Driver tips?? (Distance)

[erodrig4]

Wondering if anyone has any tips I might be able to try out to gain more distance with my driver.

Not sure what is wrong, it seems like no matter how I swing, hard or soft, I can only get around 200 yards out of the drive and it is bugging the heck out of me.  I am fairly decent with irons, not very long with them but still not as short as I am with a driver off the tee.  Weird thing is, I can tee up with my 3 woods and get the same if not more distance out of that.

I can hit it fairly straight, sometimes it'll go left, sometimes right, but never more that around 10 yards either way.  I just fixed this this season after having a bad slice pretty much since I started playing 15+ years ago (actually got it to a slight fade last year and finally worked it out this season, so far).

I hit the pro shop today thinking it may be the driver (Nike SQ Dymo 9.5).  I hit a Nike VR 9.5, Nike Machspeed Black 10.5, and a TaylorMade Superfast burner 10.5(2010 model).  Got the same result out of all of them.

Any ideas on what I can do different?  (I know it is probably hard to say without actually seeing my swing)

[14ledo81]

If you are hitting it close to the center of the face then you need to increase your swing speed. Look up info on that. i used to average about 220 until recently. Now I am about 240. What gave me the big jump in distance was a bigger turn. Remember a longer swing will actually take longer for the club to reach impact, but the speed will be higher when it gets there.

[B-Con]

How does your ball flight tend to be? High, mid, low? Do you hit up on the ball, down on it, level with it? Getting appropriate loft is one thing. For slower swing speeds (most amateurs in general, really) we benefit from more loft on the driver. 10.5* of loft plus hitting a couple degrees on the upswing produces ideal launch conditions. We need the ball to launch higher and stay in the air as long as possible. That could be why your 3-wood is going as far as your driver, your driver may simply not be getting enough hang time in the air. You probably shouldn't get a driver with less than 10.5* of loft. Try to place the ball off your left heal, maybe an inch or two back from that, and bottom out your driver swing in the middle of your feet so that you're hitting the ball with a slight upswing. Another is holding lag. Your swing speed is dictated to a large extent by how well you hold your lag during your swing. If you start to cast at the ball (release your left wrist and right elbow angles trying to hit the ball) too early, you won't get the whip-like effect that we golfers need. There's simply no way to muscle the golf ball, you have to whip the club, and whipping comes from holding your lag. Focus on holding that left wrist angle and right elbow angle as long as possible going into impact. Also, don't tense muscles trying to hit the ball hard. Tense muscles move slower than relaxed muscle. No idea what your swing is like, but many people trying to get extra distance make that mistake. So counter-intuitive to many of our instincts, the best way to really crush the ball is to keep loose (but controlled) muscles and to not make a move to actually hit the ball with our arms/wrists until we've almost finished rotating our shoulders back to their starting position. You don't have to have Tour-style lag, though, start by trying to have a two-stage swing: first your body swings, then in a separate motion your wrists/arms extend.

[erodrig4]

Originally Posted by B-Con

How does your ball flight tend to be? High, mid, low?

Usually mid to high.  Right off the tee it looks like it is going to be a decent shot but it doesn't carry as far as it initially looks like it is going to.

Thanks for the tips.  I am probably going to hit the range later today and try and take a couple quick videos to see what I am doing during the swing.

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by erodrig4

Wondering if anyone has any tips I might be able to try out to gain more distance with my driver.

Not sure what is wrong, it seems like no matter how I swing, hard or soft, I can only get around 200 yards out of the drive and it is bugging the heck out of me.  I am fairly decent with irons, not very long with them but still not as short as I am with a driver off the tee.  Weird thing is, I can tee up with my 3 woods and get the same if not more distance out of that.

I can hit it fairly straight, sometimes it'll go left, sometimes right, but never more that around 10 yards either way.  I just fixed this this season after having a bad slice pretty much since I started playing 15+ years ago (actually got it to a slight fade last year and finally worked it out this season, so far).

I hit the pro shop today thinking it may be the driver (Nike SQ Dymo 9.5).  I hit a Nike VR 9.5, Nike Machspeed Black 10.5, and a TaylorMade Superfast burner 10.5(2010 model).  Got the same result out of all of them.

Any ideas on what I can do different?  (I know it is probably hard to say without actually seeing my swing)

If you want distance, get width.  Widen your stance a few inches and try to get your left shoulder over your right knee on the backswing.  Push the club as far out in front of you as you can from there.  Then just shift back and swing easy until you get it.  Then just swing a little, but not a lot harder.  That's all you need for distance.  Look at this kid Ryo Ishikawa.  He's got a great shift into the ball and hits it a mile.

[schigara]

Your problem seems a bit like what I have experienced for the 7 years I have played until recently. My 150 club was a 6 iron and my driver and 3 wood was 200-230. I played for years this way and managed to shoot mid 80’s due to decent short game and putting.

In my swing, I released early(casting) and lost all power and came over the top a bit and hit off the toe most of the time. My buddy pointed out how steep my swing plane was and I shallowed it out and started to notice how I could make better contact but I was still casting so I barely gained 5 yards per club.

I went to the range and worked again on taking the club to parallel and holding the angle until hands passed the right knee and holy cow! A new world opened up. All of a sudden I felt how to “swing” the club rather than hit at a ball. This helped to free up tension in my arms and wrists and I was hitting the sweet spot and swinging much faster.

At the range I go to, you can hit from the mats or you can walk to the right side of the property and hit from the grass range. The grass range is aimed at a highway and is 220 yards to the net which is about 40feet high. I would usually hit my driver that would land at the 200 marker and then roll up to or bounce against the net. Sometimes I would hit the lower part of the net. When I corrected my swing plane and began holding off the release, some(1 of 5) of my driver shots actually flew over the 40 ft tall net at 220 yards and when I hit the sweet spot, my 6 iron was landing around 190 yards and rolling up to the net.

Since then I have had to totally relearn my distances. Instead Of using driver on every non-par3 hole, I only use driver 5-7 times per round on most courses playing from blue tees.

Without video, I would suspect you are casting the club which is what most amateurs do.

[erodrig4]

Thanks again for the tips.  I didn't get a chance to record my swing yet.  I did however get out and play 9 this afternoon and my tee shots were a lot better thanks to you guys.  I worked on not casting like you guys mentioned, and the very first drive went roughly 247y which is well beyond what I was used to.  I think in all I probably averaged around 220-230 with my drives plus I was hitting my irons a lot better and bit farther.  After that first tee shot I was a bit more confident the rest of the way.  I played a 6 iron on a par 3 that was 168y (to the center of the green) and it nearly flew the green.  Last time I played this hole I used a 5 iron and came up well short.

Thanks again for the help everyone.