Driver and 3-wood go the same distance, any ideas to make the driver go a little farther?

[AnthonyJames]

Dear Golfers,

I find myself hitting my 3-wood about 190-200, and lately my driver about the same distance.  Both are Taylor Made Burners, with regular shafts.  Driver shaft is 1 inch longer than the 3-wood. Driver claims to be a 10.5 degree, while the 3-wood claims to be 15 degrees.

All i want is another 10 to 20 yards with driver and i'd be satisifed :).

I do tend to hit them about the same accuracy -- 50% pretty straight, 35% fade to slice, 15% hook, though i only really hit my 3-wood off of turf -- i never tee it up higher than a centimeter.

My driver trajectory tends to be a pretty high earlier -- looks to me like a good driver height, but i'm no expert -- and hten it seems to die and drop almost straight down.  The 3-wood has a lower trajectory.

What would you do to try to get some more distance out of your driver?

Thanks,

AJ

[MiniBlueDragon]

Could be that the driver's ballooning the shot from your description. Does the ball launch out low and then curve straight up or does it come out of the face on a high trajectory and then fall off toward the end?

There's some info here that could help - http://thesandtrap.com/t/38544/ballooning-drives-high-ball-flight

[ejimsmith]

i had a similar issue, my driver ball flight would be rather high, and then drop straight down w/ little roll.  i got myself on a launch monitor, and learned that i had a high back-spin rate.  increasing the shaft to stiff and lowering the loft makes my drives more like a line drive that rolls out quite a bit.  i went from ~220 to ~245 and am increasing that with more practice w/ the new driver.

[rustyredcab]

All things being equal, the longer shaft should create more clubhead speed which should make the ball go farther. But alas, all things are not equal.

Hard to know what is not equal without seeing your swing, but from you dispersion comments, you likely are not hitting the sweet spot very often. Without seeing anything, I'd say try slowing everything down. Swing at 70% to see if you can hit the sweet spot and improve your swing mechanics. A well hit ball at 70% will go more than 200 yards.

Getting yourself on video may reveal many things to you as well. Setup, ball position, flipping, over-swinging... all can be seen when you look at your swing. What we feel we are doing is almost never what we actually are doing.

[Mr. Desmond]

I'd guess that you have more than one issue -

Swing issue if drives goes up and just fall down with an inconsistent flight pattern.

I'd resolve the swing issue before you start looking at another driver and shaft. You may need to shallow out your swing, and if you're fading, the club face is open at impact. The hook may be a pull. Most likely, because most people have it -- an over the top move.

Lessons or DIY Instruction.

[AnthonyJames]

Here's me swatting it with the driver:

[rustyredcab]

That swing should yield better results IMHO. It looks close. Hard to tell with down the line but you may be hanging back a bit and flipping (early release). Make sure hands lead past ball before you make contact. You should feel like you are driving into your forward leg at impact. Try a face-on video.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Little bit of goat-humping going on there. Could be that where you're losing your tush-line you're forcing your hands to flip over to get to the ball. I'd start out there as the swing looks good.

[AnthonyJames]

what does that mean exactly?  is my head and body going up and down too much?

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by AnthonyJames

what does that mean exactly?  is my head and body going up and down too much?

Not sure. I'm not good at this. Quick take -

Your butt is sticking out a bit too much for today's swing at address.

Stick it out, then put it in a little.

Your head raises in backswing

Right leg is really bent at top of backswing

Swing is a little long - it seems flat, then you raise arms at last instant

You lose your tush line in the downswing (butt goes towards ball)

Weight goes to the front foot really soon and may cause the steeps

I'd swing more around you to finish the swing

[MiniBlueDragon]

Originally Posted by MiniBlueDragon

Little bit of goat-humping going on there. Could be that where you're losing your tush-line you're forcing your hands to flip over to get to the ball. I'd start out there as the swing looks good.

Originally Posted by AnthonyJames

what does that mean exactly?  is my head and body going up and down too much?

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

You lose your tush line in the downswing (butt goes towards ball)

This.

[saevel25]

Yep, when you see your right foot rotate like that, its classic case of your tush getting closer to the ball. This will cause as you see your head to raise up in the downswing.

You can try bending at your knees a bit more, this should cause your hips to tuck up a bit more. You don't want to go and arch your back, but it would be a more athletic position and help you gain balance. From what i see the poor footwork is caused by balance issues. You don't want to fall over, and your body generally knows how to put clubhead to ball, so its doing waht it can to compensate for the faults. Try to feel like your maintaining the flex in your left knee through the downswing more, don't try to straighten it so soon. Dreally driver your hips toward the target, and your left hip will go around and up.

[alex10for2]

The pressure on your right foot - you're releasing too early. What happens with the 3 wood is that your stance is narrower (so you hit it a decent distance), while your driver stance (general assumption) is wider, and while that gives you a better base, that also makes it more difficult to transfer your weight in the right sequence. Since the 3 wood is played with your right foot closer to your center of gravity, it's easier to achieve the right sequence. I used to have this problem myself, it's really just exposing flaws in your swing. Keep in mind, keeping your right foot down and compressing your lower body is tied to balance (among other things). You do a good job of finishing in balance but your level of balance seems to vary throughout your swing - figure out a way to stay in balance from beginning to end, and your right foot will start to release naturally and at the right time. Good luck and nice swing.

[AnthonyJames]

so i think you all are saying i should keep my hips more parallel with target line for a longer time, and keep my right foot down for a longer time?  Is that part of the idea?

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by AnthonyJames

so i think you all are saying i should keep my hips more parallel with target line for a longer time, and keep my right foot down for a longer time?  Is that part of the idea?

Parallel?

Did someone say that?

If you mean the tush -

Do a search under tush line.

[alex10for2]

I would stay away from specifics (keeping your right foot down/parallel hips), one because the know-it-all's will jump on your every word, and two because mechanical talk can really confuse you and words are just interpretations of what's happening - believe your eyes not your internal dialogue. Do what Moe Norman suggested, use your imagination.  Stick to what i said about improving your balance:

Practice shifting your weight from your right pivot to your left pivot with different stance widths (no ball). You'll find a narrow stance brings the two pivots closer together and it'll be more natural movement, but the wider you get the harder it'll be to keep the right sequence and that's when your balance is compromised. It's true that widening your stance gives you a better base and in theory should give you more balance, but a swing that's off sequence will throw your balance off no matter how wide your stance is...

you know how they say there's s thin line between love and hate? there's a thing line between being in balance and leaning forward. Because the ball is in front of you, if you get off balance it'll be because you leaned towards the ball at some point during the swing,prob during your transition. Rarely do you see people falling backwards, although that's exactly what chichi rod used to do sometimes and he'd end up leaning to the left in the follow through. Better to lean left and work your way back to the middle, than lean forward - that's where the mother of all slices finds the majority of her victims. Practice swinging standing up without bending from the hips - like a baseball swing - much easier to learn the right weight distribution that way.

[alex10for2]

ok, looked at your video I think I know what your issue is now - you see the way your left heel spins out/is off the ground after you release your lower body/follow-through? your transferring your weight to the ball of your left foot - it should be both the heel and the ball at the same time. Your losing your balance as a result, and like i mentioned earlier, it happens during your transition. Your faulty weight shift is causing you to lunge forward just enough to compromise your balance- you're losing connection to the ground when you transition. You're also losing a ton of the distance you're entitled to - explains why you have a very nice swing (for the most part, but in golf, "almost right, is another way of saying wrong" - hogan), but only hit it 200. Make up or look up some drills that help your practice transferring your weight evenly into your left side, not just the ball of your left foot. Of course this is MUCH easier said then done, but you've found the crux of your situation (if you buy into my analysis) and that's half the battle...

Originally Posted by alex10for2

I would stay away from specifics (keeping your right foot down/parallel hips), one because the know-it-all's will jump on your every word, and two because mechanical talk can really confuse you and words are just interpretations of what's happening - believe your eyes not your internal dialogue. Do what Moe Norman suggested, use your imagination.  Stick to what i said about improving your balance:

Practice shifting your weight from your right pivot to your left pivot with different stance widths (no ball). You'll find a narrow stance brings the two pivots closer together and it'll be more natural movement, but the wider you get the harder it'll be to keep the right sequence and that's when your balance is compromised. It's true that widening your stance gives you a better base and in theory should give you more balance, but a swing that's off sequence will throw your balance off no matter how wide your stance is...

you know how they say there's s thin line between love and hate? there's a thing line between being in balance and leaning forward. Because the ball is in front of you, if you get off balance it'll be because you leaned towards the ball at some point during the swing,prob during your transition. Rarely do you see people falling backwards, although that's exactly what chichi rod used to do sometimes and he'd end up leaning to the left in the follow through. Better to lean left and work your way back to the middle, than lean forward - that's where the mother of all slices finds the majority of her victims. Practice swinging standing up without bending from the hips - like a baseball swing - much easier to learn the right weight distribution that way.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by alex10for2

I would stay away from specifics (keeping your right foot down/parallel hips), one because the know-it-all's will jump on your every word, and two because mechanical talk can really confuse you and words are just interpretations of what's happening - believe your eyes not your internal dialogue. Do what Moe Norman suggested, use your imagination.  Stick to what i said about improving your balance:

Practice shifting your weight from your right pivot to your left pivot with different stance widths (no ball). You'll find a narrow stance brings the two pivots closer together and it'll be more natural movement, but the wider you get the harder it'll be to keep the right sequence and that's when your balance is compromised. It's true that widening your stance gives you a better base and in theory should give you more balance, but a swing that's off sequence will throw your balance off no matter how wide your stance is...

you know how they say there's s thin line between love and hate? there's a thing line between being in balance and leaning forward. Because the ball is in front of you, if you get off balance it'll be because you leaned towards the ball at some point during the swing,prob during your transition. Rarely do you see people falling backwards, although that's exactly what chichi rod used to do sometimes and he'd end up leaning to the left in the follow through. Better to lean left and work your way back to the middle, than lean forward - that's where the mother of all slices finds the majority of her victims. Practice swinging standing up without bending from the hips - like a baseball swing - much easier to learn the right weight distribution that way.

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