Who Hits Their Driver Straight?

[Ogogolf]

I have been researching (on the web in general) Driver versus 3-Wood and have found a common theme amongst posters. "Sometimes I hit the driver straight and the next time I do not know where it is going to go!"

Well. It got me thinking. First, I fixed my driver problem only 4 years ago after golfing for 20+ years. That is, I was just like the hundreds of people posting on this or that board with "my driver sucks but my 3-wood ain't bad."

How did I fix my problem? I quit trying to hit it straight. I learned to draw the ball with the driver. And guess what? My driving went from a 180-200 yard fade/slice to a 220-240 draw. And there is no way in heck this little dude can hit a 3-wood 220 in normal conditions.

What is more; my drive in the summer (dry) can get fairly long on the right (hard and sloping away) fairway reaching 280-300 on certain holes. I could never drive that far with my old "let me try to hit it straight" approach.

So my (first question) for the Sandtrap.Com folks:

Do you *try* to hit your driver straight? Or do you purposely play a draw or a fade?

~ogo

Not A Scratch or a Bogey Golf Player but somewhere in-between.

[ApocG10]

I have never, in my life, seen a golf ball go 'straight'. They just cant. The key is to build a good, repeating, effective swing and work with your natural abilities,, and of course, when on the range, its nice to practice trying to shape shots. Maybe your natural shot is a draw or a fade. You learn to play it, and as you get better, learn to make small changes to your ball flight.

[Ernest Jones]

Yes, I hit it STRAIGHT into the trees.

On a more serious note - I think you'll find the vast majority of Sandtrappers will agree that it's better to control your curve than to pray for no curve.

[dak4n6]

I always try to shape my drive in an attempt to take away one of the two wayward shot possibilities.

[B-Con]

I'm trying to groove my swing to be draw-biased, but it doesn't always come off that way. The goal is a slight draw, or at worst straight. I usually align myself to the right side of the fairway so that a straight or drawing ball is in the fairway. [quote name="ApocG10" url="/t/58945/who-hits-their-driver-straight#post_723772"]I have never, in my life, seen a golf ball go 'straight'. They just cant. The key is to build a good, repeating, effective swing and work with your natural abilities,, and of course, when on the range, its nice to practice trying to shape shots. Maybe your natural shot is a draw or a fade. You learn to play it, and as you get better, learn to make small changes to your ball flight. [/quote] It's hard to hit a ball without a little bit of drift one way or the other, but how strict are your tolerances? You've never seen a ball only drift a couple inches?

[Kapanda]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Yes, I hit it STRAIGHT into the trees.

On a more serious note - I think you'll find the vast majority of Sandtrappers will agree that it's better to control your curve than to pray for no curve.

Your sense of humour is terrible! But your attitude is awesome! I love to read your posts!!

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by B-Con

I'm trying to groove my swing to be draw-biased, but it doesn't always come off that way. The goal is a slight draw, or at worst straight.

I usually align myself to the right side of the fairway so that a straight or drawing ball is in the fairway.

It's hard to hit a ball without a little bit of drift one way or the other, but how strict are your tolerances? You've never seen a ball only drift a couple inches?

I hit my 3h super straight, like laser straight. I wish I could figure out how to get a consistent draw with it though simply because when it doesn't go straight I have know idea where it will go...usually the miss is a dead push (which is also straight!) but it can also be a bad hook sometimes which makes it pretty damn hard to be strategic about where you miss. It's frustrating because the two misses indicate that I should have no problem getting a nice push draw happening with some slight adjustments but so far I haven't been able to find the missing ingredient - so I pray for straight.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by Kapanda

Your sense of humour is terrible! But your attitude is awesome! I love to read your posts!!

Thanks I guess, lol.

[Kapanda]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Thanks I guess, lol.

Lol I can't help being a dick sometimes!

[Dave2512]

Don't have one in my bag.

[mdl]

Originally Posted by Ogogolf

How did I fix my problem? I quit trying to hit it straight. I learned to draw the ball with the driver. And guess what? My driving went from a 180-200 yard fade/slice to a 220-240 draw. And there is no way in heck this little dude can hit a 3-wood 220 in normal conditions.

I'm doing this exact same thing right now.  I'd developed a powerful driver swing but it always was somewhere between a straight slight push and a big push fade/slice.  I'm currently struggling to learn to hit the draw with the driver.  Nothing consistent yet but I hear you on the extra distance.  On 17 last weekend I hit a push baby draw my full normal driver distance into a 1+ club straight headwind.

[lostine]

I like this approach.  I'm going to start working on cultivating a mild draw with the driver.

[blankwall]

mild fade usually 5 yards or so takes the left side out of question. Every club in the bag plays to a fade. It makes golf a lot simpler not worrying about one side

[Timothy Voyles]

I don't recall the last time I played the left side of a hole... I always play a small to mild fade. If there is big time trouble to the right I just play shorter... there's a left side of each hole?

[phillyk]

I've given up on a "straight" shot.  I play a high draw-hook "thing," meaning that my swing is currently not working well.  But, my norm is a high draw.  My driver, when working well, looks awesome and just powers through the air.  My 3-wood is interesting, because it has a different weighting or something than the rest of my clubs.  Meaning that it has a bigger draw than the rest, but sometimes when i focus on releasing my wrists later, it'll go with a nice draw.  But, I usually aim right of the fairway by about 5 yards and plan for the draw, and for the most part, it ends up in the center of the fairway.

[apgolf]

All I would say is you want to have a feel for what shots you are going to play before you play it. Have a sense for what type of release the shot will need and hence what shape you will hit. I think a reasonably straight ball flight is best, the pros do not move the ball much. When you are neutral you can easily produce a little fade or draw. If you are struggling with the driver, grip down a little, start getting used to "firing-it-up-the-guts of the fairway"; visualize a three quarter, punchy drive with club-head staying square longer (not rolling much). This works great. Want a fade, keep same swing but open up a little, a draw: visualize it, set up reasonably square or a little shot then swing. But make sure you have a feel for what you are going to play before you play it.

[Alvin Tsang]

Originally Posted by Ogogolf

Do you *try* to hit your driver straight? Or do you purposely play a draw or a fade?

~ogo

Not A Scratch or a Bogey Golf Player but somewhere in-between.

Glad you fixed your driver swing. It is a wonderful club to hit.

I also hit it with a draw (or a hook if it hit it poorly).

[VoidOfEnigmas]

My standard swing is a draw, I just focus on 2 things, going back slow so I don't get my hands stuck at the start of the swing and making sure to clear my hips.