Should a double digit handicapper be using a Driver?

[jfrain2004]

My local pro has just introduced me to the driver ( a Clevland Hibore xl ) after 18 mths of lessons and practice. He maintained until I got below 12 or 13 that a driver would only hinder my progress. How right he was. I started playing in 2005 and having no bad habits to unlearn the por suggested I not buy a driver for 2 seasons. Got my Hibore last week and ( I'm Not one for blowing my own trumpet ) but it's embarassing being beside long time golfers with Nike SQ2's, TM burners and the like and out driving them. Is this just the honeymoon period for a new club that people talk about or was the pro correct about steering clear of a driver until I could master my irons first? The reason I ask is my bro wants to start playing golf and should I give him the same advice?

[Norm66]

I'm not a pro by any stretch and really a pretty new golfer (1 1/2 years) but I think "rules" like that one are dumb. Everybody is different and at over 20 handicap driver is the club I have the most confidence in. I would definitely recommend that a new player shouldn't yet try driver on the course, but to limit it to single-digit handicappers seems way overly conservative to me.

I didn't use a driver for most of the first year I played and that was great for me. But at the end of that year I'm hitting driver and hitting probably 70% of fairways with most misses being just out of the fairway (as opposed to the next fairway over) with it. I'm not even close to a single digit handicap, but the driver has helped my game rather than hurt it.

Edited to add: Of course it's also necessary to know when and when not to hit the driver. One of the common mistakes I see my buddies make is hitting driver on #12 where we play most often. It's a 510 yard par 5 that doglegs hard left about 230 off the tee with trees in the bend. These guys try to draw a driver around that corner and when it works, it's beautiful, but they often slice it, draw it into the trees or just hit it straight through the fairway up onto a mound. I always hit 3-wood and more often than not lay it right in the bend leaving a nice straight shot to the green.

[cbe_golfer]

I think as a golfer, some have good long game talent, others good short game talent. The blessed ones have both plus a good golfing brain.
Simply deciding that you should not touch a driver till you are a 10 handicap sounds to me as pretty limiting. The game is hard enough with all the tools available to the golfer.

[Big_M]

It depends on the player... and a better question might be

What loft driver should I use... many are now made up to 16* and have a super forgiving 460cc head as opposed to a 3-wood with same loft and a 190cc head.

Also, you can knock an 1" off shaft, use appropriate shaft, etc.

Some 20 cappers hit driver damn good, so again I agree... A pro that makes a "set in stone rule" about when someone should use a driver is an IDIOT!

[bca42]

It depends on the player... and a better question might be

I kind of agree with Big M here. I think the answer is it depends on the player (and the driver selected). When I started playing the game I didn't even use woods period. I hit 3 iron off every tee. In the first 4 years I went from ~22 to mid/upper teens in handicap, still with no woods. The members I played with kept urging me, you have to hit woods (incl driver). At last they convinced me and I started with a 3 wood. The driver came shortly afterwards. Greatest decision ever,

for me . This is all while handicap is in the mid teens, so again, I also believe it depends.

[TourSpoon]

Should a double digit handicapper be using a Driver?

Short answer: If they can hit it properly.

Long answer: For a lot of people, learning the golf swing with a more manageable club is sound advice and I can see where your pro is coming from. Too many times the driver is a frustrating club to learn with so most pros start lessons with a mid or low iron and recommend a three wood off the tee. This strategy seemed to work for you.

Double digits is pretty broad and probably includes about 85% of the golfing population. I know a 23 capper that the driver is the best club in his bag and routinely outdrives single cappers. If he only practiced his short game he would lower his handicap...you know "drive for show".

[gas_can]

If you want to get good at this game, at some point you have to learn how to use a driver and use it well.

Why not learn how to use it right off the bat and gain some confidence with it. People say learn on the range and then take it to the course. I think anyone who has tried that strategy will tell you that golf on the range and golf on the golf course are two completely different things.

With such good prices on used drivers, pick one up, and start swinging away!

[wolverine318]

The thing you have to look at is, how much better is the alternative? Are you that good with your 3 wood or whatever you use now off of the tee that it hinders your score to use the driver?

I would bet a lot of people high and low handicap are using a driver that is probably no good for them loft and shaft wise. Weather or not it is ego or limit in testing equipment. Making it harder for them to hit a consistent ball.

[polred2007]

I think that is a bit of an overstatement, though it may have some validity from a technical point of view.

But high handicappers are likely high as they don't get to play as much as they'd like or don't take the game to seriously.

Denying them the greatest feeling in golf, which is undoubtedly ripping one down the middle, even if it is 1 in 10 drives, is folly, especially for reasons I think the golf pro is illuding to too.

Besides the driver os surely the easiest club to hit

Go get a 460CC monster and smash it!

[MGP]

Sure, but most high cappers would be best off with a driver of 11.5° loft or more, no longer than 45" and no lighter than 65 gm. shaft.

A driver with those specs will be reasonably easy to hit and have a decent launch angle with a moderate speed swing.

[Cizzle]

18 months of lessons without learning the driver... What went on there? What were you using off the deck a 3 iron everytime? Because with todays drivers, the 3 wood is harder to hit than the oversized 460ccs...

I think with three months of lessons (probably more like two) by going once a week, and then twice a week at the range for practice, you can teach a person the correct golf swing, and by four months, have both the driver/iron swing be set in stone. No offense to you or your instructor, but I think he held your long game back a year... I'm sure he did wonders for chipping/putting though..

The driver swing is not that different than an iron swing, so I don't know why he convinced you that it would hinder you. I feel bad because like people said, crushing a straight drive down the fairway 250+ yards is one of the best feelings in golf (besides the birdie/eagle putts or chip ins).

Anyway, that's just my opinion. Either way, it looks like it all worked out for you in the end, being almost in the single handi range in 18 months. I hope to be there within my first year (started this summer :))

[mikelz]

My local pro has just introduced me to the driver ( a Clevland Hibore xl ) after 18 mths of lessons and practice. He maintained until I got below 12 or 13 that a driver would only hinder my progress. How right he was. I started playing in 2005 and having no bad habits to unlearn the por suggested I not buy a driver for 2 seasons. Got my Hibore last week and ( I'm Not one for blowing my own trumpet ) but it's embarassing being beside long time golfers with Nike SQ2's, TM burners and the like and out driving them. Is this just the honeymoon period for a new club that people talk about or was the pro correct about steering clear of a driver until I could master my irons first? The reason I ask is my bro wants to start playing golf and should I give him the same advice?

Your pro did the right thing.

You learned how to play first. Driving is secondary (ask Hogan - it's in the Five Fundamentals).

[SuaSponteMn]

This logic might have made sense even 5 years ago, but it's silly now. With the MOI movement in full swing, drivers are now more forgiving than 3 woods. An instructor putting a number on when you should or shouldn't hit a driver is also silly. Did he give any thought as to why your handicap is where it is? I mean if you can't putt, but you can hit driver well, then you're limiting yourself to longer approach shots that will typically land farther away from the hole; limiting your ability to make the putt and ultimately, improve.

People need to start realizing that the driver isn't the club it used to be. My wife is a very recreational golfer, plays maybe 5-10 times a year, but she LOVES her driver and hits it fairly well. I can promise you she isn't a single digit handcapper.

[mikelz]

This logic might have made sense even 5 years ago, but it's silly now. With the MOI movement in full swing, drivers are now more forgiving than 3 woods. An instructor putting a number on when you should or shouldn't hit a driver is also silly. Did he give any thought as to why your handicap is where it is? I mean if you can't putt, but you can hit driver well, then you're limiting yourself to longer approach shots that will typically land farther away from the hole; limiting your ability to make the putt and ultimately, improve.

How much does your wife charge for lessons?

[mikelz]

Sure, but most high cappers would be best off with a driver of 11.5° loft or more, no longer than 45" and no lighter than 65 gm. shaft.

According to Harvey, Sam Snead's driver was filed to about 12 degrees loft.

Ain't that somethin'? He won all of them tournaments with a 2 wood.

[Shindig]

It's the most forgiving club. Use it when it's appropriate. But make sure it's the right loft and flex (no sense being macho with S or X flexes unless it's appropriate). The 3-Wood just doesn't compare to it in forgiveness.

Now, if you're playing executive courses and all your par-4s are under 300 yards, then teeing off with a 4-iron makes sense. Otherwise, use your driver but focus on putting the ball in play . Don't try to overswing and hit it too far. Put it in play and you'll be surprised how long and straight it is.

Dave Pelz did a study recently showing that high handicappers hit fairways more often with driver than 3-wood.

[raulini]

I think the drive is just too much fun not to hit, its a big part of what got me hooked on the game to begin with. To me there is nothing like hitting a drive just the way you pictured it on the tee box. I do agree though there are situations when you just shouldn't hit the driver but to each his own. Only been golfing for about 18 months and the driver was the first club I ever tried to hit, hooked ever since.

[TourSpoon]

According to Harvey, Sam Snead's driver was filed to about 12 degrees loft.

You don't hear about 2 woods much these days, but the old "deuce" used to be about 12 or 13 degrees of loft.