Progressing off the tee

[mhenrickson]

In trying to become a more consistent player, I've been hitting my 7-wood off the tee for most of this year. I've had one good day using the 3-wood, and one good day with the 5-wood, but both of those got so inconsistent that I never felt in control of the shot. I rarely hit my driver for the same reasons. Since going back to using the 7-wood, I've been in the fairway (or close) a lot more, and thus my confidence has gone up, and my consistency and scores have improved.

So while I'm much happier playing from the fairway, I would like to add more distance eventually. Does anyone have tips on a good way to progress up the club ladder, and hopefully be confident with a driver at some point?

I'm not sure that hitting buckets of balls at the range helps so much, because I can get into a groove and hit nice shots with all my clubs. Maybe, it's a matter of going to the course and saying "Today I'm going to use the 5W on two holes." Then later moving up to a 3W and then the driver. Or, maybe that would screw me up more. I'm not really sure how to move forward on this.

[saevel25]

I have done that, start off with the 3-wood for the first few holes, then switch to the driver. My 3-wood is my tempo club for me, i swinging smooth. But, you just go get use to hitting the dirver, whats the miss with it?

[Scott_K]

First off, kudos for knowing your limitations and giving yourself time to learn your swing. When I had a 3 and 5 wood, I use to hit those off the tee because the Driver was inconsistent.

Learn to get a feel of your tempo with your 7wood swing and try the same swing with the 3w and 5w. I sometimes swing my 8iron a few times and apply that tempo and feel to 3iron.

Take a look at the course you're playing and pick out a handful of fairways which are a little more forgiving. If it's a little wider, then try the 3 or 5. I use this strategy to figure if I'm hitting Driver or 3iron off the tee. Don't get too hung up on your score. It will drop in the long run.

Depending on where the inconsistent shots are coming from, the guys here can guide you in a better direction. Are they not getting airborne ? Are they consistently slicing, fading, or hooking with the longer clubs?

[Shanks A Million]

In trying to become a more consistent player, I've been hitting my 7-wood off the tee for most of this year. I've had one good day using the 3-wood, and one good day with the 5-wood, but both of those got so inconsistent that I never felt in control of the shot. I rarely hit my driver for the same reasons. Since going back to using the 7-wood, I've been in the fairway (or close) a lot more, and thus my confidence has gone up, and my consistency and scores have improved.

"Grooving" is just another way of saying "timing properly," and it's a crap shoot at best. This is a common theme among higher handicap players. You need to get that idea out of your mind. Tempo is important, but lower handicaps and pros with solid fundimentals will not rely on timing as much, and therefore, a bad tempo will not result in poor shots as often. At your level, going to the range and working on swing fundimentals is absolutely paramount. When those fundimentals begin to set in, you'll not need to worry as much about getting into a groove, and solid shots will come normally, even if you get off tempo or are having a bad day.

[mhenrickson]

With the driver my problem was always a big slice. I'd say it was 50/50 if I would be near the fairway or WAY right. I took a lesson earlier this year to work on hitting the driver. The pro told me I had a nice swing, and the problem was the club was slightly open at impact. We worked on a few things to help get the club face square. I went out and played that same day and the results were great. Since then it has gone back to inconsistent, so I went back to the fairway woods. First the 3W which worked for one round, then also started getting erratic. Same happened when I downgraded to the 5W. The main problem was the slice, but overall control of the shot. I was mis-hitting a lot of balls and the results were pretty bad. The past several rounds I've gone back to my 7W and things have drastically improved. With the improvements my confidence goes up, and I think about trying to hit the longer clubs once again.

I have no problem continuing with the 7W, because I'm in a comfort zone there. But I would like a plan to start working on moving up.

[kilbyman]

With the driver my problem was always a big slice. I'd say it was 50/50 if I would be near the fairway or WAY right. I took a lesson earlier this year to work on hitting the driver. The pro told me I had a nice swing, and the problem was the club was

Well you need to post your swing so we can help you. If you are truly hitting a big slice, and not a push shot, then the open club face is not your problem at all (see ball flight laws thread and match your ball flight path to one of the flights). It is most likely an outside to inside swing. You can do a search on this or over the top and will find some tips on how to fix the slice.

[CoolBreeze20]

If you are hitting a shot with the driver that starts left or straight, and curves violently right ( a slice) then you problem is most definitely NOT just an open club face at impact. A proper swing with an open face at impact will cause a push or block right.....the ball will start that way and continue that way. A slice is mainly caused by 1) cutting across the ball (usually from an over the top move) and 2) an open club face at impact. Video would really be required to make any type of suggestion, other than a total guess, on what you need to do to fix your long club problems.

[Shanks A Million]

With the driver my problem was always a big slice. I'd say it was 50/50 if I would be near the fairway or WAY right. I took a lesson earlier this year to work on hitting the driver. The pro told me I had a nice swing, and the problem was the club was slightly open at impact. We worked on a few things to help get the club face square. I went out and played that same day and the results were great. Since then it has gone back to inconsistent, so I went back to the fairway woods. First the 3W which worked for one round, then also started getting erratic. Same happened when I downgraded to the 5W. The main problem was the slice, but overall control of the shot. I was mis-hitting a lot of balls and the results were pretty bad. The past several rounds I've gone back to my 7W and things have drastically improved. With the improvements my confidence goes up, and I think about trying to hit the longer clubs once again.

I can't count the number of times idiotic club pros try to get you to close the clubface. 99 times out of 100 the face is sqaure or even closed at impact. It's the swing path that's the problem, and the closing the face merely turns a slice into a pull for a while. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with a 35 handicap who didn't have an over the top move, so that should be a big thing to work on.

[JML22]

i got a question
Is there a way to teach new players the proper swing right away or does it always have to be a progression from like, getting rid of over the top to fixing the hook then becoming a solid hitter
is there a way to teach people to just become a solid hitter?

[Shanks A Million]

i got a question

That would be nice, but I don't know if it is possible. Teaching the golf swing is a series of eliminating moves that feel natural, and replacing them with ones that are unnatural. How exactly can you break someone's instinctive drifts all at once? I don't think you can. So, it must be taught piece by piece.

[saevel25]

Depends, if its a blank swing, very young you can teach them anything

you got many years of swing faults, its just going to take time rewriting the golf swing. I have good basics in my golf swing, but i ingrained a few bad things, and its taking me about 2 years to get were i can hit a draw with out hanging back on my right foot and flipping through. I use to hit a draw 100% of the time because i hanged back and didn't give my self a chance to swing over the top, the only issue is i had to have crazy timing or it was a hook. Some days i could hit 14+ greens in regulation, others maybe 2-3.. But now my swing is getting to were i can repeat it with out the need for such fine tune timing. So it takes time. My dad took a year to get use to a small change to his grip.

[JML22]

Well i was just thinking if you could get them to start small by doing like punch shots / almost chip shots
and keep gonig higher and higher and higher
instead of starting them off with an atrocious full swing.
Get them to have strong mechanics small and go from there

[iacas]

is there a way to teach people to just become a solid hitter?

The first three fundamentals of stack and tilt are:

a) hit the ball solidly b) hit the ball far c) control the curve of the golf ball

[iacas]

is there a way to teach people to just become a solid hitter?

The first three fundamentals of stack and tilt are:

a) hit the ball solidly b) hit the ball far c) control the curve of the golf ball

[saevel25]

Isn't that the fundamentals of anyswing...

[iacas]

Isn't that the fundamentals of anyswing...

You'd think. But too many people hear a whole lot of bullcrap fundamentals that make the barrier to entry too high. People quit because they spend all their time working on "fundamentals" and then they can't even hit the ball.

The fundamentals are not grip, posture, setup, stance. You don't want to "get behind the ball" (and certainly not to hit a draw). The average golfer's low point is well behind the ball and he cuts across it. Look, you've been invited to come to a clinic or school but refuse to come. You're a ten handicapper who gives out more advice than all of the actual teaching pros on this forum... despite being refuted time and time again.

[RC]

Call me a contrarian on this one... I believe the best approach is to swing as correctly as possible from the very first swing, even if that means hitting easy 50 yard 8 irons off a tee. Ingraining bad habits at the beginning just makes it harder later. I've often thought someone should make a golf club with something like a shaft a little stiffer than a garden hose that forced beginners to swing with their bodies using tempo, weight shift and turning -- and made it impossible to hit a handsy hard swing for the first few sessions.

[saevel25]

Then i shall just watch others, i try to give some things i have worked on myself that worked, and try to describe what i feel. I think collaboration is a good way to learn, but I shall just observe now

I know you invited me to a clinic, don't get upset just because i can't make time to drive 6 hours on a Saturday. Things come up on my end that take priority. Do you have a website that shows the dates for your clinics? Just curious because then i can actually plan for one in the future.

Well just edited this post, i found the website for the golf clinic in PA, 375 for a daily clinic, not going to happen. Sorry, but i love golf, that trip will cost me nearly 450 to 500 dollars, including traveling expenses. I appreciate your offer, but i don't have the funds to do such a thing, especially after my golf vacation last weekend. Let me know again when you have a whole day golf clinic, and i will see what i can do...

Saevel25 out...