Driver Off the Deck?

[retoid]

When and why, if at all do you choose to hit your driver off the deck?

As a novice golfer I admit I am intimated by this but have never tried it. I have not yet tried it myself, but I feel that if I do, things are going to go bad. Just curious to hear what you think and why you go about it the way you do etc.

[iacas]

I used to. Can't remember the last time I tried, as my 3W goes pretty far.

Typically… in the past… it had to be into a stiff wind, without much trouble right at all, or the hole bending right as drivers tend to cut off the deck as you emphasize a bit hitting down to catch it cleanly… but again, even when I would do it, once a year at most. Probably once every 2-3 years, really.

One time, though, I hit one because the ball popped up onto the rough at the end of the fairway on a long par five… so the ball was literally teed up with the back of the ball only having literally two or three blades of grass behind it.

[The Flush]

The last time I did it was to keep the ball under some tree branches. I successfully topped the ball back into the fairway.

[Archie Bunker]

Hard to get much loft from an average lie since the ball will likely be contacted low on the clubface. But you can always try to take a small divot.😮

[DaveP043]

On 7/28/2024 at 4:05 PM, retoid said:

When and why, if at all do you choose to hit your driver off the deck?

As a novice golfer I admit I am intimated by this but have never tried it. I have not yet tried it myself, but I feel that if I do, things are going to go bad. Just curious to hear what you think and why you go about it the way you do etc.

As a novice golfer, my advice is to NEVER hit driver off the deck.  As @Archie Bunker says, you'll be contacting the ball very low on the face, which usually results in a very low trajectory.  Contact needs to be really precise, and your swing path needs to be nearly level or very slightly downward to make it work.  Its just a really tough shot, you should use something with more loft.

Of course I don't practice what I preach, I do occasionally try it.  Usually I need a pretty perfect lie, and am facing a shot into a significant wind, with a fast firm fairway, and no obstacles that I need to carry.  I don't think I've done this for a few years, but with older (smaller) drivers it was a little less difficult.  I've had occasional good results, I can remember two specific shots.  Once, in Ireland at Carne, I had killed a driver off the tee on the 10th hole, and it went maybe 200 yards total, including roll. (my normal carry was 230 or so at the time)  I had nothing to lose, so I hit driver again, dead straight, another 200 yards, getting in short-iron range on the par 5.  The best part, we were playing through another group 

The other memorable shot was in an interclub match, another windy day.  Another good drive, went 200 yards or so, with 190 to the green.  No way I would get a 3-wood there, given the higher flight and the wind. This was fourball competition, my partner was in good shape, so I played the risky shot, driver, and hit the green.  

[retoid]

Awesome, thanks for the info guys!
I don't think I'll be trying it anytime soon, but it's great to hear from some of you and how it went and why you chose to hit it.

So far I've been using an old 2 iron when I need to keep the ball really low and it's been working out pretty well. I can definitely imagine how difficult it would be to hit the ball perfectly off the deck with a driver. Definitely has to be a lot of skill involved there.

[Ty_Webb]

I'll hit driver off the deck occasionally. As others have said, you need a good lie and plenty of room and ideally no real trouble to the right (for me). If I hit it badly it's missing right. It's tough because also as others have said, you're hitting the ball low on the face on a modern driver, which will launch it low with quite a lot of spin. If you have a low spin 3 wood that you hit well, it will launch a little higher and with less spin and you'll hit it better most of the time, so DOD is a pretty high tariff shot. That said, when it comes off it's pretty awesome. My most memorable time was playing Deal in England. Foursomes and on 9 my partner had popped one up a bit into the wind. There's a little ramp at the front of the fairway that slopes up a bit. We wound up on that. 236 into a pretty healthy wind and I hit driver to 6 feet. We were 4 down at the time and wound up winning our match. I think that shot had quite a bit to do with it. Knocked the stuffing out of our opponents as 'twere.

[reidsou]

Played in a "three club challenge" tournament. My three clubs were driver, eight iron, putter. Hit the driver 27 times that day. I felt the extra distance off the tee was worth making it one of my three clubs. 

In a normal round, will hit driver off the deck from trouble when needing a *very* low shot under trees. It also works well from an uphill lie.   

[billchao]

2 hours ago, reidsou said:

Played in a "three club challenge" tournament. My three clubs were driver, eight iron, putter. Hit the driver 27 times that day. I felt the extra distance off the tee was worth making it one of my three clubs. 

In a normal round, will hit driver off the deck from trouble when needing a *very* low shot under trees. It also works well from an uphill lie.   

That is quite the selection for a three club challenge. Can't say I'd pick the same, and having to hit driver off the deck would be my primary reason not to pick the club.

[bkuehn1952]

On 7/28/2024 at 4:05 PM, retoid said:

When and why, if at all do you choose to hit your driver off the deck?

As a novice golfer I admit I am intimated by this but have never tried it. I have not yet tried it myself, but I feel that if I do, things are going to go bad. Just curious to hear what you think and why you go about it the way you do etc.

You should be intimidated by "driver off the deck." Once you can hit a 3-wood consistently well, experiment with the driver. Until then, leave the driver to when you can put it on a tee.

"Driver off the deck" is something I pretty much never attempt. I have hit a few just fooling around and there is no way, for me, that the result is better than hitting 3-wood.

[p1n9183]

I used to do it until a decade ago when I was playing a Driver from 1999. head was smaller so it was a lot easier. Today I play the IA smoke Driver lowered to 6° loft.. is almost impossible to hit of the deck. 

[ChetlovesMer]

On 7/29/2024 at 8:25 AM, The Flush said:

The last time I did it was to keep the ball under some tree branches. I successfully topped the ball back into the fairway.

Same for me. 

I've never even considered it.

The only time I've used the drive not off a tee was in the last tournament I played I was stuck and needed a punch out from an awkward stance, had to be low, and an awkward lie. I used the driver because it had the biggest face and I figured I could at least get some of that face to make contact with the ball. The ball scooted out from where it was and made my next shot relatively normal. In truth it didn't do all that much better than an unplayable lie drop. But I did advance it toward the hole some. ... So, there's that. 

No, driver off the deck is not for me. 

[DaveP043]

2 hours ago, bkuehn1952 said:

"Driver off the deck" is something I pretty much never attempt. I have hit a few just fooling around and there is no way, for me, that the result is better than hitting 3-wood.

I actually "practice" this shot a little.  By practice I don't mean a lot of repetitions, but often at the end of my pre-round warm-up I'll occasionally hit a couple at the range.  Its a bit of mental trickeration, I tell myself if I can hit THIS shot, I can hit any shot. 

[reidsou]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

I actually "practice" this shot a little.  By practice I don't mean a lot of repetitions, but often at the end of my pre-round warm-up I'll occasionally hit a couple at the range.  Its a bit of mental trickeration, I tell myself if I can hit THIS shot, I can hit any shot. 

Agree. But I actually don't think it's that difficult with a little practice. However, for me, unless it's a hard fairway (rare in Seattle!), my 3-wood travels farther because of the higher trajectory and my slow swing speed.   

[RayG]

Maybe once or twice since drivers became VW's on a stick. Early Persimmon/Laminates were no bother when conditions were right. Even the early days of "Oversized" Metal woods, it wasn't that bad- heads weren't THAT much bigger than the wooden ones. Once they ramped up to 460cc 20 years ago and they really pushed the technology in weight distribution, movable weights, etc... They were meant to be hit off a tee to get the most out of them. Even with larger 'sweet spots', off the deck usually meant a spinnier shot off the bottom half that was harder to control and catch just right. And for most people, controlling a 45/46" inch shaft is a LOT tougher than the 42/43" of a modern FW that would probably go further anyway. 

Edited August 2, 2024 by RayG

[DaveP043]

On 7/31/2024 at 5:29 PM, reidsou said:

. But I actually don't think it's that difficult with a little practice

it's certainly a little less difficult with a little practice, like just about anything.  I'm not sure it ever gets to the "easy" category. 

[retoid]

I might give it a try a few times at the driving range just out of curiosity, but seeing as I can barely hit a fairway wood straight, I'll probably refrain from attempting it on the course for the time being. :D

One of our members here, Phillip gave me a great lesson with irons not so long ago and it's helped a lot! I need to go back for a lesson with driving and fairway woods next.

[billchao]

On 7/31/2024 at 3:32 PM, DaveP043 said:

I tell myself if I can hit THIS shot, I can hit any shot. 

I can't hit driver off the deck, but I'm certainly capable of hitting any shot 😜