Driver Problems

[Nail]

Hi guys, just basically want to vent, I’m playing probably the best golf I’ve played since I started two years ago, my irons and short game are in a good place by my standards but the driver is killing me,

I equalled my best ever round today of 83 but it should have been so much better. I was 1 over par after 8 holes before the driver deserted me again. I was 11 over for the next 10 holes. The driver started going left and right.  I hit nine GIR and had nine pars and 1 birdie. If I find the fairway or at least the rough I’ll usually have bogey at worst but if I hit a bad drive we are talking double or triple bogeys.

I can’t seem to be consistent with it at all. It can go great on some holes 270-300 yards and on the fairway but it’s just as likely to snap hook or push straight into the right trees. 
 

I’ve only had two lessons, both of which focused on my driver swing but I wasn’t impressed with either tbh, Neither improved me to any degree really. 

I can’t even decide on a shot shape that would make me more consistent, my home course is probably slightly more suited for a draw but my miss will be a big push when I don’t hit it well. With a fade the miss is likely a pull, neither of which is ideal, I’d prefer over fade or over draw and at least I could start the ball on one edge of the fairway or the other. 
 

I’m at a loose end, I genuinely think I could be a single digit handicap if I could sort it out. I’m just lost really  Any input guys or ideas? Sorry for the long rant

[Double Mocha Man]

A lot of tour pros grip up an inch or two on their driver.  Maybe give that a try.  Good luck.  If that works for you that'll be $100, thank you.  Feel free to pay in euros...

[ChetlovesMer]

11 minutes ago, Nail said:

Hi guys, just basically want to vent, I’m playing probably the best golf I’ve played since I started two years ago, my irons and short game are in a good place by my standards but the driver is killing me,

I equalled my best ever round today of 83 but it should have been so much better. I was 1 over par after 8 holes before the driver deserted me again. I was 11 over for the next 10 holes. The driver started going left and right.  I hit nine GIR and had nine pars and 1 birdie. If I find the fairway or at least the rough I’ll usually have bogey at worst but if I hit a bad drive we are talking double or triple bogeys.

I can’t seem to be consistent with it at all. It can go great on some holes 270-300 yards and on the fairway but it’s just as likely to snap hook or push straight into the right trees. 
 

I’ve only had two lessons, both of which focused on my driver swing but I wasn’t impressed with either tbh, Neither improved me to any degree really. 

I can’t even decide on a shot shape that would make me more consistent, my home course is probably slightly more suited for a draw but my miss will be a big push when I don’t hit it well. With a fade the miss is likely a pull, neither of which is ideal, I’d prefer over fade or over draw and at least I could start the ball on one edge of the fairway or the other. 
 

I’m at a loose end, I genuinely think I could be a single digit handicap if I could sort it out. I’m just lost really  Any input guys or ideas? Sorry for the long rant

Firstly, congrats on playing so well.

Secondly, I know I say this all the time. But you should post a MySwing Thread and be sure to post your driver. You'll get a lot better information that way.

Thirdly, You obviously hit the driver well for 8 holes. They sounds like things went bad for the driver on 9. Did you start making adjustments? If so, DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just assume that 9th tee-shot was an anomaly and it will be fine on the 10th tee. I know when my driver starts to get squirrelly I like to make adjustments then I have to make adjustments to the adjustments. .... etc.... etc.... etc... pretty soon I'm in the twilight zone. 

[Shindig]

14 minutes ago, Nail said:

I’ve only had two lessons, both of which focused on my driver swing but I wasn’t impressed with either tbh, Neither improved me to any degree really. 

What did you do after the lesson?  A lesson isn't "let me see you swing... okay, here's something to remember."  It takes a lot of practice after a lesson, working on a priority piece, to see an improvement.  

Learning how to practice and how to incorporate good feedback is behind my biggest improvements since I first was able to get the ball airborne on a regular basis. 

[Nail]

41 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Firstly, congrats on playing so well.

Secondly, I know I say this all the time. But you should post a MySwing Thread and be sure to post your driver. You'll get a lot better information that way.

Thirdly, You obviously hit the driver well for 8 holes. They sounds like things went bad for the driver on 9. Did you start making adjustments? If so, DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just assume that 9th tee-shot was an anomaly and it will be fine on the 10th tee. I know when my driver starts to get squirrelly I like to make adjustments then I have to make adjustments to the adjustments. .... etc.... etc.... etc... pretty soon I'm in the twilight zone. 

The first 8 holes were, The first hole is a short par 4 and I hit a hybrid. Two were par 3s where I hit the green. I had two good drives that hit the fairway. Three were in the rough but I still hit the green with my approach. I wouldn’t say I hit it well I just didnt hit It badly enough to cause too much trouble. 

After that it just got worse, I topped it on the ninth about 20 yards cane away with a 7. Lost it on the 10th etc etc. Lost two on the 15th, lost 1 on the 16th but Birdied my provisional to get away with a bogey. I had 6 penalty strokes in a round of 83

[Nail]

1 hour ago, Shindig said:

What did you do after the lesson?  A lesson isn't "let me see you swing... okay, here's something to remember."  It takes a lot of practice after a lesson, working on a priority piece, to see an improvement.  

Learning how to practice and how to incorporate good feedback is behind my biggest improvements since I first was able to get the ball airborne on a regular basis. 

The lesson just wasnt great, i spoke about it on here and Erik agreed it just wasn't a very good lesson, I came away with no clear understanding of what he wanted me to work on or what I was even doing wrong. 

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

A lot of tour pros grip up an inch or two on their driver.  Maybe give that a try.  Good luck.  If that works for you that'll be $100, thank you.  Feel free to pay in euros...

Do you accept paypal?? 😂

[Darkfrog]

1 hour ago, Nail said:

but it’s just as likely to snap hook or push straight into the right trees. 

I struggle with similar ball flight issues with driver. Actually, I've struggled with these misses with other clubs as well, but a pushed 7-iron usually isn't as penalizing as a driver OB. My high scores are almost exclusively the result of penalty strokes off the tee with driver.

Not sure if this is the same issue as yours, but maybe you'll find this info useful. In my last lesson, my instructor found that I was swinging too far in to out - when face was open or square, it's a big right miss, and when face closed to path, either a push draw that is okay, or too much face closing is an ugly snap hook.

The fix for me was a couple of priority pieces. First was to make a full turn in the backswing to get to the right position at the top to deliver the club. This felt like turning way too far the first few times. I think I've got this part down pretty well. The second was to make the downswing more steep (at least I think that is the idea, I'm not a golf swing jargon expert, so I could be wrong). This one has been more difficult because the steepning almost feels like I'm coming over the top and it's hard for me to shake the instinct of dropping my hands too much to come from the inside.

But the main thing is I have an instructor and teaching facility that I have a lot of confidence in, so I trust her feedback, and generally the results have been positive when I am following through on practicing.

[Shindig]

40 minutes ago, Nail said:

The lesson just wasnt great, i spoke about it on here and Erik agreed it just wasn't a very good lesson, I came away with no clear understanding of what he wanted me to work on or what I was even doing wrong. 

Fair enough.  I should have known from how long you've been here it would likely be something like that.  Back in the day there were a ton of posts about lessons that said things like "I typically shoot low 90s, I took a lesson one morning and that afternoon shot a 98.  Lessons don't work!"

Hopefully the "My Swing" thread can help you get on track.  Hitting great drives is fun and I want you to get your share of them!

[ChetlovesMer]

18 hours ago, Shindig said:

Hitting great drives is fun and I want you to get your share of them!

This

[saevel25]

20 hours ago, Nail said:

I can’t seem to be consistent with it at all. It can go great on some holes 270-300 yards and on the fairway but it’s just as likely to snap hook or push straight into the right trees. 

These are the same swing just bad timing. the cause can be a few things as well. You don’t want to have that much timing with a driver. 

20 hours ago, Nail said:

I can’t even decide on a shot shape that would make me more consistent, my home course is probably slightly more suited for a draw but my miss will be a big push when I don’t hit it well. With a fade the miss is likely a pull, neither of which is ideal, I’d prefer over fade or over draw and at least I could start the ball on one edge of the fairway or the other. 

As a higher swing speed, I would prefer a fade. That way I can swing harder and not worry about snapping it left. 

20 hours ago, Nail said:

I’m at a loose end, I genuinely think I could be a single digit handicap if I could sort it out. I’m just lost really  Any input guys or ideas? Sorry for the long rant

If you haven’t don’t it, post a faceon and down the line view of your swing in a My Swing thread. 

[Nail]

57 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

These are the same swing just bad timing. the cause can be a few things as well. You don’t want to have that much timing with a driver. 

As a higher swing speed, I would prefer a fade. That way I can swing harder and not worry about snapping it left. 

If you haven’t don’t it, post a faceon and down the line view of your swing in a My Swing thread. 

Thanks. Ya I think I’d prefer a nice fade with the driver even though some holes at my course don’t suit it but only two or three. I find it hard though, sometimes it works out but it can often end up a straight pull or a full slice. 
 

I’ll try post a driver FO and DTL as soon as I can. It’ll probably be next week.

 

 
 

 

[colin007]

I don't really have anything else constructive to add, other than to say I am a very mediocre player, but my iron game is much better than my driver game. Honestly, my driver is my worst club in the bag. 

[Nail]

I must post a video in my swing thread of hitting driver. I managed to win the comp at my home course the other day and I didnt hit a good drive until the 15th hole, I've lost all confidence with it. I'm not even hitting the centre of the face at all. I refuse to put it away and hit a 3 or 5 wood though, I'd feel like I'm giving up

[Grizvok]

4 hours ago, Nail said:

I must post a video in my swing thread of hitting driver. I managed to win the comp at my home course the other day and I didnt hit a good drive until the 15th hole, I've lost all confidence with it. I'm not even hitting the centre of the face at all. I refuse to put it away and hit a 3 or 5 wood though, I'd feel like I'm giving up

What shaft (and specs) are you playing in your driver? I’m not normally one to say equipment changes can be huge but with my recent change to a new driver shaft that is tailored for my swing I’d recommend looking into it. I’d also highly recommend taking note of the total length of your driver club. Most drivers nowadays are probably too long. 

The shaft in the TS2 I recently bought was a mere 50 grams, and I saw a huge improvement in consistency when going to something heavier and with better launch characteristics. I have a one way miss that is a ballooning slice so low launch and low spin really helped my misses still end up as acceptable drives that still made GIRs or NGIRs a real possibility.

[Nail]

4 hours ago, Grizvok said:

What shaft (and specs) are you playing in your driver? I’m not normally one to say equipment changes can be huge but with my recent change to a new driver shaft that is tailored for my swing I’d recommend looking into it. I’d also highly recommend taking note of the total length of your driver club. Most drivers nowadays are probably too long. 

The shaft in the TS2 I recently bought was a mere 50 grams, and I saw a huge improvement in consistency when going to something heavier and with better launch characteristics. I have a one way miss that is a ballooning slice so low launch and low spin really helped my misses still end up as acceptable drives that still made GIRs or NGIRs a real possibility.

Its an extra stiff 9 degree driver, not sure on the weight though

[Grizvok]

2 minutes ago, Nail said:

Its an extra stiff 9 degree driver, not sure on the weight though

This is only something that I’ve recently learned, but weight is much more important than flex when it comes to the appropriate shaft for your swing.