The secret to a Driver.

Can someone impart on me the secret to being able to hit with a #1 wood driver?

I usually hit mine 125-175 yards, but it hits the ground right about the red tees and then rips down the center of the fairway.

I've tried lining the ball up on my front foot, my back foot, Teeing higher and lower. The results are the same, worm burners that never clear the ground by more than 5' unless they hit a rock.

only thing I can think of is that your not staying behind the ball at impact. Possibly, your body is lunging forward at the top of your swing.

Have someone stand in front of you and hold the grip end of the shaft of a club tabout 2 inches left of your head. Technically, during the entire swing, your head should not touch the grip end. If it does, especially on the downswing, it means you are leaning to the left and at the same time you will de-loft your driver face and cause you to hit it low.

I know this from experience.

A #1 Wood? You may want to upgrade to some modern technology! That term hasn't been used for a good 15-20 years.

Sounds to me like a reverse pivot. You may be trying to help the ball in the air but are in turn hitting the top of the ball. Does your weight end up on your front foot or your back foot at the end of your swing?

Tim.....do you have trouble hitting a 3 or 5 wood? Do you only have trouble with the driver?

My weight, I think, ends up on my front foot. I don't have a problem hitting the #3, 5 or 7. In fact, I used the #3 off of the tees for several years, because I can't seem to get much airtime when using the #1. But the last few weeks, I've been forcing myself to use it off of most tees, I'm just not seeing much improvement.

I would look to a high loft driver with a shaft that has a low kick point to give you a good chance of getting the ball in the air. That would be my equipment suggestion. As far as your swing....are you sure that your putting down an ascending swing? It might be a good idea to get your swing on film to break it down. One other thing......going with a driver shaft that is a bit shorter in length than standard. It would be easier to control and assure better contact.

As was pointed out above, I don't know much about terminology. I love to play golf, but have rarely talked to much of any one who knew anything about it.

Can you describe, what is a low kick point shaft? And I'm not real clear on how to put down an ascending swing?

The only time I've ever swung in front of a "Pro" he told me that I looked "like a monkey screwing a football." My clubs were too short ( I stand 6'4" ) So I had them all extended. I don't know if it helped, but they are a lot more comfortable now.

A low kick shaft is one that bends at a lower point on the shaft, thus giving a little more trajectory to the ball. Still...the number one way to increase trajectory is doing it by the loft of a club. By an asscending blow, i mean with the driver you have to be swinging even with the ground or making contact with the ball on the way up. You dont need to do this with fairway woods. I belong to an association called the PCS {professional clubmakers society], and if you were to go to their website, they have a locating service to help find a member close to where you live. These guys are good......and can help you out dramatically, whether it be equipment related or swing related or both. If you cannot find a member near you, please let me know and i would be more than happy to give you my toll free number and try to help you out the best that i can.

Are lessons out of the question? Sounds like you have some serious problems to be worked out, problems that more than likely can't be worked out without seeing a teaching professional.

If you are not using a driver with a large head, I suggest that you try it, as this has a bigger sweet spot. The chances are that you hit better shots is greatly increased. Also make sure you adhere to the basics (good posture, grip, ball postion and take away). If you know what they are, and bear them in mind you can groove yourself a good swing.

Is you weight TRUTHFULLY at the very least spread 50/50 on your feet (left to right) at address ?

With a driver "most" people probably have at least 55-60% on their right leg at address - for a right-handed golfer - to help to stay behind,to help achieve an escending blow,and to help keep the centre of gravity behind the ball.All of these are to ultimately help to achieve a good initial launch,and not those scud-missile,worm-burners we all hate seeing.......

Make sure at address,just before you take you backswing than you can EASILY lift your left foot clear off the floor no problem..............

Good luck.

I think more of us struggle with the driver than any other club. One big problem is that, more than with any other club, we feel obligated to try to crush the ball 350 yards like the pros. As a result our swing timing gets off, and we get off balance. Many people dip their head as they start their down swing then raise it back up to counterbalance the brute force of the swing. Actually, I have noticed that Tiger Woods does this. But he is apparently consistent enough to get away with this. My point is to make sure you keep your swing smooth and your head still. One little exercise I like to do as I am loosening up is put my back to the sun so I can see my shadow out in front of me. Then I take quite a few practice swings while watching my head and shoulders. I want the shadows to stay in the same spot - no head bobbing up and down or shoulders moving backward then forward, only turning around a pivot. I try to remember how this feels and duplicate it on the tee.

first... get a lesson... a pro will be able to give you a much better diagnosis and fix than anyone over the internet.

but... you might want to try putting some impact tape (masking tape will do) on the face of your driver when you go to the range next. hit a few balls and you'll see exactly were you are striking the ball on the face. it sounds like you're 'topping' the ball (hitting the top half of the ball with the bottom part of your clubface) resulting in low trajectory 'worm burners'. if its that... then i would suggest to slow down your swing... and try and hit the 'tee' below the ball. ie. focus on hitting the tee rather than the ball. this will hopefully bring the ball impact further up the clubface.

otherwise i'm not sure... maybe the loft on your driver is not high enough for your swing type. maybe try using a launch monitor to find the optimum driver specs.

hope this helps
Ash