Driver Problems

[Dr. Strangeclub]

It may be more my swing than anything but i can barely get it in the air, its like the clubface has no life in it, im making what i think are decent swings and the ball is going nowhere, im hitting my hybrids farther.

You have to be delofting the club. Doesn't take much with a driver! My guess is that it's too deep in your stance. Greg Norman's tip might help: Cover your left foot with your left hand.

Try playing it off the right toe, then move it back a fraction at a time until it behaves. When he was "Whaleboy", hitting the ball totally unreasonable distances, Nicklaus actually had the ball so far forward it seemed like it was outside his stance. With a drive, too far forward is hard to do without getting ridiculous. Even from the middle of the stance, it's all but unhittable.

[Pistilpete]

I know this sounds foolish, but whenever I have driver issues, I take a bucket of balls and hit only drivers at about 50%. I do this until my swing feels smooth. This is difficult but it seems to take the "yank" out of the top of my swing.

[Greg]

ill experiment with moving the ball around in my stance with driver, I usually have it pretty far forward, maybe ive been going at it all wrong, might explain why i sometimes(visible with range balls) hit the ball with the bottom of the club face. Maybe im hitting the ball too late in the swing and thats why im hitting down on it and just pounding the ball into the ground even if it feels like I made a good swing and probably trying to swing too hard too.

[Rexx]

It ain't the club. Use the money on a couple of lessons. Or go buy a $150 video camera and start video taping your swing and compare to the instructional videos and pros' swings. Not that I've done either of those things, but I'd rather see the money spent on something that may actually improve your score by more than a shot or two (if you're lucky).

Now, I see your clubs are not top-of-the-line, but I play with a set that isn't much better... the Slazenger Raw Distance or something... I have no idea... I know they're red and black and look cool. I got them 2 years ago for about $300-350 for everything (woods, hybrids, and irons). That was an "upgrade" from clubs I got off of chipshot.com 10 years before that... hey, what can I say, I liked the commercial when the guy got hit in the nuts when his partner ricocheted one off the tree. Anyways, there's a good chance that the clubs you're using are better than anything from 10 years ago (especially the woods and hybrids -- irons haven't changed much in a long time, since cavity backs came into being).

[Titleist_ProV1x]

Yeah, that's pretty good advice. Shaft lenght is the main difference between those two clubs.

Yes, from the heel to the grip end

three wood is about 44.75in. drivers 45

my 3w is 43" and driver 44" , your 3w is the length of some drivers ....... you'll gain a lot more control with a 43.5" 3w and 44.5" driver, that shouldn't be to much of a change for you at those lengths

if you do have them cut, keep the same swing weight, and in most cases, and like mine I gained 15 yards with insane control ..... I average 260 to 270 now with driver and 240 to 245 max with 3w

It ain't the club. Use the money on a couple of lessons. Or go buy a $150 video camera and start video taping your swing and compare to the instructional videos and pros' swings. Not that I've done either of those things, but I'd rather see the money spent on something that may actually improve your score by more than a shot or two (if you're lucky).

The average PGA tour pro's driver is 44.5" long, if pros use a shorter driver, don't you think you should too?

the advantage of a shorter driver is control and an easier to hit center of the club, just a 1/2" to 1" can make a HUGE difference

[Rexx]

The average PGA tour pro's driver is 44.5" long, if pros use a shorter driver, don't you think you should too?

Sorry, I was referring to Greg's message about buying a new club (I should've quoted the relevant portions). Making the club shorter is fine for the OP (assuming he is near average height).

[kennay92]

Yes, from the heel to the grip end

thats the length of my 3 wood after being cut down previously, i might be more on the 44.5 side and my 5 wood maybe another 1/2-3/4 in behind that.. dont wanna cut much more as theyve already been cut and most likely if they are cut again, the swing weight and shaft flex will change (shaft going from stiff to xstiff.) but still... and i also almost gurantee im taller than you aswell. and a lot of the pga pros.

[TigerWoodz]

Why cut the shaft??? choke down the grip an inch...lmao

[kennay92]

Why cut the shaft??? choke down the grip an inch...lmao

just cause thats one more thing that could make you inconsistent.

[JWL1957]

I have a LOVE / HATE relationship with my driver. I recently put it away in favor of a 14 degree metal that I had picked up. I am lucky in a way, because I am 6' 2 1/2" with long arms and can still smooth it out there about 245 yds.

Ball position in my stance is the usual culprit....... but I also get to where I am trying to over power the shot some times. I will eventually put the driver back in the bag after my course discipline gets sorted out.

[leezer99]

just cause thats one more thing that could make you inconsistent.

If you have a sharpie in your bag you can draw a line on the grip an inch down to ensure it doesn't change all that much.

[Dr. Strangeclub]

I have a LOVE / HATE relationship with my driver. I recently put it away in favor of a 14 degree metal that I had picked up. I am lucky in a way, because I am 6' 2 1/2" with long arms and can still smooth it out there about 245 yds.

That's...that's...cheating!

[Greg]

Well if you look at my signature, ive added a new driver, just bought it used at a local store, hoping this will help, have only hit it so far at the store on their simulator, going to test it out this weekend, got it for $65 in good shape, not a bad deal i dont think, new one is $150. Got a new putter too, really inexpensive but going to see how that works too.