A new way of thinking about my game...

[Cole]

I have always took pride on how far I could hit the ball.
Especially off the tee.
When I hit the ball good, I am usually a wedge out on a par 4. I can reach most par 5's in 2.
The problem is that I more often than not, miss the fairway. My driver usually cost my around 6 strokes per round.

I guess that I am at a new page in my golf game, to where I want to start shooting lower scores. Not so much of being the longest one off the tee.

I was just wanting some ideas / thoughts about this. What direction would best help me reach my goal of lower scores? Should I back off the driver? Or, is it possible to learn to stay in more fairway's and still swing at 100%?

Any help would be appreciated. Any stories of how you have dealt with the same dilemma would be great .

[Henry]

It sounds like you should keep swinging at 100% but maybe try using your 3-wood and see if gives you more accuracy and if i doesn't take a lesson or two or practice on the range a little bit more.

[Guinness23]

I have a similiar issue and we look to be about the same handicap. In the last two years, with the addition of kids, I have played less and practiced significantly less. When I get the chance to get away from the kids, I like to play. In that time, I have brough my handicap down. Part of that is that my attitude is much better, I am just happy to get out and play. However, i think the main thing is durign that time my driver has become an asset. Something clicked a few years ago on the range. I started trying to hit my driver at about 25%. I would basically swing the club back to half and in a smotth motion swing through it. I am a pretty long hitter so this was hard. An amazing thing happened when doing this, the ball went quite far, almost as far as a normal swing. Obviously I was not swinging at 25%, it just felt that way, probably more like 75%. What happened, I believe, is that i hit the sweet spot easier, and I had a smoother tempo, which is hard to have for me when I am trying to kill it. It still not fool proof, but when I maintain that thought, I have great driving days. I still do not hit alot fo fairways, but when I miss, I am jsut off typically, no more jail shots. Another thing I did before this was get on a launch monitor with my driver. I found out that the sweet spot was in a little different are fo rme with my club. Once I new, I could conscioulsy try and hit that spot, using my "reduced" swing". The keys for me were to find my sweet spot, shorten my swing, swing at 75% and let it go. The only time I have trouble is when I feel i want to kill it and forget these swings. I hope that helps and I wish you luck. Another thing to think about too is taking out a fairway wood a few more times if the hole is tighter on shorter holes. And on par fives I have a rule if it is more than 510, I will typically play it for 3 shots, just because I know I start getting more inconsistent with a clubs over a 6 iron. Have fun.

[Scott_Tee]

I hit it far like you .. but do not need to because it often gets m in trouble. heck, I can hit my 4 Wood, straight as an arrow, 250 yards... me, and you, we need a good caddy..

[MI Rob]

Try giving up a little distance and go for some more accuracy.

[cstorms]

Try pulling the Anthony Kim and choke up a bit. I have heard you sacrifice a small amount of distance for more control...couldn't hurt to try...

[Bump-n-MI]

Your play off the tee ideally should get you into your scoring irons (whatever they may be). No sense in hitting a 300 yard tee shot on a 350 yard hole (unless you like those awkward 50 yd shots). Crank her back a little and learn how to manage a course and you will start seeing lower scores.

[RocktimusPryme]

Try pulling the Anthony Kim and choke up a bit. I have heard you sacrifice a small amount of distance for more control...couldn't hurt to try...

Exactly what I was going to suggest. Since I started doing that Ive gained a fair amount of accuracy, and havent really sacrificed much distance. Not enough to hurt me anyway. Im still ussually a short iron in on par 4s. I only hit maybe one or 2 more fairways but my misses are much smaller now. And Im still ussually in decent shape even when im not FIR

[EBA]

I have a very similar problem...this past year I hit 4 drives over 350 yards...and 4 or 5 over 330...these are the ones that were in the fairway. Most of the others were just terrible mishits...slices....straight but WAY left...a host of problems that lead to them all.

I have this inner desire to be as long as I can...which is as long or longer than touring pros...but what the hell is the point when 85% of my drives arent putting me in position to score.

Watching the golf channel and reading a lot has led me to the conclusion I already new...pros never (ok hardly EVER) hit 100%

you always here swing at 80-85%...im working on it. If the only thing that is hurt is my ego and the ball is setting me up for birdie Im ok with it.

[stebed]

I would have a look at getting custom fitted on your driver shaft. I had problems with my tour burner stiff and changed to a proforce v2 shaft ($100) and so far seems about 10 yards straighter.

[RocketSauce]

you could shorten your driver shaft an inch or 2, and that should help with accuracy w/o giving up too much distance (maybe a lil)...

[Cole]

Thanks a million for all the great advice.

You guys are telling me what I wanted to hear.
Slow down and shoot for accuracy.
Today, I played and made an effort on every shot to slow down and just to keep me on track, I made sure to say the word "tempo" before every shot.
I shot very well.
My driver did however cause me two penalty strokes. Straight pull to the left. Still need to figure out how to beat that one.

Thanks again for the replies.

[anthonykim3]

I think there are 3 things that will help you greatly. #1 is course management if you can hit it 300 yards and you're playing a 380 yard par 4 you don't need to hit it 300 yards you just need it in the fairway with a scoring club in you're hands, so try hitting your hybrid or 5 wood of the tee which will be straighter which i assume you will hit 240 250 anyways and have a 9 iron or 8 iron into the green. #2 you don't need to swing at 100% all the time i have found 90% to work for me fool around and find how hard you have to swing to hit a decent amount of fairways and most importantly not out of bounds. After that try griping down 1 or 2 inches on the club it will make it easier to square around at impact and you will hit the sweet spot more often. #3 try getting your driver shaft fitted as you will be able to get a shaft that is better for you and will give you more acuracy and more distance (not that you need that) I hope this helps you in your quest for more fairways.

[bogeyhitter25]

Find a comfortable club off of the tee. Whether or not it be a Driver, 3 Wood, 5 Wood whatever. Even if you hit 5 Wood your looking at nothing more than a 7i in.

[BigDave]

Tiger says that a full swing is 80%. He seems to know a little bit about the game.

Also, I think the comments about course management have a lot of merit. I took some lessons last year to improve my swing and cut my handicap from 25 to 18. This year I plan to take some playing lessons to work on course management.

[Fourputt]

I have always took pride on how far I could hit the ball.

First of all, most good players rarely swing at 100% every time. In fact they only do so when it's necessary. 80%-85% is more likely, giving more control and more consistency.

Compare Tiger's normal Driver to his nuked one. Tiger could easily be as long as anyone on Tour, but that stat isn't that important to him. What's important is having a reasonable second shot. He sprays his driver around enough anyway... no sense just being even farther afield. Look at John Daly... never learned how to back off, so when his timing is just slightly off, he has no idea where his drives are going, or any other shot for that matter. Another example is Davis Love III. When he first came on Tour he didn't even have a wood in his bag. He was so long that his woods just got him in trouble, so his long club was a 1 iron. He actually worked on his game to take some power off, and once he did that, he started playing the game he was capable of.