jayisu

What are those set up corrections?

Agreed. You mentioned a problem I was having. With a good inside approach I was hitting the ground before the ball causing a loss of power and a pull hook. I don't know why that was happening. I am thinking of experimenting with choking up on the driver, but I don't want to lose distance.

I have a nice draw with solid contact and distance with my irons. Inside out swing, good acceleration through the ball with a short backswing. 7i goes about 170. Give me a driver or 3W and I am suddenly the king of outside in and struggle to keep the fade from being a big slice or a push fade. I play a narrow course that requires good tee shots, lots of trees and water. I am sick of penalty strokes. Why do I have the poor swing with driver and not with irons? How can I get my iron swing with my driver? Or, should I give up and hit 4i or hybrid off the tee and just eat the distance penalty?

My brother is a scratch golfer and just got the new TM Stage 2 driver and three wood. He handed me down his old R11 driver and 3 wood. I have been using an old Cleveland Launcher 460 driver and I think it is a Ping G320 3 wood. My driver was 9.5 and 3W 13 degrees. The R11 is 9 and 3W 14.5. The R11 are set up neutral. I am a 12 hcp who has improved from a 25 this summer. I have made progress, but seemed a little overmatched by the clubs. I hit Callaway X forged irons about 5 or 6 years old and hit them well, but it took me a while to get used to them and figure out how best to hit them this summer. I hit them for the first time on the range. The seemed to be much hotter off the face and with good distance, but I was a little wild with them. I struggled with point of contact a bit. That may have been an off day, but I felt that I needed some time to get used to hitting them and adjust to them. Is that right? or should I be solid enough to hit any club well? I have heard of pros having struggles with adjusting to new clubs, should I expect to struggle a bit with them until I get used to them? Should I put them in play right away or spend more time on the range with them? Should I get them set up for me because I have a tendency to slice/fade or leave them at neutral?

I use a driver choked down with a chip and run or punch motion. It goes longer with less effort and it is easier for me to keep from swinging too steeply and popping the ball up too high. I also get more roll and distance. With irons I tend to hit down too much on the ball and get too much loft even with it delofted and back in my stance. Even when I mishit the driver and get it on the ground, there is usually enough on the shot to power the ball to the edge of the tree line or out. If I hit it well, then I will get a low shot that slices and will run in the fairway.

I answered tee shot because I struggle to avoid an OB or water ball multiple times a round. That shot and the accompanying penalty shoots my wheels off mentally and I start pressing or lose confidence. However, it seems the real problem would be mental mistakes. I compound a bad shot by making a mental mistake in my choice for the next shot. For instance, yesterday I played number 3 and 4 on my home course with a 7 and an 8. OB on three tee and a good drive on the penalty shot. I then went for it instead of laying up like I usually do and ended up with an impossible chip instead of an easy one from the fairway. Then because of the bad score, instead of using a hybrid to hit the fairway on the tough number 4, I took out driver to try to cut the corner and ended up in the trees, in which I tried to thread it out and hit one and got in more trouble and ended up with a duffed chip and a three putt. Wheels were flying off and my round was messed up off the bat. I have also noticed that I am more comfortable, and better at, a chip for an up and down than I am with a 50 foot putt for birdie. I get closer on that chip than I do on the putt. Instead of hitting more greens a long way from the pin, perhaps I should have some bail out shots, club down, instead of hitting the green with a club I don't usually put closer to the flag. It would certainly instill more confidence. I have no mental toughness when recovering from a big or disappointing number. I think mental mistakes hold me back more than my struggles with my swing. An errant tee shot should only cost me a bogey, not a double or triple. Too often it causes a string of doubles. I play to a 12 and when I get in the 70's it is because I have made smarter decisions with the shots I know I can hit versus stretching to hit shots that decrease my opportunity for success. I can putt (30 feet in) and chip ok, I can hit greens, though not flags, my driving stinks, but I can make better club choices and line choices.

You are right, it is scary. It feels out of control right now, I am hoping that as I work with it I can get it back to a straight or slight fade trajectory. What have you been doing to work on the draw? Mostly hand action?

I like hitting a 3w or Driver punch from out of thick trees on a hard pan or rocky or root filled surface. Picking a reasonable path through the trunks and a hook or cut path. I aim at a tree trunk because I know I won't hit what I am aiming at then I take a short backswing and hit it hard and low with a very low follow through. I punch out of there and get a good recovery distance for an up and down. I have several holes that the shot is in play and I love it, especially after a 150 yard drive in to trouble. Pisses off the playing partners who thought I was dead.

I play by myself a lot. Just a few holes, sometimes all 18. I agree with everyone that I drop an extra ball here and there to work on a shot. I also do it to take different angles on tee shots and approach shots. Sometimes I put the driver away and play long irons and sometimes I will use only driver on the tee. I think it is great for game development. One thing that has really helped me when playing in a group is to have worked on different spots on the course by myself. Say I am embarrassed by hitting in the trees and then hitting a tree ending up out but behind my prior shot -- usually an 8 scenario for me. Playing alone it didn't matter so I just played it out to a bogey, gave me confidence to take the shot in the trees in my next round with the guys. I find playing alone builds confidence more than hitting some good shots in a group.

Putts of more than 40 feet, just struggle with feel and over read them. Greenside chip in deep rough with the ball down. Hard to make good contact and get it within 10 feet. A 200 yard shot where you have to carry water and have trouble behind the green, I have to hit and hope because it falls in an area I don't have a reliable shot for. I'd rather be in the trees on hard pan punching a driver cut shot.

I am an attoney.

I was never a good golfer, two or three rounds a year, big slice, occassional good hole, couldn't get off the tee, 18-25 over every round. I quit for five years and started playing regularly (once a week with one practice a week) about 4 months ago. I started around 95-100 and am now 80-85 with a best round of 77 which is six over on my course. I still struggle off the tee, but have improved chipping and approach shots. I average 30 putts per round, 7 fairways and 4 greens. When I play blue tees I am shooting an 82-85 and white tees are 78-81. Recently, I have developed a nice draw on my irons and added a ton of length. I think it is because I am striking the ball better and have improved my weight shift. I still spin out on drives, but it is getting better. The shot shape is new and is difficult to play because I have always played a left to right ball flight and still fear it. I also over cook the draw and turn it in to a slight pull hook that screws with accuracy quite a bit. My distances are also off. I was hitting a 7 iron about 140 and am now hitting it 165-170. My PW used to be 100 and is now 120-130. I want to move my handicap from 12 down to the 5-7 range, but am struggling to know what the key is. I am sticking with the ball flight, but struggling to mentally trust it and play it properly. It is hard to aim right of the green and trust it to fall on. Can I lessen or control the draw with a weaker left hand, do I need to play a shorter backswing? Has anyone else had a similar transition and successfully used it to improve their scores? In the bag: Ping G10, older, driver 3w is G325, don't know the brand Callaway forged X irons Hogan Edge 3 hybrid 60/10 old ping wedge (borrowed clubs, no other wedges, I just change my swing and loft on the 60 degree to chip with or am creative with other irons)