Please help -- my tee box game is suffering and so is my scores

[Rounders]

Ok here's the deal. I have always struggled with my driver, hitting a weak slice. I have worked really hard at correcting the problem (stronger grip, improved swing path, rolling wrists, etc) and I have seen improvements, mainly that my slice doesn't go as far right as it use to.

I have worked on my game a lot in the last 14 months (bringing my handicap from a 26.6 to 15.7), but still have this problem. Before the season started I decided to go out and purchase a new driver. I did the research and I wanted a club that would help me get in the fairway. My research pointed me to Adams Insight and after hitting it in the indoor bays, I hit the ball solid and well, combined with a sale price, I was able to get the driver for $65. Steal of the century, right? Wrong.

I decided to track my stats this year to see the weaknesses in my game. I learned that my score is stuck right now because I'm losing a lot of shots due to poor tee shots. Usually I hit the ball to the right, and then have to punch out back to the fairway, then hit my approach to the green, well on a par 4, that means I'm always trying to stick my 3rd shot close just to give myself a chance at par, not always easy to do from 150-175 yards.

Here are some key stats that got me thinking:

Club from Tee Box - 2009 stats

Hybrid (Taylor Made Burner 4 - 22*, Regular Shaft)
23 tee shots
Fairway hit: 19 (82.6%)
Missed Right: 3 (13.0%)
Missed Left: 1 (4.4%)
Average Distance: 192 yards

Driver (Adams Insight XTD a3 - 9.5*, Stiff Shaft)
113 tee shots
Fairway hit: 48 (42.5%)
Missed Right: 55 (48.7%)
Missed Left: 10 (8.8%)
Average Distance: 218 yards

Looking over these numbers, I have an 80% chance of hitting the fairway with my hybrid at a sacrifice of 26 yards versus a 40% chance of hitting the fairway with my driver for those extra 25+ yards. Is the Driver really worth it?

So this got me thinking, is it possible to get another hybrid (perhaps a Taylor Made 3) and a 3W that are setup the same way as my 4 hybrid that would result in more distance and still have the accuracy?

That leads me to my question, how would I go about finding this? Is this something that I have to go to a club fitter and ask? Would a teaching pro be the go to guy? Does anyone here know if what I want is even possible? Am I smoking something to think that I can find another club with less loft that I can hit as accurate? Or do I continue to work on my driver and maybe someday I can start straightening it out and hit some bombs with it?

[ks8829]

If you want to hit more fairways I would try the following:

1) play the tee box and start off on the far right side of the tee box for right handers and aim slightly left of the fairway so that you are giving yourself a higher percentage of hitting the fairway without changing your swing or club

2) think outside of the box and try small changes to get your driver straighter
a) by checking your grip and make it stronger
b) drop your rear foot slight back to help promote an inside to outside swing
c) take the club more on an inside line
d) close the club face slightly at address

3) practice your pitch shots from 20 - 50 yards
a) club parallal back with the toe pointing up and on your forward swing the club parallal to the and pointing at the target with the club pointing up again
c) focus on a compact swing by taking the club back and taking the club up without forcing your weight to shift back from the inside of your rear foot to the outside of your rear foot
d) if you practice the impact zone with your pitch shot this will help you with finding the correct take away for the full swing with a mini version of the full swing
e) the benefit to this practice is an way to practice your driver without hitting the driver that you can not hit correctly because of your slice, fade.
f) practice your pitch shot and work your way back to the mid iron, fairway wood and finally see the result with your driver.

[Slim 11]

All good points of advice. My biggest improvement, which virtually eliminated my slice, came from dropping the right foot back. Essentially this set you up to promote a draw. In my case, the draw doesn't come so much (probably because my swing path is still off) but the slice is gone.

Aim body to the right and club face to the target. Hope this helps.

[mdvaldosta]

If you want to hit more fairways I would try the following:

That's really good advice ^^

[Crey23]

IMHO your slice with your driver might be caused by a stiff shaft.

You are driving a 9.5* Driver about 218 yards. It seems to me that you should be in the regular flex category. Stiff shaft will increase your natural tendency to slice. It does to me and most folks I have asked about this.

I was reading about ball speed, swing speed, and shafts last night, and it said (Golf Digest June-09) that you gain 2.5 yards per mph on SS. at 218, your SS is roughly 87-88 mph. Using the convention that ball speed is roughly 1.5x (Titliest.com 909 brochure) your ss, that puts you at 130 - 131.

What I understand ... one should have a ball speed of at least 135 to consider stiff. The other thing to consider is that, while you are using a stiff shaft you will have to exert more energy to maintain a consistent strike, bcs there is less flex, thus more power from you to achieve distance.

If I were you, I would try your same setup but with a Regular flex shaft. Also check the effect of a 10.5* do for your distance.

Some people will tell you that if can’t control your driver, leave it in the bag, and use your 3w. I would think that based on you statistics, you should be hitting a 3w in the 210 – 220 range far more accurately with a regular shaft. Maybe 240 or so with a regular shafted driver too…

I hope this helps.

[inthecup]

I would like to add one thing to the good advise already given.

You are probably coming over the top a bit which will add to the tendency to slice and reduce distance.

Try a flatter swing. More flat then you think. I have taken lessons where the pro has me bring the club back nearly dragging on the ground to set the swing and I bring it around at what feels like an very low swing plane. He says it is correct. What you feel and the reality of the swing are sometimes very different.

Try it. With the flat swing, coming from the inside and bringing my right forearm over the top of my left I can hit a nice 260 yd drive straight without over swinging. Hold back on any one of those and watch it slice to some degree.

I also have a 2 (18 degree) hybrid that I hit 220 consistently. For me on a 375 yard or less par 4 it make more sense to hit that off the tee I get a better score. It is all about the score.

Good luck report back

[tjy355]

My thoughts... you really won't be able to fix your swing flaw with equipment purchases. You should consider some lessons.

[CG031]

My thoughts... you really won't be able to fix your swing flaw with equipment purchases. You should consider some lessons.

Yeah, but it could certainly help a bit. To add to what ks8829 and other posters have mentioned, I think a new driver may be needed. If your only hitting it 218 yards a stiff shaft and that little of loft is probably one of your main problems. I'd say get a 10.5 degree regular flex if it's at all possible for you.

If not, then I guess your best option would be to try and fix your swing with some of the tips ks8829. I'm not saying it's not good to try and fix your swing first, but I think a lot of your inconsistency off the tee is from the particular club your using. But to be honest, without being there to see your swing, it's tough to give you swing advice.

[wrx_junki]

Looks like if you get a 16-18* hybrid, you might just hit around 210-220 and be more accurate. I'd say splurge and get another hybrid. I'm pretty sure you'd lose some accuracy but its worth a shot.

[running-8-iron]

Some great advice in the posts above....here is my $0.02..


The positive is that you are above 80% with your hybrid. By putting your ball in the fairway, unless you really mess up, you essentially eliminate double bogey. By putting your ball in the fairway you give yourself a chance for par and if not, a bogey, which isn't that bad given your handicap. Lets say your course has 14 par 4's and 5's, and 4 par 3's. Even if you only manage 3 pars out of the 14 non-par 3 holes you are +11 (assuming rest are bogey) and with the other par 3's a combined +2 or +3 so +13 or +14 for the round....thats not too bad is it? I know golf doesn't work that way and usually involves a wider array of scores but that was simply to show you the value in driving it in the fairway.

Unfortunately you don't hit the ball a long way, 218yards using a 9.5 deg and stiff shaft? Maybe the shaft is too stiff, I would consider and regular shaft and even a 10.5-12deg loft. The added loft would put less side spin on the ball giving less of a slice while giving you a little more distance than the 192 with your hybrid. If that fails maybe a 3-wood with a 15-18deg loft.

Hopefully that helps