Take Your Driver Out of the Bag

[3putter]

I rarely hit driver. Unless the hole plays somewhere close to 420 yards, I don't pull out the big stick. The longer I get with my 3W, the less likely I am to hit driver.

[SteveH]

I went through that last year. So frustrated with my driver, especially when I could hit the 3W 230-240, so I started leaving driver in the bag and scores were dropping. I did miss the extra yardage on the par 5's and eventually went and tried a bunch of new drivers on a launch monitor a couple of weeks ago. Ended up buying a new driver and trading the old one in.  Hopefully this season will see some improvement. I really enjoy hitting driver and purchased to one that was most consistent for me, it was surprising how much difference I could feel between the different brands.

[NJpatbee]

It may be my level of play as an 18 HCP, but I am much longer (20-40 yards carry and roll) and much more accurate with my Ping G15 460cc Titanium driver than my Ping G5 3 wood.  Of course I must not be making precise contact with the 3 wood, but I find the driver the easiest of all the long clubs to hit (off the tee).

[DeadMan]

All in all, I think the 3 wood is easier to top/sky/shank/duck-hook but reduces the directional miss on a pure shot (with a 10% distance penalty).

I think this pretty much captures it. I used to think this way - never use my driver, only hit my 3 wood. I have the distance to do that and not be trouble on most courses. But then I worked on my driver hard, and I'm now confident enough in it to hit it on most holes. And even those 20-ish yards you gain with the driver make a big difference - that's the difference between hitting a 6 iron and an 8 iron into the green, for example. And on par 5s, those 20 yards can be the difference between being able to reach the green and not. I had to find the right driver, but once I did, it was like a whole new game for me.

Driver is the club with the biggest face, and probably also the club with the biggest technological advances in the past 10-15 years. Almost definitely the most forgiving of all the clubs. Take advantage of that. Find the right driver, and learn how to hit it. Fix your swing, because that's really what the issue is.

[3putter]

I think this pretty much captures it. I used to think this way - never use my driver, only hit my 3 wood. I have the distance to do that and not be trouble on most courses. But then I worked on my driver hard, and I'm now confident enough in it to hit it on most holes. And even those 20-ish yards you gain with the driver make a big difference - that's the difference between hitting a 6 iron and an 8 iron into the green, for example. And on par 5s, those 20 yards can be the difference between being able to reach the green and not. I had to find the right driver, but once I did, it was like a whole new game for me.

Driver is the club with the biggest face, and probably also the club with the biggest technological advances in the past 10-15 years. Almost definitely the most forgiving of all the clubs. Take advantage of that. Find the right driver, and learn how to hit it. Fix your swing, because that's really what the issue is.

I agree with this, but I still don't practice it. My issue is that I have struggled with the driver in the past, and that has left a little mark at the back of my mind, maybe one day I will get over it. I hit my driver moderately well now, and it won't end up on the next fairway, but I am ultra confident with a 3w on my hands.

[mvmac]

I tend to do the opposite, I rarely hit 3 wood off the tee. Driver is bigger, easier to hit and goes farther. Depends on the hole but even when I don't need a "big" drive and have to "fit" my tee shot in, I typically prefer to hit an easy/choke/bunt driver than a 3 wood off the tee.

Golfers that struggle with their driver are typically too steep.

[RFKFREAK]

I tend to do the opposite, I rarely hit 3 wood off the tee. Driver is bigger, easier to hit and goes farther. Depends on the hole but even when I don't need a "big" drive and have to "fit" my tee shot in, I typically prefer to hit an easy/choke/bunt driver than a 3 wood off the tee. Golfers that struggle with their driver are typically too steep.   [CONTENTEMBED=/t/77244/how-to-hit-a-driver-hit-it-further-and-stop-slicing layout=inline]​[/CONTENTEMBED]

Never thought of doing this, however, it would probably mess up my non-existent Game Golf stats. Haha.

[Gunther]

Well, made the leap and got a driver today. 913 D3, 9.5°. Went to the range and it felt great, best 1st session with a new driver I've ever had. Was able to control traj easily, like I did 5 drivers ago. Didn't try to shape anything cuz winds were 20, right to left and into so didn't want to mess with it. Not sure how far it's going but most shots felt solid. Playin tomorrow so I'll compare against my buds and see if I've gained or lost distance. Gotta be more than the 3 but for 4 or 5 rounds, I sure didn't miss a driver.

[jsgolfer]

I tend to do the opposite, I rarely hit 3 wood off the tee. Driver is bigger, easier to hit and goes farther. Depends on the hole but even when I don't need a "big" drive and have to "fit" my tee shot in, I typically prefer to hit an easy/choke/bunt driver than a 3 wood off the tee.

Golfers that struggle with their driver are typically too steep.

I do the same thing, I hit my driver everywhere. I hit the easy/choke/bunt driver one or two times a round

[Aguirre]

I always hit driver off the tee unless I'm forced not to.  And then I curse the course designer.

A long time ago the driver used to kill me.  My pro said, "We need to make you a better driver."  And we did nothing but work on my driver for something like ten straight lessons.  And it paid off.

Taking your driver out of your bag for a few rounds while you're working on something during practice time is fine.  But it's not a permanent solution.  Hell, I swear I'm more accurate with my driver off the tee than my 3 wood.

[Shindig]

Hell, I swear I'm more accurate with my driver off the tee than my 3 wood.

I believe it. Without looking in your bag, I suspect your driver is a more forgiving club than your 3-Wood.

[Dave2512]

I use the Driveway a little bit driver a little bit 3 wood. The Donnie and Marie club.

[cape cod beachfront golfer]

My season here in the Northeast is only about 2 weeks old. BUT I did play a lot of simulated golf this winter and it was quite eye-opening. Seeing my distances on the simulator after every shot very clearly showed by driver was my weakest club... erratic and short! My 3 woods ( I was using a 13* Adams & 15* TE Exotics CB1 were much more accurate and surprisingly no more than 8 yards or so shorter than my driver.  The indoor game actually became fun... hitting my 3 wood to 'targeted' spot. Felt like a skilled golfer as opposed to a guy who hit a driver somewhere then had to decide what my next shot should be. I also learned I hit the 3woods much more accurately off the deck as opposed to using a tee.

So far my early golf season has confirmed my winter findings... I am a better player with a 3 wood in my hand. Hitting it 210 -215 yards allows me to play almost every hole the way it should be played... PAR as a goal... with an occasional birdie made possible by an exceptional hybrid  approach shot.  I have tried to blend the driver back into my game. Our first Par 5 is the 5th hole with 3 of the first 4 holes being Par 4's. I use the 3 wood to drive with until I get to the Par 5. It has been encouraging. I am often within a shot of Par thru the first 4 holes using the 3wood. It seems to even groove my swing so that when I do use the driver on the Par 5 5th hole I actually hit it quite well. Right now I am happy to only swing the driver on the 3 Par 5's and one of the Par 4's. Seems to be working as a majority of my scores have been upper single digits over par. I am perfectly happy shooting 77-79 on our Par 70 course. Besides it is kind of a treat "Blue Bayou"ing my golf partners with a 3 wood to their errant driver.

[JP golf]

Golfers that struggle with their driver are typically too steep.

This was, and still is my issue as well with driver off the tee.  I'm lucky enough to be long with three wood, or ironically driver off the deck (which I can play with a little cut consistently in the fairway).  The big key for me was in my setup and setting my spin angel correctly.  It helped me start hitting the driver with an ascending blow which reduced my spin and increased my consistency.  I'm still dialing in the driver, but I have a lot more confidence now.

The video below talks about D Plane and was originally posted by @Righty to Lefty in a similar thread that I had posted.  It helped me visualize what I was trying to do.  Hope it helps.

[disco111]

I think many use a driver with a shaft that's too long, I had mine cut down to about 43" last year, now I don't miss with it often and feel I can really swing with greater speed, a stock shaft off the rack is going to be long, so that the buyer can cut it down, but few do for some reason, and then they do well with the shorter 3W shaft, hmmm.

I'm sure we's all be surprised, at just how many tour players play with a shorter length driver. It's reported that Tiger uses a 43 1/2" (granted, he's not the best example - swings to hard IMO) but could you imagine if he hit a longer shaft. I think Sergio plays a 43 1/2" also and he's considered one of the best drivers of the ball out there. Anyway, point being, sometime less is more..................

[cape cod beachfront golfer]

Both of my "shorten the driver" attempts were failures. One was a 9* driver that I had shortened by a full inch via a butt trim. Driver was a Powerbilt AF One I had bought cheaply... no reason to experiment on a $200 plus driver. AF One wasn't consistent to start with but after the trim was 'dead'... just no shaft kick at all. Head was big to start with but with the trim it really did look like a balloon on too short a stick. Zero feeling of confidence.

Second attempt was a forced trim that I still regret. My Tour Edge Exotics CB 1 driver head had come loose. Before I realized the problem i had split the tip of the shaft.  Tech at Dick's said we could trim the split tip, then rebuild shaft length at butt with "almost no difference." I said sure... go ahead. Well the tip needed nearly an 1 1/2 trim and he could only put 1 inch back so club ended up 1/2 inch shorter. After that the club shaft felt like it was made of rebar. Maybe it was the tip trim alone, maybe the difference in tip and length but my favorite driver of all time is now in retirement. From time to time I do take it out for a round... but "we" both know it isn't the same. I still regret not hunting down an exact duplicate replacement shaft from Tour Edge. BTW Call me paranoid but I sometimes think the tech actually created the split pulling the loose head.... he seemed almost too anxious to help me. Still makes me sad. My previous favorite driver of all time was a Cleveland Launcher with the old gold shaft. Smaller head, shorter shaft but I could point that Launcher to a spot on the fairway and it would listen. It too is in retirement but is sometimes rewarded with a trip to the driving range.

[inthehole]

I'm with Mike above ... used to be afraid to hit driver unless it was a really wide open fairway.   I'm working on backing off the driver for tighter fairways - it's paying off.    My whole theme this year when it comes to the driver "can't be afraid of it" ... it's an advantage to use it, just need to work on less than full swings with it to make it very accurate ... so far so good

[ghalfaire]

I recently started playing after a 5-month hiatus. Before my break I became disillusioned because my swing somehow was gone. During the 3 months or so of my struggles, I tried 4 or 5 different drivers, thinking that might help correct my problem. Never did.

So, when I started up again, I was stuck with a crap Adams driver that didn't go anywhere. I scrapped it for my 2nd round and went back to my old Nike Sasquatch that was 8 years old. Hit it solidly but it went nowhere.

Prior to my 4th round back, I was cleaning my clubs and when I immersed the Nike in water, I heard hissing, oops. Never found the leak or saw bubbles but obviously, something was wrong.

So, I don't have a driver at the minute. I've played 2 rounds with a 3w and my tee to green game has been phenomenal! I may never get another driver!

I'm averaging 240-250, even melted one 277 yesterday. Downwind yes but still outdrove the other 3 in my group who all used driver. I could bomb a driver before my struggles, once or twice a round I'd get it out 300. But, I believe my driving average is longer now with the 3w because I hit hit pure much more frequently and I'm keeping it in the fairway so it's running out.

Hit 10 of 13 fairways and 10 of 14 in my 2 rounds. It's tough sometimes hitting longer clubs in. Had a 458 yd par 4 on 18 yesterday, into a 20mph wind. I just pured my 3 but hit it high so the wind knocked it down. Still, was able to hit another very close to the green, chipped ok, missed the putt but was very happy to take a bogey. All 3 of my buds doubled it, good golfers too, single digit.

Need to work on a few things with it, for example, I'm not yet comfortable controlling traj off a tee with it, like I was with my driver and while I can draw it, having a tough time playing a cut, which I did well with a driver. Just need to spend some time on the range hitting it off a tee, which I rarely did before.

The courses I play are anywhere from 6200 to 6900 and I'm not finding that I'm missing distance cuz I'm more consistent. Been quite an eye-opener and as I said, in no hurry to run out and buy a big stick right now. Curious if anyone else has had similar experiences.

I have suffered through the can't hit a driver problem for a few years.  I hit a lot of 3W these days.  But just recently I cut the driver length to 44 inches and over the last few weeks I have been hitting it much better.  At one time Drivers were 43-44 inches in length but over the years, in the search for more distance, driver shaft length has increased to 46 or so inches as a standard.  That is likely a 3 inch more length from your 3W.  I was told it would stiffen the shaft but any club head speed I lost in doing this I more than got back by making more solid contact.  So if you're having trouble with the driver over a long period of time I recommend this.  You can just purchase a strong 3W I suppose but you lose the larger club head.  So in my case I believe the problem was just the length of the driver not being suited to my swing dynamics.  So take an old driver and give it a try you might like it.