Driver - range vs. on the course

[Patch]

When it comes to swinging my driver, and 3 metal wood, my driver always feel a little bit more awkward than my 3 metal. My driver shaft is longer than my 3. 

Both heads are the same model, but the driver is of course, larger. 

I think the awkwardness comes from not swinging my driver as much as my 3. I have this unproven idea that because of the length, and larger head, I might be swinging my driver slower than my 3. I don't hit my driver that much farther than my 3. Maybe 15 yards further max on a good day.

Accuracy wise, I am much more accurate with my 3. I have this feeling that after 45+/- years, I just might not have the physical make up any longer to swing the driver, as well as I do a 3. I also think this could be a reason younger golfers swing their 3 metalwood better than their driver. They have not developed their driver swing as yet. 

[Golflivesmatter]

If I placed an 18" wide board on the ground and "dared you" to walk on the board...you'd say I was nuts!   

Now if that same board was raised 10 stories between two buildings...suddenly the simple task of walking on the board wouldn't be so easy.  

[hespeler]

On ‎4‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 8:53 PM, Golflivesmatter said:

If I placed an 18" wide board on the ground and "dared you" to walk on the board...you'd say I was nuts!   

Now if that same board was raised 10 stories between two buildings...suddenly the simple task of walking on the board wouldn't be so easy.  

Great post and so true.

To the OP.  Getting off the tee consistently is a problem I have as well.  Sounds like you play pretty well (especially for someone who has only been playing a year).

I suffer from pulls and slices with my driver as well.  It happens in between the times I'm hitting it well and cranking it 285 to even 300 if the fairway has a downslope.  It's all from an over the top move and is usually from rushing down from the top of the backswing.  Gotta give it an extra second to let that club shallow out before swinging through the hitting zone.  Easier said than done!

Some of the things that help me when this starts to happen.  1) In the backswing, try and swing more around your body rather than up and down (think swinging a baseball bat). 2) make sure you are behind the ball at the top of your backswing and your weight is transferred to your back foot (be careful not to sway off the ball).  Maybe tilt your upper body away from the target just a little bit more and put a bit more weight on your rear foot at address.

Both of these things may help you deliver the club a little more from the inside.  The danger here is if you a) don't transfer your weight from back to front you may flip the club head closed and hit a nasty hook or duck hook or b) not turn through enough and hit a push or push slice out to right field.

Whatever you do, try and feel the shaft shallow out and the club head actually move further away from the ball at the top of your backswing and before you start your downswing.  This happens by starting the down swing with the lower body (whatever cues work for you).

The irony of the driver for me is when I'm hitting some pulls and slices, I can sometimes save par and often times save bogey but when I'm duck hooking it or pushing it well to the right I really struggle to avoid high numbers.  But I hear people say that a hook is closer to a good swing than a slice...

One last thing.  Like you, I can usually play ok and not pull the driver out of the bag the whole round but this season I'm committed to hitting it more on the course because the familiarity will hopefully lead to a more fluid swing.

[ChevDog]

Thanks Hespeler - I will try some of those tips and thoughts during my next range session.  I played 36 holes at two different courses yesterday, and decided to try hitting the driver a couple of times, with mixed results.  My playing partner told me I was swinging too steep and when I tried to flatten it out and shorten my back swing I got a straight drive.  Not very long though - about the same as my 3 wood.  I think that I am swinging my driver much slower than my 3 wood because I lack confidence in it.

I stated several posts back that I corrected the swing weight when I built the shorter shaft for my driver.  After a bunch of reading online, I think that I screwed this up.  I went from the stock 45.75" playing length down to 43", which is a reduction of 2.75".  If 1" = 6 SW points @ 2 grams per point, I should have added 2.75 x 6 x 2 = 33 grams to the head to bring it back to the stock D3 rating.  What I did was order an 18 gram head weight to replace the stock weight (I think it was supposed to be 8 grams).  This means that I only added 10 grams, or 5 SW points back after cutting it down, which also means that it is currently 23 grams, or 11.5 SW points lighter than it should be.  If this is correct, it is currently at about C2.  Can someone more knowledgeable than me confirm this?  I picked up a roll of lead tape today so that I can make the correction - I just want to make sure that my calculations are now correct.

I have a feeling that having such a light swing weight is causing my inconsistency with this club.  My 3 wood is the same length with a D3 SW, and I it it pretty well.  I would like to try my driver at D3 and see how it feels.

[sofingaw]

This thread has been helpful to me recently. I have been hitting my driver, while poorly in both instances, much better on the range than the course.

I firmly believe that the following factors, which have been touched on here, have been most of my problem:

1) I’m nervous and I desire too much to make a good swing on the course, and so I swing more slowly, and more specifically, more timidly. Either a weak slice or a super weak hook are my results on the course.

I’m simply not swinging aggressively enough on the course. I’m pulling out of shots out of fear of launching one way into trouble.. and sending them instead into very near to the tee box trouble.  I don’t intend to become reckless on the tee, but I need to have the confidence to at least feel like I’m swinging the driver as aggressively as I swing, say, a mid iron, and committing to the shot. Conversely, I feel free to ‘swing away’ on the range and truly ‘drive’ the ball to the back fence. I need to bring that freedom of motion to the course. 

2) I hit my best drives after hitting 3-4 bad ones, and adjusting on the spot while on the range, and I’m hitting way too many shots in a row with one club; in this case, driver. 

What I intend to do is focus on improving my swing on the range as much as possible, reduce the number of same-club shots in a row on the range, and start swinging aggressively (enough) on the tee box while on the course. Not out of my shoes, mind you, but like I truly want to get it ‘down there.’

Good luck, and thanks all for the tips and ideas. 

[Moxley]

Another point to consider is time of year. On holes where water/oob is a factor , the problem is normally going into heavy rough / forest. When the grass is long it's often lost but not so in winter , early spring , so these can be good times to play driver on the course if dispersion is an issue. 

Sadly I haven't improved enough with mine and it be sparingly used over the season.