My driving sucks...

[kehanra99]

I have no idea what's going on.

I get great distance and above average accuracy with irons. I can pitch and chip pretty well, my putting is poor but shows good signs of improving.\

However, my driving has sucked since I started playing golf. I have had the same problem over and over again only with a driver. I swing what I believe to be the same as with my woods, hybrid, irons, etc..., but the ball shoots way up in the air and drops 200 yards out, or goes 250 yards but has a ballooning slice pattern. When I think I really hit a drive well, I look up to find it's a hard pull...straight, strong low flight but going left.

Is there any known problem you can think of that causes that? My other clubs have been fantastic. I can hit my hybrid 3 230 yards, but I can't drive to save my life.

[Rugger]

Hard to tell with out a video. A slice can be caused by several different things. Do you have access to a video camera?

[ZaPPPa]

If you either slice high or pull low with the same swing, you're probably coming from out-to-in and the timing of rolling your wrists gives you one or the other. Roll late and you'll slice high. Roll early and you'll pull straight low.

I've been working hard on getting rid of the same problem lately. I fixed it by focussing hard on firing my hips and letting my arms follow. Ben Hogan's book explains it well. I still have a slight fade (0-20 yards), but slices have become rare.

[indiangolfer]

try starting your swing from the ground up. turn your hips and let your upper body follow.

[ks8829]

forget hitting the driver and practice your chipping and pitching fundamentals. you will find after you make solid contact that your overall swing will also improve and then go back to the driver.

[Lefty731PM]

I can hit my hybrid 3 230 yards, but I can't drive to save my life.

Try this experiment.

Forget about your driver for a few rounds. Hit that hybrid 3 230 yards on the par 4s and 5s and you'll save 10 strokes. You'll be hitting from the fairways, get more greens in regulation and avoid a whole lot of aggravation. You'll also find that you outdrive a lot of your playing partners.

[McGolf-Doggie]

forget hitting the driver and practice your chipping and pitching fundamentals. you will find after you make solid contact that your overall swing will also improve and then go back to the driver.

The above is basically what the PGA pro guided me to do, with mid/7-irons to begin with, during a couple of lessons.

To make more solid contact, with a better release, he is helping me: -develop a bit more of an inside-out swingpath, -keep my left arm straight through the ball, -hold on to my finish longer. Before that, however, he had me work on my balance by striking the rubber tee with the feet together (using the same inside-out, 7 o'clock to 1 o'clock swingpath), since I was shifting my weight around a bit too much and that balance flaw had been really magnified on the drive. (The results made me very happy. I plan on going back for more.) I still don't have it all together all the time, but at least a couple of steps closer, and the drives held up nicely, last time on the course.