See Ya Later Driver!

Long story short, I've been struggling with the driver forever. I dropped it once for a 3 wood and now it's gone again. I went to the range and hit fantastic 3 woods all day. Every club in my bag has greatly improved over the last 2 years except for the driver. Whether it's mental, yips, bad swing, whatever, I don't care. I'll take 225 in the fairway over 260 in the trees any day. I might pull out the driver for range sessions now and then, but it's not going to the course anymore. No more stressing over the driver.

I went 2.5 years with out the driver. Until I found the right one and was able to trust it, I didnt carry one.

I played today and was having a terrible time with my driver. I don't feel comfortable when I hit it and am very inconsistent. I want to take some vids and post them here in the next couple of days. Maybe if I know what I am doing wrong I (with the help of you guys) can fix it.

I've been without Driver for about three years now. Given that I've always hit my fairway woods further, I can't even use the excuse of being shorter off the tee but in the fairway!

Still, all is not lost since it frees up a slot in my bag for a left-handed club.

being straight is more important than being long, but not playing with a driver is a big loss, once you can hit it well it will improve your game so much

My pro said that if you can get 220 into the fairway and hit your 9-iron 125 yards you have all the length you need. The driver really is an overrated club for recreational golfers. I might use mine half the time on par 4s and 5s.

I always chuckle at the guys that spend $400 on the latest greatest driver every three months, banana slice in the woods every time they swing, and yet pull the Driver out at each tee box they stand on. Funny thing is every Driver they buy is 9* or less with an xtra stiff flex shaft.

I hit my driver at the range but haven't used it at the course yet this year. The last few days are the first range sessions where I have hit the driver straight and farther than my 3W, but I'm still not ready. Maybe another month of practice and I'll take it out at the tee box, only to slice into the woods and not touch it again

Depends on the course. My home course has 5 par 4 holes that are near or over 400 yds from the white tees. With a 225 yd drive you'll need at least a long iron to get there in 2. I will admit that 225 in the fairway beats 260 in the trees all day long but, if I had my 'druthers, I'd like to be more like 250 in the fairway. At least I'd have a better chance of reaching the long par 4s in regulation. I've had the same struggles as you with my driver. I think we all have at some point. I'm still not completely over it but am making great progress. What I did was took some lessons and worked really hard at the range until I got enough confidence to at least pull out my driver on those holes where I really need the extra distance. What I find comical is the guys that hit driver on every hole whether they need it or not. I've got friends that'll hit driver on a 320 yd par 4. They might drive the green 1 time out of 100. The rest of the time they're in the hazard, the wrong fairway, out of bounds, etc. These are guys that can hit a 5 iron 200. Why they would not hit a 5i / PW and be on the green putting for birdie instead of trying to hack it out of the trees is beyond me.

I'm in no way trying to start a fight here, but to me, golf is about having fun.

There seems to be a lot of talk lately about how the sheer numbers of recreational golfers is on the decline, and it may become a problem eventually, if it starts to cost the courses more money than they are making due to low membership income. With that said, a lot of golfers (especially the ones who aren't very good - like me) just want to go out and have fun. And smacking a ball with the driver is fun! I absolutely agree that a good fairway wood swing off the tee will beat a poor driver swing, but that's not going to attract as many people to the game. I guess the point of my comment - if one golfer is more interested in a good score - that is awesome and should be encouraged by all means, but, if another golfer just wants to go out and wack the ball, the "good" golfers shouldn't be ridiculing him, just for him wanting to have fun. He may be hurting his own game, but he's not hurting anyone else, and at least it's another person supporting our game.

Ecxept when he single handedly locks up the entire course. The same guy "that just wants to have fun" Is usually the same guy that spends thirty mintutes looking for his ball thats 200 yards deep into the woods, instead of taking a drop and moving on....

Okay, I agree that does happen at times. But you're talking about course etiquette, while my comment was based on what actually draws people to the game of golf. It's kind of apples to oranges.

In other words, you can have poor etiquette and be a good golfer, and/or you can just go out and smack balls with the driver, but have good etiquette. I know that I'm not good, but my etiquette is very good.

I agree with this 100%

Exaclty correct,me and my playing buddy had to cut our round two holes short the other evening,because of poor light,due to the fact that the 3 guys in front of us were too busy having a laugh at smacking there shots all over the place instead of avoiding slow play.....

Most golfers who play for fun will soon fall into 2 camps.They finally get sick of seeing balls going in all directions and get serious about the game or they get bored and decide the game is not a regular passtime and play once in a blue moon.I love golf because I love see a ball go arrow straight.It's an awesome sight even if it's only 150 yds.I haven't used a driver now for going on 18 months.I use hybrids from the tee.Very straight and true it's the easiest part of the game for me at the moment.I would guess that most players mistakes come from poor striking on their second and third shots with the irons if you are a high capper.These are the key strikes if you have plans of going for pars and bogeys.

The guys that don't care about scoring and just want to have fun smacking the ball around with their driver could have just as much fun smacking it at the driving range. Those people, if they even exist, are not golfers. The object of the game of golf is to beat par. If you don't care about that, what's the point of playing?

I'm fairly competitive by nature but I have a friend who isn't competitive at all. He's not a bad golfer by any means, but it seems like we always have the same conversation, "So, why don't you keep score? I just don't get it...". It's always good for a laugh. I don't understand it, but he loves making it around the track and is content not knowing what he shoots. It's not my place to judge.

O yea, I've also dropped the driver from my bag. I hit it fairly straight but just so sky high that I'm losing tons of distance. I can hit my 3w lower and just as far and it's less affected in the wind, which is a big problem playing in central Illinois. I'm working on it, but until I feel comfortable putting it out there with a good trajectory its staying at home or at the range.

Good point, and I think that's about the limit. Most recreational golfers can't, really, hit the drive more than 220 yards, and with a course this long from the whites, they should pick a different set of tees. I read an interview with Judy Rankin where she said that if you can't hit a 7-iron in to some par 4s, you're playing from the wrong tees.

http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/myshot_gd0409

I know how you feel. After a six month layoff my driver play is horrible. One tip I tried that helped was choking up on the club about 1.5 inches. Next is to correct all my setup problems. I forgot how different hitting a driver was to an iron. There is nothing more awful feeling than continously hitting the ball off the heel of the club.