I can't hit my driver..Please help

[Swaim11]

This is my second year of golfing and up until roughly 6 months ago i could hit my driver perfectly straight. Now i have a horrible slice 90% of the time with my driver and the other 10% i do hit fairly straight, but i have no idea of what I'm doing different. I have 2 drivers, one is the 9.5 Degree Cobra ZL with a stiff 62 voodoo stock shaft. My second driver is the 9 degree R11 with a stiff fujikura blur 60 stock shaft. The cobra driver is the driver i could hit straight averaging 275 yards. Now i can not keep either club in the fairway let alone keep the balls out of the woods. The R11 slice is a whole lot worse then the cobra and I've tried all the different settings the R11 has to offer and nothing helped.

I went last night to Golf Galaxy to do a driver fitting hoping to get a solution to fix my problem. Needless to say i left very disappointed. I hit 4 drivers and 2 of them were mine (cobra & r11). The R11 swing speed was 104-112 mph with a ball spin ranging between 3400-4000 with a ball carry of 235-262 yards. The cobra swing speed was 95-102 mph with a ball sin ranging between 3200-3800 with a ball carry of 210-232 yards. The other 2 clubs were a ping I20 & some other cobra driver that i forgot which one it was. But the results of them were in the same ball park as my cobra and r11.

I have the same slice problem with my 3 wood also. but whats weird to me i hit my irons perfectly straight and fairly decent. I hit my 9 Iron roughly 145-155 yards and i hit my 5 iron roughly 190-200 yards straight.

Any advice to help fix my game will greatly be appreciated.

[inthecup]

The first few answers will be, post a video and get a lesson.  I vote for get a lesson.

The club path and face angle determine spin and direction.  The face is open relative to the pat at impact causing a slice.

Check your grip (it should not be weak) think about the club face at impact.  For me that is the back of my top hand is it facing the target or more towards the sky?  Sky generates a slice.  Try swinging at 85% power not 110%, that can generate all kinds of timing problems.

Get a lesson, it is all speculation until someone sees your swing.  It is definitely not the driver.

[Swaim11]

Thank you for the response.

I actually went to a local driving range with a pro/trainer and he told me i was actually blocking the ball, not slicing. He said I'm not getting my hips twisted fast enough. That I'm trying to use my arms to power my shot instead of letting my hips do most of the work for me. Along with my balance is horrible.

I've been practicing trying to get my hips around faster and its helped me a good bit so far and my drives are staying out of the woods, which is a great feeling. I still have a problem with getting comfortable in my stance along with my grip. I'm a right handed golfer, so when i grab the club with my left hand first (at the tip of the shaft) then i put my right one on, i can never get comfortable unless my grip is "weak" I'm told. Now with my irons, my hands and stance feel comfortable and i just grab the club normal with basically both thumbs in line heading straight down the shaft and i hit the ball straight as an arrow and it makes no sense to me. I wear an extra large glove and the guy at the locals dicks sporting goods talked me into getting an over sized grip on my driver due to the size of my hands, but my irons have the regular stock grips that came on the clubs originally. I'm just so confused and lost when it comes to my drives.

[xbdi]

I started golfing last summer also and this sounds exactly like me (except my handicap is higher). Went from shooting high 80s to high 90s and 100s mostly because of bad tee shots and lost balls. Like you, I used to hit my driver perfectly straight at one time, and consistently. Unfortunately I live in such a rural place that I'd have to travel 15+ hours or more to get quality lessons, so I rely on message boards like these instead and whatever videos and advice I can find online.

You said you weren't turning your hips fast enough... what kind of drills are you doing to work on this? I feel like I'm all arms with my driver and that's causing my slices and blocking also. I feel like I'm having a hard time getting my lower body engaged in my shots, and when I consciously try to get them engaged I end up hitting the ground before the ball and bending my knees on my downswing. I've tried hovering lately and it has definitely helped me but some of my fundamentals are still not good enough to hit the ball consistently off the tee.

[bjwestner]

Why not tweak your grip with your driver to be a bit stronger?  If you are hitting the ball to the right (either slicing or blocking) then it makes sense that the club face is "open" at impact.  If you tweak the grip with your driver to be a bit stronger, this should close the clubface a bit and have the ball go straighter or at least not as far right......

Hoping you get this fixed, it sounds like you are a great golfer and I cannot imagine how frustrating this must be.  Best of luck!

[saevel25]

If you hit it straight, and now hit a slice, i can tell you one thing, Its not your equipment, its your swing. You have an over the top swing. Because you probably aim right, and pull the ball back straight, now something has changed and your slicing the ball more.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by Swaim11

Thank you for the response.

I actually went to a local driving range with a pro/trainer and he told me i was actually blocking the ball, not slicing. He said I'm not getting my hips twisted fast enough. That I'm trying to use my arms to power my shot instead of letting my hips do most of the work for me. Along with my balance is horrible.

I've been practicing trying to get my hips around faster and its helped me a good bit so far and my drives are staying out of the woods, which is a great feeling. I still have a problem with getting comfortable in my stance along with my grip. I'm a right handed golfer, so when i grab the club with my left hand first (at the tip of the shaft) then i put my right one on, i can never get comfortable unless my grip is "weak" I'm told. Now with my irons, my hands and stance feel comfortable and i just grab the club normal with basically both thumbs in line heading straight down the shaft and i hit the ball straight as an arrow and it makes no sense to me. I wear an extra large glove and the guy at the locals dicks sporting goods talked me into getting an over sized grip on my driver due to the size of my hands, but my irons have the regular stock grips that came on the clubs originally. I'm just so confused and lost when it comes to my drives.

Twisted or not shifting your weight? I would also move the ball up in your stance and slow down your swing so your hips catch up.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Just a thought: Hit a dozen 9-irons. Take your time. Then hit a driver with the same swing, same tempo.