How many of you do not use a driver?

[RyderJ]

Forgot about those guys...I can see how the median driving distance would drop considerably when you factor that in...lol

Originally Posted by meenman

Factor in the old guys that hit it 185 down the middle every time.

[glock35ipsc]

Originally Posted by dbwood

Also I see many golfers using 9* or 9.5* lofts to "get more roll".  A shaft that's too long combined with a 9* head can be a hard thing to control.  I think the average golfer with the average 85 mph swing speed who's not confident could use a bit of time with a 43.5"-44", 13* driver to hit some more fairways and develop some better mechanics.

I try (unsuccessfully) to convince my brother to leave his driver in the bag or get a different one.  Callaway X460 45", 9°, and a slice that would make a banana blush!  I have no problems using my 44" 12° component driver no matter how much crap I get for the "lady's lofted driver" I play.  I like to remind my brother how much I love my lady club while I'm chillin' somewhere in the fairway while he searches for his ball, then eventually take a drop because he can't find it.

That being said, I pull the driver a lot on certain par 4's.  I like my driver, am comfortable with it, and hit it reasonably straight.  I'm not very long..... 200 to 220 on average.  But I like playing my second shot from the short grass.  It's not something I'm use to, but have been doing it more since I shortened my swing, started swinging easier, and went to a driver that was a little shorter and with more loft.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by glock35ipsc

I try (unsuccessfully) to convince my brother to leave his driver in the bag or get a different one.  Callaway X460 45", 9°, and a slice that would make a banana blush!  I have no problems using my 44" 12° component driver no matter how much crap I get for the "lady's lofted driver" I play.  I like to remind my brother how much I love my lady club while I'm chillin' somewhere in the fairway while he searches for his ball, then eventually take a drop because he can't find it.

That being said, I pull the driver a lot on certain par 4's.  I like my driver, am comfortable with it, and hit it reasonably straight.  I'm not very long..... 200 to 220 on average.  But I like playing my second shot from the short grass.  It's not something I'm use to, but have been doing it more since I shortened my swing, started swinging easier, and went to a driver that was a little shorter and with more loft.

I have a Callaway X-Tour 460 and that thing is really hard to hit straight. It's very "workable", which is nice on some holes, but not on most. I have a couple other driver that, by comparison, are straight like an iron.

[glock35ipsc]

If every hole he used it on was a 90° dogleg right, he would be deadly with it!

[newtogolf]

I understand the desire to improve, but if you know the odds are against you when you tee off with your driver you'd be better off spending more time on the range with it practicing and using a 3w, hybrid or long iron to tee off with on the course if you hit them more consistently.  Hitting driver off a tee on a course or range isn't much different and if definitely closer than hitting irons off the range mats.

Originally Posted by Bananarama

Im going to disagree with most of you.  My reasoning is that my current goal is not to go around in as low as I can, but rather to become better so I will shoot or give myself the chance to shoot lower scores in the future.

I have recently started back with my driver from "Iron only".  I decided that I didnt like hitting 4 iron or 5 iron onto 400+ yard greens (my lowest iron is a 4 iron which I hit ~210 yards) as I would often miss then have to save par.  Mix in the occasional duff that goes no where too.  With a driver or 3wood it decreases the approach to the green to 9iron or less which is more accurate.

Thing is, I dont play golf to sit back and let the day go by - I want to be able to use my driver, call it self improvement.  I dont waste my time at the driving range practicing something i never use!  So I started using my driver, my scores have gone up considerably, mainly due to penalty spews off the tee.  Im not so worried about this though as I have taken a hit now but I can see it getting better (driving at the range is completely different to driving on a course imho) and I am atleast giving it a shot.

As they say, it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all...

[Bananarama]

Call me a choker, but hitting a driver off the tees is much more different than on the driving range.  I get to the course and forget how to hit the ball, let alone you have to hit your mark 90% of the time compared to the range where you can duff with no consequence other than an "oh drat, have another go and tweak the setup slightly"

[right handed phil mickelson]

If a hole is under 380 yards (on a par 4, with the exception of driveable greens) I'll use a 3 iron off the tee. If it's 380-420 I'll use my 2 hybrid, and if it's any longer than that I'll use my driver. The name of the game for me is to try and have ~150 yards in to the green.

[inthehole]

Originally Posted by Bananarama

Call me a choker, but hitting a driver off the tees is much more different than on the driving range.  I get to the course and forget how to hit the ball, let alone you have to hit your mark 90% of the time compared to the range where you can duff with no consequence other than an "oh drat, have another go and tweak the setup slightly"

alot of truth to that ... I spend alot of time on the range with my driver, but when I get to the course, I choke.    Then it's back to the range ... choking is a viscious cycle for me.

[newtogolf]

Is it choking or are you inconsistent at the range as well?  I realize there are many differences between the range and playing a round of golf, but if you can walk up on the range and hit your driver well on your first swing then it should be okay on the course.  The problem I had was I could hit the driver on the range after I'd slice, shank and skull the first few shots and make adjustments which meant to me I wasn't hitting driver at the range right either.

Try to mix up your range work, to get more confident with my driver I would sometimes start with it when I get to the range.  I've found the more consistently I can hit those first few driver shots on the range, the better I'd do on the course.  I'll also simulate a round of golf on the range where I hit driver, hybrid, and irons and playing out the holes at my home course to prevent grooving in just one type of swing.  I still try to avoid teeing off the first hole with driver if I hadn't gotten some range work in before the round to warm up.

[Bananarama]

I think its about 50% this and 50% my previous post.

Originally Posted by newtogolf

Is it choking or are you inconsistent at the range as well?  I realize there are many differences between the range and playing a round of golf, but if you can walk up on the range and hit your driver well on your first swing then it should be okay on the course.  The problem I had was I could hit the driver on the range after I'd slice, shank and skull the first few shots and make adjustments which meant to me I wasn't hitting driver at the range right either.

Try to mix up your range work, to get more confident with my driver I would sometimes start with it when I get to the range.  I've found the more consistently I can hit those first few driver shots on the range, the better I'd do on the course.  I'll also simulate a round of golf on the range where I hit driver, hybrid, and irons and playing out the holes at my home course to prevent grooving in just one type of swing.  I still try to avoid teeing off the first hole with driver if I hadn't gotten some range work in before the round to warm up.

[wormkiller]

Originally Posted by RyderJ

Using a driver is completely and totally overrated at the amateur level. Until recently I was very inconsistent with my driver, so I would always tee up a 3 wood. Not only did it save me strokes, it boosted my confidence as well. This game is about keeping the ball in play, not hitting it a mile and a half.

I'm new at golf and am dreadfully inconsistent with a driver.  I recently added a 5 wood to my irons.

Also, I think a golfer who would call someone a wuss for not carrying or using a driver has got some issues of his own, imho.

[misterjohn]

I performed an unintended experiment my last time out. I brought with me a new generation of my usual Nike square driver. I figured it would be pretty much the same as the pvs generation that I normally play. Well, it was not similar at all. Basically, I couldn't hit the thing and bagged it after 4 holes in favor of my 3 wood. I found that I hit the 3W pretty much just as far and with much better results on the occasional miss. I honestly think I'd be better off pulling the driver out of my bag were it not for the sheer joy of whacking the ball with the "big dog".

[Nine Iron]

I have a driver in my bag but dont use it....yet.

Im fairly new at golf and these are my first set of clubs.

Until I am fairly proficient with my irons 3w etc. I will not use it.

[ggolokin]

hmm i use my driver quite often...

say i play 18 par 72 with four par 5's and four par 3s... out of the fourteen driver-useable holes i'd use my driver probably about 8-10 times, factoring dog legs etc.

i dont really have a problem keeping my driver on the fairway, my shortgame is pretty bad though.

[Sheriff420]

I only used my driver about 4 times the last time I played and hit more fairways than ever because I was using my 3h off the tee. The sad part is that my 3h will hit the ball as far as my driver (220ish according to the range markers at the driving range) when I do hit it straight. Every now and then I'll catch that driver just right and knock it about 240ish but that isn't very common.

Today I'm going to the range and I'm going to try out choking down on the grip on my driver by about an inch and a half and slowing down my swing to about 75% power. I was reading the other day that drivers normally come from the manufacturers with a shaft that is 1" to 2" too long so I'm going to see how choking down on the grip will work for me.

[Sheriff420]

Choking down on the grip didn't do anything for my accuracy. Slowing down works for me but it only hits around 175ish when I do that.

What did work was starting to close the club face around halfway through my down swing. I was doing that before but I think I was either trying to close the club face right before contact or I just wasn't aggressive enough with it. I didn't slice once yesterday when I played Carolina Lakes (just outside of Sanford, NC) and that has never happened before. I did hook it twice and had two popups but other than that I was hitting amazing (for me) drives.

I hit one dead straight and it was 8-10 yards past the 100 yard from the green marker in the center of the fairway on a 361 yard hole.  Shots like that are the ones that keep me playing.

[inthehole]

I'm using my driver less and less, now that I'm gaining confidence with my 3i & more lately a driving iron - man, do I like that club - hit it as far as my 3 wood, and MUCH MUCH more accurately.   Don't understand why they aren't more popular - imagine they're looked at as crutches for those who can't hit a driver, but for me, it's a 3 wood replacement, not a driver replacement ...

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by inthehole

I'm using my driver less and less, now that I'm gaining confidence with my 3i & more lately a driving iron - man, do I like that club - hit it as far as my 3 wood, and MUCH MUCH more accurately.   Don't understand why they aren't more popular - imagine they're looked at as crutches for those who can't hit a driver, but for me, it's a 3 wood replacement, not a driver replacement ...

I don't get the "can't hit a driver" part, since even good drivers of the ball sometimes prefer a HYBRID - that is what we're talking about here - hybrids.