Driver at set up question

[annsguy]

I have read that at address the driver head should have the heel down and the toe up. Is this correct. It looks odd to me. Anyone got a face on picture of what it should look like. I struggle with driver and am trying everything.

 

[davidsong]

Yea the idea is the shaft flexes toward the toe down position at impact due to the weight of the club head and bend profile of the shaft. It will take a bit to acclimate but more importantly you need the make sure youre head is far behind the ball and away from the target at address and moving even farther off the ball during the swing. Look up wyndham clarks swing j think his head movement is a great one to model

 

[annsguy]

Yea the idea is the shaft flexes toward the toe down position at impact due to the weight of the club head and bend profile of the shaft. It will take a bit to acclimate but more importantly you need the make sure youre head is far behind the ball and away from the target at address and moving even farther off the ball during the swing. Look up wyndham clarks swing j think his head movement is a great one to model

Wow, incredible info. THANK YOU! I will give it a try and get the head back.I'll check out Wyndam in the flesh at the Wells Fargo in a couple of weeks. ALSO, Welcome to THP. Insight like this is always welcome.

 

[RayG]

Yea the idea is the shaft flexes toward the toe down position at impact due to the weight of the club head and bend profile of the shaft. It will take a bit to acclimate but more importantly you need the make sure youre head is far behind the ball and away from the target at address and moving even farther off the ball during the swing. Look up wyndham clarks swing j think his head movement is a great one to model

Just about to mention the shaft/flex thing. There are numerous slo-mo videos explaining/showing this exact phenomena. Pretty neat stuff.

There are others that show that you should address the ball SLIGHTLY to the toe side- IF you don't hover the driver at address.

 

[TxAggie2018]

The why's have been explained very well, but this Google pic might help illustrate it.

The club angle at setup shouldn't feel much different than your irons. Assuming the driver fits you, you should be able to hang your arms loosely, grip the driver, and have the butt of the club point somewhere between your belt buckle and your belly button. It'll look a little different for everyone.

 

[annsguy]

THPer's are great at giving solid advice. Thanks,

 

[Buckeyegolfnut]

Just about to mention the shaft/flex thing. There are numerous slo-mo videos explaining/showing this exact phenomena. Pretty neat stuff.

There are others that show that you should address the ball SLIGHTLY to the toe side- IF you don't hover the driver at address.

Good point! I saw this once demonstrated on a video, then proved it to myself. The video showed that if you ground the driver with the ball centered, when you raise the head to the height needed to hit the ball, the ball lines up more toward the neck. The higher you tee the ball, the more toward the neck it moves. One day, my main golf buddy and I were going to hit the muni for a quick 9 holes, and I decided to start hovering the driver. I started hitting it right on the button! The ball goes real good when you hit in the center of the clubface!

 

[Hitsnmisses]

Question .. Based around that ,orientation of sole , is it less or more favourable to draw or fade or just finding centre ?

 

[TxAggie2018]

Question .. Based around that ,orientation of sole , is it less or more favourable to draw or fade or just finding centre ?

The more upright or toe-down you set up, the more the driver will tend to draw, everything else being equal. Setting up flatter or more toe-up encourages a fade.

I would just find whatever setup helps you make solid contact, then play for whatever your natural miss is from there.

 

[e1iterate]

Yes, due to the bend in the shaft.

 

[golfinnut]

Good point! I saw this once demonstrated on a video, then proved it to myself. The video showed that if you ground the driver with the ball centered, when you raise the head to the height needed to hit the ball, the ball lines up more toward the neck. The higher you tee the ball, the more toward the neck it moves. One day, my main golf buddy and I were going to hit the muni for a quick 9 holes, and I decided to start hovering the driver. I started hitting it right on the button! The ball goes real good when you hit in the center of the clubface!

I hover the driver all the time

 

[davidsong]

Other thing i think is worth pointing out … if u play the ball off the front foot for all shots, the farther away from the target your head moves as a result of a wider stance the more closed the clubface looks visually for me.

 

[Hitsnmisses]

The more upright or toe-down you set up, the more the driver will tend to draw, everything else being equal. Setting up flatter or more toe-up encourages a fade.

I would just find whatever setup helps you make solid contact, then play for whatever your natural miss is from there.

I must be somewhere close to ideal as my shot shape is straight for all on bag … I would like a little draw ish ) this little tip , may gimme something more .
Thanks ))

 

[Buckeyegolfnut]

The more upright or toe-down you set up, the more the driver will tend to draw, everything else being equal. Setting up flatter or more toe-up encourages a fade.

I would just find whatever setup helps you make solid contact, then play for whatever your natural miss is from there.

Very true! Back when I could actually play this friggin' game, we were heading out to play and the first tee was wide open, and I put on a little show. I stood very tall to the ball, took a very upright swing and hit a nice draw in the fairway. Then I teed up another ball, stood far away and took a really flat swing, and hit a big fade in the fairway. My buddy was having some issues with his driver, and I did this to suggest that he just needed to find some kind of swing that would work. He was getting all hung up on technique.

 

[JonD8293]

That's really interesting, I've never heard of toe up heels down for driver,

I've always been a hover sort of guy, I'll look in to it a bit more and that might be a new article for me to write about

Thanks everyone for their insights