Swinging slower - Able to achive scratch?

I have been noticing lately that when I swing slower that my timing is more on, I hit it straighter and when I miss hit it, it still is not to bad of a shot. With my irons I do not hit them much shorter maybe 5 to 10 yards. with my driver I and 3 wood I notice a much more distance loss. driver goes about 250-260 and 3 wood probably around 220 (guessing).

Questions that I have is:

would I be able to become scratch golfer (big goal of mine) with driver going only 250-260?

would it be a good idea to slow up my swing a little to ingrain the swing and hit it straighter and then add more power later?

Has anyone else gone through this?

Thanks!

I think it sounds like a great idea to slow down until you have your swing thoroughly grooved. What helps you regain some distance is to make sure you have a full shoulder turn, which helps me hit it just as far without having to try as hard. Rather than thinking of how far to take the club back, just try to turn your shoulder underneath your chin before you start the downswing, and you'll regain some distance if you aren't already doing this. However, it's likely that you are playing better than you were before if you are hitting it straighter with more control.

No telling if you'll ever get to scratch, but "only" driving the ball 250-260 certainly won't be what keeps you from getting there if you don't. I've known several scratch and better golfers who were shorter off the tee than that.

I think it is possible to be a scratch golfer hitting it 250-260, but you have to be consistently good with all aspects of your game.

In terms of whether you will be able to become a scratch hitting it that distance, that really depends on a lot of factors.  How far were you hitting it when you were swinging faster?

when I was swinging faster I was hitting drives between 280-290 but definetly less accurate.

I am a beginning level player (2years of suffering). Yes, I used to swing really hard, out of my shoes in fact and drive into the fence. Now, I swing slower and straighter. My drives are about the same as you stated and 3 wood, also the same. Gave up the 5 wood in favor of the 3 hybrid for 200 yards. My mid irons are terrible, no consistency at 120 to 170 yards. Leaves me at least an extra shot evey par 4 hole. Chipping is okay, but I never expect to hole anything, putting is usually 2 per hole. I get some 10 footers, but that's rare. So, driving fairways with 250 yards is no guarantee of success, but I'll let you know in a couple months. I am working on my irons.

If your game allows you to drive every fairway spend more time with the irons at the range until they are honed in better.

I can tell you for sure that I'm more confident over a 210 yard shot from the fairway vs. even 180 from who knows what kind of lie.

Golf is a timing game.  The more you perfect your timing, the farther your ball will go.  Once you have your timing solid, you'll be able to put a little more "umph" in your swing without hurting your accuracy.

To become a scratch golfer, you're going to need to be solid in all facets of your game.  Hitting your driver 250-260 is no obstacle at all.  In fact, you could become a scratch golfer hitting a 3-wood off every tee, or even an iron.

I believe that the rest of my game is pretty solid, probably not the best by any means but even if I am spraying shots everywhere my highest score is usually 84 and when I am hitting good hitting more FIR and GIR scores are 74-79. There is always room  to improve but I dont believe that my game is suffering from any one single part but obviously when I hit FIR and GIR

i did the same for my swing but for me its keeping the rate of the accumulators releasing and the hips moving forward constant... i tend to move the hips forward to fast and having no chance to release the accumulators

I think this is my problem too and probably why I hit better swinging slower.

Amazing how much time I am spending on irons. All of my practice time. Hitting irons is so much harder for me than woods and hybrids. A 210 yard shot would be a little more than my 3 hybrid, it would be my dream to hit an iron that distance accurately and consistently.

Just have to keep remembering that you can have an errant tee shot and be ok if you are accurate with your irons..but you won't have many birdie chances without accurate irons.

I'm kind of the opposite in that I can irons all day with a relatively high level of success but worry much more about my driver.  I do love my hybrid, though.

all i can say is 250-260 yards is farther than most people realize.

Thanks for all the info on here! I have used this slower swing a couple of days now and shot a 37-39 yesterday (was unsure of total score because of all lost balls due to leaves) and a 42 today (9 on par 5 because of hook into trees that I found and could not get out!) but I am getting a little longer with my drives also by hitting the sweet spot more often! had about a 280 yard drive down the middle and hit 5/7 FIR.

What the heck is an 'accumulator'?  Sure i can dissect the word but have no idea the meaning for golf.  Unless this refers to the lag of the hands compared to the lower when striking the ball.

Interesting.  Here is the USGA definition of a Scratch Golfer:

http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Handicap-System-Manual/Rule-02/

Scratch Golfer

A " scratch golfer" is a player who can play to a Course Handicap of zero on any and all rated golf courses. A male scratch golfer , for rating purposes, can hit tee shots an average of 250 yards and can reach a 470-yard hole in two shots at sea level. A female scratch golfer , for rating purposes, can hit tee shots an average of 210 yards and can reach a 400-yard hole in two shots at sea level.

I always though it just meant a 0 handicap.  Anyway - looks like you're all set!