execute, 70% of the time I'll hit it the way it needs to be hit...that's a big variance since you're a low handicapper, but I've always thought confidence with a club and particular shot played a huge role in the turnout.

It's the club for me. I've never been able to hit driver off the tee until my TM R580XD. Then replaced that with an R7. Longest, straightest, most consistent drives in my life.

Same guy swinging it today, just getting a LOT more favorable results!

dave