Driver advice....

[mz1290]

I recently picked golf back up.  I'm 20 years old and am planning on playing for the rest of my life.  I have a decent iron game but when it comes to the woods and the driver im helpless.  I've accepted that i just need to take lessons at some point to correct my driver shot.  But, basically what I deal with is every time I tee off the ball curves right 20 or so yards.

My questions is: can anyone give me a solid solution to this off the top of their head? Or.. can someone give me some advice on how to just top the ball and let it ride down on the grass to the fairway whenever i play so i can avoid the frustration of shanking it (which i would do until i have enough time to take some lessons).  Any help would be appreciated!

[Shindig]

Well, if you're a decent iron player, why not hit an iron off the tee?

Or if you want to hit the driver, and you know that the ball curves 20 yards right, why not aim 20 yards left of where you want it to end up?

As for solutions, the two big causes of a slice (big left-to-right movement in the ball) are having your weight back at impact, or cutting across the ball.  Imagine you're trying to hit a straight shot;  there's a line through the ball from behind you to where you want it to go.  Try to keep your hands closer to you than that line, so that the clubhead will remain on your side of the line.    Another drill to try is to hit a few balls keeping your weight forward;  you will feel what it's like to have your weight forward at impact, and can incorporate this into your swing otherwise.

[LankyLefty]

I feel your pain man My driver is like a mystery box. Sometimes I hit it 200 Yards sometimes i hit it 300 yards. Sometimes I hit I strait, sometimes I hit a fade and sometimes the ball takes a 90 degree left turn.

Assuming you are a righty off to the right is a Fade which is the same as me except mine fade off to the left because I'm lefty. In any case in my quest to fix my fade without Instruction I've looked all over. From what I can tell there are a few common reasons people fade. One reason is a slightly Open face at impact. This can be caused by anything from your grip to prematurely throwing your hips open. Another reason some people fade is an Out to In swing meaning, even though the club face is square to the ball the head of the club is moving from outside the ball to inside the ball through impact. There are drills and videos around for a lot of these problems assuming you know which one it is you suffer from. Me? I gave up and signed up for a lesson on tuesday. Good Luck!

[mz1290]

Thanks for the advice guys.  I'll probably go to the driving range this weekend to work on it.  And good luck with the lessons!

[golfernc]

another thing to note: loft on the driver and woods.....what are you playing right now? I swear this is all I talk about on this forum, but I think many people are not aware of the effects that loft will have on them.  If you do start getting to your left side ( assuming your not right now) as the above poster mentioned, which is ideally you would like to do. Then keep in mind IF the lofts of your woods are low, and your ss is not real high then the club will slice on you...so you might want to check into getting higher lofted clubs, and see how that works. Obviously I have no idea if this is the real problem, just wanted to give you some info. You never want to compensate a good swing to make ill fitted clubs work for you. So just make sure the swing and the clubs are working together. Many people believe its always their swing thats the problem....which it is to a degree ...but you build your swing around the clubs ( because you react to ballflight). So make sure the clubs are letting you build a good swing.  I would make sure your irons are the correct lie angle for you, ( hitting off of a lie board). If they are not then get them adjusted ( pretty cheap to do). I would make sure you have plenty of loft in all your clubs, so you dont start to lift, flip, hang back.  Hope that helps a little. Good luck!