Should High Handicappers use a Driver?

[Lizzyboy]

I am just learning the game and I carry a Driver and 5 wood.

After I got my driver I realized it was difficult to hit so I figured I'd

use the 5 wood off the tee.

Now I use both off the tee depending on how I'm hitting the ball that day.

It works but now I'm thinking maybe a 3 wood and driver would be better.

Or does it matter?

Right or wrong, I focus on hitting the ball well and straight rather than focusing on distance.

Any thought from experienced players as what is the best approach and

what is the most important things to focus on?

[WUTiger]

You might consider going with a 3W and 5W and move to a driver in year 3.

For beginners, the driver is an unusual club to  hit. It has a longer shaft and a bigger head, you hit it on the slight upswing , and it can be difficult to control. It takes a lot of practice time to get it down.

One advantage of the 3W + 5W comes in "economies of scale" for practice and playing time. If you work on two fairway woods, the swings will be more similar, and you can get more experience in using them.

Then, in season 3, you can work the driver into the line-up.

Similarly, many beginners stick to the Pitching Wedge and Sand Wedge in the early going, and then work in the GW and - maybe - a lob wedge later on.

[RPMPIRE]

I worked with a 3 wood off the tee when I first started and slowly moved the driver into use after. The driver swing requires a lot of good mechanics. I wouldn't give it an exact time frame, but lets say when you start swinging your 3 or 5 wood a little easier and more consistent, you can start practicing or using the driver.

[GJBenn85]

I firmly believe most amateurs would see great improvements in their scores if they would just leave the driver in the bag (or at the house) until they have developed consistency with every other club.  The driver is the most frustrating club in the bag; even though it has the same swing plane as a wood, it is much more difficult to hit with consistency and accuracy.

I created a thread in the golf equipment question that is still active, and it asks how many people do not bother using a driver.  Take a look; it has a lot of opinions.  Ego takes control with a driver which is never a good thing.

[GaijinGolfer]

Im not a believer in not using the driver, even for a beginner. Just grip down on it and its like a 3-wood with a really big head.

[Lizzyboy]

Thanks for all the replies.

When I hit my driver and 3 wood, I do grip down.

Otherwise it too out of control.

Doing this, I hit  pretty for my level....except for "those" days.

Do players that feel a driver is better for a later time, feel differently if you grip down on the driver?

I'm thinking if I need a 3 wood or if gripping down on my driver is somewhat the same.

I checked out the other thread.

Very good.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/53317/how-many-of-you-do-not-use-a-driver/36

A little surprising.

It sounds like a lot of people buy one and leave it in the bag.

[Hackforfun]

I don't believe in not playing the driver as a beginner. Your bad swings are just bad swings. I can still completely duff an 8i-PW off the tee. The safe tee club is a myth IMHO, at least until you are sub 15HCP or so. Taking driver out of your hands limits your chances of getting a short iron at the green and sets you up to have reduced confidence in the club for a long time. Basically I think you need to put some work into it up front. I think getting your driver sorted so it is no longer than 44.5" and taking a driver lesson with a pro is really worthwhile. If you are not going to put any work in then sure, drop the driver but don't expect great results just because you club down to 3W...you will still need to work at that club too.

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by TitleistWI

Im not a believer in not using the driver, even for a beginner. Just grip down on it and its like a 3-wood with a really big head.

I agree.  The face on today's drivers are huge.  I've missed the center of my driver by as much as 3/4" and still ended up with an acceptable drive.  The margin of error is not as generous on my 3w.

Quote:

I am just learning the game and I carry a Driver and 5 wood.

After I got my driver I realized it was difficult to hit so I figured I'd

use the 5 wood off the tee.

Now I use both off the tee depending on how I'm hitting the ball that day.

It works but now I'm thinking maybe a 3 wood and driver would be better.

Or does it matter?

Right or wrong, I focus on hitting the ball well and straight rather than focusing on distance.

Any thought from experienced players as what is the best approach and

what is the most important things to focus on?

As TitleistWI pointed out, try choking down on your driver instead of buying a 3w for the time being.  The question is; how much should you choke down?  Unfortunately, there's no industry "standard" length in today's drivers.  For instance, my 910 is 45".  In contrast, the TM Superfast 2.0 is 46.5".  And, there are a bunch of driver lengths--depending on brand/model, in between those.  That being said, the "average" 3w is about 43", so depending on what driver you currently have, adjust accordingly to get you to @ 43".  To ensure consistency, you may want to wrap some medical tape or tennis grip tape on the butt-end of your driver to remind yourself where to place you lead hand so you choke down the same amount each time.

While many players are familiar with getting the "proper" shaft flex for their clubs, they tend to overlook loft.  If you have a 9.5* driver, it may be too low at this stage of your game.  Consider (for the time being) buying an older (but still 460cc headed) driver with at least 10.5* of loft.  I'm not too sure about the older models, but I've seen 11.5* to 13.5* from the major brands--except Titleist.  As far as cost is concerned, I bought a lightly used Cobra driver from a couple of seasons ago for my son at my local golf store for $50.  Nonetheless, while one degree doesn't sound like much, just from my own experiences, the difference is quite noticeable.  When I tested drivers, I tried an 9.5* and an 8.5* with the same shaft.  I had a much larger dispersion pattern with the 8.5* relative to the 9.5*.  I polled a couple of buds (scratch or better) that work at golf stores as well as my instructor.  I asked what the biggest mistake hacks like me make when choosing a driver and the consensus was, too stiff (shaft) and not enough loft.

Good luck.

[DaSportsGuy]

I'm not a fan of using the driver off the tee for a beginner. I'd reccommend going Putter-3Wood. Tee it up high and give it a good whack with the putter and then hammer a 3Wood into the green. Simple enough?

[MiniBlueDragon]

Originally Posted by DaSportsGuy

I'm not a fan of using the driver off the tee for a beginner. I'd reccommend going Putter-3Wood. Tee it up high and give it a good whack with the putter and then hammer a 3Wood into the green. Simple enough?

3:08 in the following video?

[mrchi]

If you are a beginner, I still recommend that you hit your driver - as long as you get it cut down to a controllable length for yourself. I find that the stock lengths on drivers are far too long. I highly recommend getting your driver cut down to 44". It made a world of difference for me accuracy wise. This is also probably the least expensive experiment you can try with your current driver.

Some players have concerns about swingweight when cutting down their driver, but I haven't had this issue. I had one driver cut down from 45.25" to 44" and another cut from 46" to 44.5" and they feel the same weight-wise to me. I should note that neither of my shafts were counter-balanced - I'd consult with your clubmaker if your shaft is.

With the shorter length, I felt like I could swing more comfortably and really go after the ball. I didn't lose any distance off the tee since I generally hit closer to the sweet spot now. I'm actually longer on average and hit a lot more fairways. The Sweetspot is a more important factor to distance than shaft length IMHO.

I first tried my driver at 44.5" since that was what I read the PGA Tour average was. Bubba Watson is 6'3" and uses a 44.5" driver. He is also an advocate for shorter driver shafts and we all know how far he bombs it: http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2010-07/10-rules-watson .

44.5" was good for me, but I felt I could make the change to 44" since I'm 5'8" (wrist-to-floor = 33"). Camilo Villagas is also 5'8" and uses a 44", so that convinced me to give it a try on my backup driver. 44" is only one inch longer than your standard 3W, so I say try it and you'll probably love it!

I mean, who doesn't love pulling out the big dog on the tee box - beginner or not!

[Precis1on]

Until a beginner builds some consistency, I don't think there's a difference between using the driver vs. using a 3wood/3hybrid. With that being said however, you should also hit what you are comfortable hitting off the tee.

I would say try to get some confidence with your driver, but also get confident taking your faiway/hybrid off the tee as well. More often than not, I will take a hybrid off the tee to set up a good approach, but when needed on a long par 5 or long par 4, I'm not afraid to take out the driver either.

[LankyLefty]

I think use a driver, but use a high lofted short one.

[mdl]

I think it's bad advice to not use the driver at all.  The driver swing is different than the rest of the clubs.  Sure, if you get obsessed with the game and improve a ton in a year or three, then you'll learn the driver swing faster at that point that you would have at the beginning.  But once you're decent with clubs up through, say, 5w, you're going to want to be able to get those extra 30%+ yards off the tee from switching from 5w to driver, and you're going to have to then accept being a total beginner with the driver swing after having put in so much time as a beginner already.

It's true that scores might improve for a total beginner from not using driver, but who cares if you score 130 instead of 134?  I feel like this advice comes from better golfers who learned course management late and played driver off the tee box on holes where they shouldn't have for too many years, and now decide that learning course management earlier should have meant never using driver at all as a beginner.

[RJ32S]

I completely agree.  There is no reason to hide from the driver for 2 seasons.   The pro's of not using it are outweighed by the pro's of being comfortable w/ it and building a swing w/ it.

Originally Posted by mdl

I think it's bad advice to not use the driver at all.  The driver swing is different than the rest of the clubs.  Sure, if you get obsessed with the game and improve a ton in a year or three, then you'll learn the driver swing faster at that point that you would have at the beginning.  But once you're decent with clubs up through, say, 5w, you're going to want to be able to get those extra 30%+ yards off the tee from switching from 5w to driver, and you're going to have to then accept being a total beginner with the driver swing after having put in so much time as a beginner already.

It's true that scores might improve for a total beginner from not using driver, but who cares if you score 130 instead of 134?  I feel like this advice comes from better golfers who learned course management late and played driver off the tee box on holes where they shouldn't have for too many years, and now decide that learning course management earlier should have meant never using driver at all as a beginner.

[uttexas]

If you have a modern driver with at least 10 degrees of loft, I'd say go ahead and use the driver. Twenty years ago, I would have said to keep the driver at home until you can consistently put the irons in the fairway However, today's drivers are extremely forgiving and better designed to hit a tee'd up golf ball than most three and five woods. Within reason, there is some validity in learning to hit the ball hard and far, then working on accuracy.

[MiniBlueDragon]

I see it from the perspective of a beginner being able to score well to start off with.

As handicap lowers because they're playing better then add to the clubs as needed. For me it was irons plus putter to start off with (6i off the tee, 6i off the fairway, 6i off the fairway again if needed and you're on or near most greens), then I found I had yardage gaps at the low end and wanted to be able to pop the ball up nice and high around the greens so I bought extra wedges. Then I found I wasn't getting enough distance off the tee so I got a hybrid. Then when I could hit that well enough I got a 3W and only a few months back did I get a driver now that I have a semi-decent swing.

Golf can be pretty complicated anyway learning how to swing the club, ball flight, why to do certain things, what not to do, etiquette, types of rounds to play etc without adding a whole extra separate swing type into the mix for the sake of an extra 20yds off the tee.

[Caphenning]

Hmmmm... This is all interesting to hear. I never really considered not having or using a driver except those speed rounds we'd play with only a 7 iron.