Moron is here.....

Yes thats right I am the greatest moron on the planet. I get the big stick back in my bag after the re-shaft. I tell myself to use the same swing that I've been using to smash my #3 hybrid. Nice and easy, and relatively wide as well. Long swing path, has plenty of time to build club head speed.

Result. I lined it up as I had been doing previous and proceed to slip into my Barry Bonds routine and swing with the gates of hell behind me. Producing possibly the most incredible shank ever to be documented.

Any tips for calming down with the big stick? I go to the range, use that plastic tee and smash them one after another (No more than 20 though, don't want to get into bad swing habits.) yet I can't apply it at the course.

It's a hard habit to break for sure. One I used to fight a lot. It basically just comes down to you trusting your swing and going out there and making a conscious effort to not swing the driver harder than 80% the whole round. Once you make yourself do that and realize that you don't lose much distance (and my even gain some with the better contact you'll likely make as a result of a smoother swing), you'll start to trust it more.

One of the scratches that I have befriended in my league gave me this piece of advice.

He said with the exception of ball placement relative to the feet. Every swing should be the same tempo and speed, except for the putter. He let that soak in for a minute and could see my brain starting to smoke. He added, Its not about power as your thinking of it. Rather its the power that proper form and contact can bring to the stroke and that includes the driver. So with this new information fresh in my mind, we embarked on our round. I swung my irons in the first tee box just to get my feel going. Then I picked up the big stick and drove my first green ever. Pin was in the back on a short 305yd par four. I two putted and took my birdie with pride. Not only did it I hit it longer than expected, but much straighter. Now the most interesting part of all this, is that I had a longer swing path than expected and that it was much easier to control my finish swing slower. Accuracy went up and the tempo I applied to every stroke. I have a little thing I say in my head now, and swing in that rythm and it works great. I managed a 81 which is a life time low. Amazing how you can cut strokes when your chipping from 110yd instead of 150yd or further out. Men take the advice that us big guys just insist to be wrong. I swung the driver no harder or quicker than I would swing my 7i and drove the ball no less than 260yd all day. I didn't use it on every tee box of course, but when I did it was great. I enjoyed golf more than I have in a year.

Yep, exactly right. I agree 100%. My personal game has elivated to a new level once I finally figured this out.

I have had the same problem of late and I agree with 80%. I fixed my drive by taking a 75-80% practice swing, and took that swing to the ball. Almost instantly straightened out. A hard driver swing for me is around 130mph so I think some of my problem was coming from the shaft flexing even though it is a stiff flex, and partly me not being consistent in my swing. Thats something you may want to check, does your swing speed match your shaft.

I have also struggled with the driver. The key thing is we swing the driver too fast, or at least we attempt to apply power in all the wrong places which only throws the club off plane and locks the face open or shut. Solid contact is rare with shots towards the heel. So we struggle with 225 in play when we could be 260.

Some random thoughts. One the driver is swung just as slow as a wedge and it is the length of the driver that increases the swingspeed. So hit the wedge and then the driver, again and again at the range.

Two. Go with a stiffer shaft, at 75 grams and shorter say 44.5 inches and a 11.5 head that sets up square or slightly open weighted up to D2. The shorter stick helps to take the club away in one piece with the core chest muscles and make solid contact. The square club encourages you to swing through the ball. A closed club face will hook on a good swing/release and play havoc with your subconscious playing partner and ultimately cause you to swing poorly with the driver. The loft puts the ball in the air without a manipulation. The weight and heft of the club allow you to feel the clubhead position throughout the swing with the right grip pressure. Once you hit this club well hit anything you want with the same swing.

Three. The bag for the buck with the driver is solid center contact. A 90mph center solid hit will go much further than a 105 heel hit. Think over and over about that and swing slow enough to stay in balance throughout, allow the hips to turn to finish the swing and hit the ball dead center.

Four. Hit the driver with your feet together. Great drill and the darn ball goes a long way. Work on this until you can draw the ball.

This is interesting. I'm a beginner and often have bad days when I can't even any balls right. When this happens, should I stop to prevent myself from grooving bad habits? Or should I try to persevere and fix the problem?

No sir not at all. On the course your playing many different clubs, so your adjusting your swing all the time.

The danger of just hitting a big bucket with the driver, is that you get accustomed to trying to bomb everything and swing hard. That typically leads to terrible play all around and your swing starts to lose what form it has.

This is my problem too. Yesterday I teed off with this post in mind and my first drive was by far my best of the day. Slower swing and well balanced. My first drive is frequently my best of the day because I am not warmed up and take it easy but later on, no matter how much I try, I can't slow down.

Have you tried estrogen pills? :)

You know, you could learn to calm yourself down to 80% swing but you know, you can go the other way too. Just learn to swing at 100%. It takes a bunch of focus but you gotta learn how to control your swing. Keep watching that clubhead, watch how it rotates and comes through. The more you train your hand/eye coordination, the easier it would be to swing faster. Usually, I do swing 100% and I can tell when I actually try to swing past that. To me, 100% is as fast as I can swing without tipping over or losing balance. Stay steady, practice watching that club go through square and straight and you'll be able to keep ramping up that swing speed.

When I get to this level I do one of two things. Put the driver away, or I take a shorter swing. Shorter swing path gives you less time to get in trouble.

If you really want to see something silly. Next time your out grab your wedge or whatever club you might use at 75yd. Hit a few balls, then grab the driver and take the same stroke at a ball on the tee. You'll really be baffled then.

I can't tell you how many people I see out on the range with two or three buckets and hit nothing but driver. That's a tell-tale sign of someone who does not know how to practice.

Anyway...there is a common misconception that because you have a driver in your hands that you have to "bomb it" every time. Players who do that have an extremely difficult time finding a consistent tempo. I am sometimes guilty of hitting 2-3 smooth drives, then trying to crush the next one (usually on a par 5 trying to get home in 2). All of a sudden, my swing is out of whack. A little mental trick I do is when I'm setting up to the ball I say, "Slow...slow...slow" out loud to myself. That helps eliminate the thoughts of "CRUSH IT!!!" In addition, I've found that some of my longest and straightest drives come not from a Herculean swing, but a smooth, controlled swing that catches the ball on the sweet spot.

I couldn't agree more. The power of good form, far out weighs the power of the arms and shoulders set on kill.