How to Hit a Driver (Hit it Further and Stop Slicing!)

[Jameson]

What do you think about this drill ??

[iacas]

What do you think about this drill ??

Typical garbage.

For those who don't want to sit through the ad…

• Lift your hands up and away from you.
• Drop it in way behind.
• Roll your forearms/hands over each other.

Basically, if you saw "loop it the OTHER WAY, Ray!" during the Haney Project with Romano, you know what he's proposing here.

[TimS65]

This is another option - it worked for me! Some may find it odd teeing up 4 to 6 inches behind the ball, but it helped me cure a slice from the very first shot. And I now have a nice in to out swing with positive AoA...

[dkolo]

I'd like chime in quickly that this is a really helpful thread, and one I didn't fully take advantage of until just now. I had a lesson yesterday specifically on driver for the first time with a new (to me) local pro. I've fought the big banana ball slice for, well, since I started playing 2 years ago, and I'd shelved the driver because I couldn't keep it in play, and hit 3 wood every driving hole.

The recent threads about distance being so key made me want to fix the problem (I'd stopped even practicing or carrying the driver, because I didn't want to keep practicing faults). I'd read this thread when it came out and tried some of the stuff, but it didn't help. I took the lesson and the instructor immediately pointed out to me that while my feet were set up well right, my shoulders and hips were pointed left of target, so I wasn't changing path like I thought. It didn't even occur to me that the upper and lower might not be in sync in that respect.

We also moved the ball way up in my stance. It wasn't as far up as I'd thought. and I was also playing the ball farther back because I felt like if I was catching the ball earlier in my swing arc, it was more likely to be on the way in to out, sort of how my punch shots draw a lot when I play the ball back in my stance (it made sense in my mind anyway). Putting the ball farther forward was mainly helping my club head catch up and get square, where it didn't have a chance in the farther-back position. In other words, all the stuff you mentioned!

Long story short, I was able to get a straight ball flight with the odd draw within a couple of swings and adjustments. Aiming my shoulders and hips to the right feels really weird, so I'm going to be working on it as much as I can at home (39°F weather yesterday on the range was pushing it for the lesson, but I wanted to have something to work on at home before winter reaaally hit, haha). I'm still hitting some bad shots, but the ratios are way better, and the good ones are really good. So I wanted to thank you, @mvmac , for the list in this thread because it's terrific (obviously), but it also has helped as a checklist reminder to me of the things I need to do (so much to digest in that lesson and hard to remember everything; already reminded me of some points he made!), and will be a constant reference for the future for ideas to help improve the driver. Thanks again!

[mvmac]

This is another option - it worked for me! Some may find it odd teeing up 4 to 6 inches behind the ball, but it helped me cure a slice from the very first shot. And I now have a nice in to out swing with positive AoA...

Just to be clear, this doesn't mean we don't want our weight to transfer forward, he just doesn't want the upper center moving forward, which I agree.

Long story short, I was able to get a straight ball flight with the odd draw within a couple of swings and adjustments. Aiming my shoulders and hips to the right feels really weird, so I'm going to be working on it as much as I can at home (39°F weather yesterday on the range was pushing it for the lesson, but I wanted to have something to work on at home before winter reaaally hit, haha). I'm still hitting some bad shots, but the ratios are way better, and the good ones are really good. So I wanted to thank you, @mvmac, for the list in this thread because it's terrific (obviously), but it also has helped as a checklist reminder to me of the things I need to do (so much to digest in that lesson and hard to remember everything; already reminded me of some points he made!), and will be a constant reference for the future for ideas to help improve the driver. Thanks again!

You're welcome! Keep up the good work.

[Jameson]

This is another option - it worked for me! Some may find it odd teeing up 4 to 6 inches behind the ball, but it helped me cure a slice from the very first shot. And I now have a nice in to out swing with positive AoA...

So, the main points I get from this video are:

- Ball in line with myleft armpit.

- Feet flare out.

- Don´t put the club face too close to the ball in the stance.

- Place a tee before the ball (outside the direction line) and never cross it towards the target in the downswing...

Going to test it at the range tomorrow..

[mvmac]

So, the main points I get from this video are:

- Ball in line with myleft armpit.

- Feet flare out.

- Don´t put the club face too close to the ball in the stance.

- Place a tee before the ball (outside the direction line) and never cross it towards the target in the downswing...

Going to test it at the range tomorrow..

I think the tee thing was just a drill? You can still rest the face close to the ball and have a positive AoA. The guy in the video just feels that players aim left because the ball is so far forward, I disagree. IMO players aim left because they're tired of seeing the ball go right. There are also plenty of slicers that play the ball back and still aim left, so ball placement is usually not the culprit.

Feel free to also refer to the OP, good info there as well

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jameson

So, the main points I get from this video are:

- Ball in line with myleft armpit.

- Feet flare out.

- Don´t put the club face too close to the ball in the stance.

- Place a tee before the ball (outside the direction line) and never cross it towards the target in the downswing...

Going to test it at the range tomorrow..

I think the tee thing was just a drill? You can still rest the face close to the ball and have a positive AoA. The guy in the video just feels that players aim left because the ball is so far forward, I disagree. IMO players aim left because they're tired of seeing the ball go right. There are also plenty of slicers that play the ball back and still aim left, so ball placement is usually not the culprit.

Feel free to also refer to the OP, good info there as well

I second this one. I didn't see anything new in the "(Best Driver Video)" that will provide anything not addressed already in the OP.

[Jameson]

I second this one. I didn't see anything new in the "(Best Driver Video)" that will provide anything not addressed already in the OP.

Sorry... but,, what is OP ??

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

I second this one. I didn't see anything new in the "(Best Driver Video)" that will provide anything not addressed already in the OP.

Sorry... but,, what is OP ??

Refers to the Original Post in the thread.

[mvmac]

Lexi Thompson

[Torres9]

I want to hit big dog much longer and will try these methods. Some discussions are hard to follow.

[Matt66]

Having gone through this thread after being pointed this way It would occur to me that I at least feel like I have the majority of the set up routines that @mvmac discussed in the OP in check, but as always something you never really considered that will be checked & worked on come next practice!

I will If I can try and explain what I do when I set up, & what having read through the posts may have been lacking or should have been doing...

Typically with the driver;

- Ball Tee'd up roughly half a ball higher then the club

- Line up with the heel of my left foot

- Slight preset of my chest/body tilt to the right to help getting 'under' (this could possibly be what you refer to as the axis tilt, I'm not the best with jargon!)
- Head down, typically trying to keep chin just off my chest

- Swing typically a slicer/fader of the ball, I work on keeping my club path staying 'inside the line' and not in to out

After reading through the thread I feel like possibly some of the things I may be lacking is a slight preset of the hips forward to coincide with that slight lean/tilt of my body.

Secondly, I have always felt that I struggle with alignment or 'aim', again I would be one of those who haven't considered lining up both hips with shoulders, something I will try and gauge come my next practice.

Am I on the right track?

I've included a few screenshots (sorry for the topgolf screens blocking off the driver)

[mvmac]

- Swing typically a slicer/fader of the ball, I work on keeping my club path staying 'inside the line' and not in to out

After reading through the thread I feel like possibly some of the things I may be lacking is a slight preset of the hips forward to coincide with that slight lean/tilt of my body.

Welcome to the site, thanks for checking out the thread.

The hips being pre-set a little forward results in the lean/tilt/axis tilt. The set-up looks pretty good, I would recommend narrowing the stance about an inch on each side. It's also fine to play the ball a little further forward of your left heel, like your left toe. If you're still fading/slicing, aim your body (hips/shoulders) more right, also may have to look at the mechanics of the swing.

[mchichioco]

Hey everyone, I'm a Junior in highschool 10 handicap and I have tryouts for golf tomorrow. I have an issue, I've been generally playing well but all of a sudden im slicing my driver.... I think this might be caused by a weak grip and maybe an out to in swing? Does anybody have drills to fix my slice? Also, how can I make my golf grip stronger? What adjustments with my hands do I need to make in order to achieve a stronger grip? Thanks for the help!

[mvmac]

Hey everyone, I'm a Junior in highschool 10 handicap and I have tryouts for golf tomorrow.

I have an issue, I've been generally playing well but all of a sudden im slicing my driver....

I think this might be caused by a weak grip and maybe an out to in swing?

Does anybody have drills to fix my slice? Also, how can I make my golf grip stronger? What adjustments with my hands do I need to make in order to achieve a stronger grip?

Thanks for the help!

Hi @mchichioco , I moved your post to this thread. Check out the first post in the thread. Also feel free to start a member swing thread where myself or others can help you.

http://thesandtrap.com/f/4180/member-swings

[Matt66]

The hips being pre-set a little forward results in the lean/tilt/axis tilt. The set-up looks pretty good, I would recommend narrowing the stance about an inch on each side. It's also fine to play the ball a little further forward of your left heel, like your left toe. If you're still fading/slicing, aim your body (hips/shoulders) more right, also may have to look at the mechanics of the swing.

Thanks for the reply Mike, its kind of crazy sometimes how simple changes can make a world of difference!

Went to the range last night to work again on my driving, this time however with a checklist to think about. So after a bit of playing around I did indeed start to find the driver & the middle of the driver again & not the toppy into orbit shots that had become norm.

The pre-setting of the hips definitely helped with as you say the axis tilt, the swing felt much smoother & on path (maybe its all in my head who knows). And as I also mentioned yesterday, I underrated the effect shoulder & hip alignment had.

I managed to hit a few nice fades, some slices are still their and once I started moving that right leg to the right heck I even found a draw or at least a straight push, but the first issue I wanted to tackle was contact, looks like I'm getting there.

Wish I had taken a few videos to upload into my swing thread, will just have to go back down the range again some point this week .

One thing I did start doing every so often, and is more a point out of interest, is that in my takeaway I started watching the club path, only ever so slightly to no more then about a third of the swing then refocusing on the ball, I found again this helping with keeping that club path correct.

[mvmac]

Thanks for the reply Mike, its kind of crazy sometimes how simple changes can make a world of difference!

Cool, happy to help.