Soling your Driver

[m11]

I've noticed some long hitters that sole their driver with the toe up. I however like to keep it lying flat.

To me..it seems like this puts the hands lower, allowing for a flatter swing plane.

I'm pretty satisfied with my driving however i'm just curious if anyone else soles their drivers with the toe up?

[$2 Nassau]

I guess I'm a little confused. Wouldn't lying the driver flat require you to raise your hands rather than lower them? I'm picturing soling the driver with the toe up, for me to do that I'd have to lower my hands. I guess I'm seeing things the opposite as how you have described them. Then again, I'm probably missing something.

Anyway, I think my toe is maybe a little off the ground, but pretty close to flat.

[m11]

I guess I'm a little confused. Wouldn't lying the driver flat require you to raise your hands rather than lower them? I'm picturing soling the driver with the toe up, for me to do that I'd have to lower my hands. I guess I'm seeing things the opposite as how you have described them. Then again, I'm probably missing something.

Yea, I meant to get the idea across that i think by raising the toe, you allow the hands to drop. Yes, setting the driver flat raises the hands, and thats what i do. However, isn't the club designed to lay flat? I dont see why people raise the toe.

[$2 Nassau]

Yea, I meant to get the idea across that i think by raising the toe, you allow the hands to drop. Yes, setting the driver flat raises the hands, and thats what i do.

I agree, and it does seem like a lot of people raise the toe, mostly shorter people it seems. I'm 6"3" and it lays just about flat for me naturally. I guess a shorter person would really have to raise their hands up unnaturally to get it to lay perfectly flat.

[JimmyDoesGolf]

I don't purposefully sole the driver with the toe up, although I think it does sit up slightly when I set up to the ball, purely because of my hands hanging naturally.

[MonkeyClaw]

Shaft flex may also 'flatten' the driver a bit on the downswing. Same goes for irons. Finally, address and impact positions are usually different (hips and shoulders more open, for example). So just because the toe is up at address doesn't mean the driver isn't fairly flat at impact. This is what my pro has told me, anyway.

The toe is up on my driver, but I'm only 5'7".

[m11]

I just came back from the range. I let my hands hang a little lower and the toe was up a bit....im 5'9'' for reference. I noticed that the ball was coming hotter off the face...however the shots were moving left to right a little (im right handed) and some shots actually sliced. I'm generally a straight hitter with a little bit of draw.

I can definitely get more yardage with my hands hanging lower and this might be a good tradeoff for a little bit of accuracy. It seems like if i have a wide open fairway, i might look into letting my hands hang a bit and letting one rip.

[Stacey_E]

I try to sole all my clubs the way the manufacturer intended them. But I'm quite sure they don't always return to that position at impact.

[Ian]

yeh i see alot of shorter people with the toe of the club high in the air, its not bad its just what works for them..

[iacas]

yeh i see alot of shorter people with the toe of the club high in the air, its not bad its just what works for them..

There are two factors at play.

One is the lie angle. Modern drivers, even with their longer shafts, are creeping up in lie angle. The TM Tour Burner TP (review soon) has a fairly upright lie angle at 60°. That'll cause the toe to be up in the air more than a driver that's 45" and has a lie angle of 56°. A shaft that's "too upright" will send the ball left. Two is shaft droop. A toe that's up in the air at setup will droop slightly when swinging (the shaft flexes down), and may in fact be "square" at impact when it's not at setup. I don't believe you should adjust your hands or your setup to suit your equipment - the other way around is what makes sense, though adjusting the lie angle on a driver can be tricky. More commonly done with irons, of course.