We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Why do I even bother with driver?

Slowmo

Slowmo

Well-known member
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Sep 21, 2021
Messages
10,175
Reaction score
12,664
Location
Houston, TX
Handicap
10ish
Just signing off of on my round from yesterday on Shotscope so looking at tee shots. I knew I was having a bad day off the tee with driver anyway and stopped hitting it at all after hole 11. Here are a few examples. (note, this course has a lot of holes that are less than driver holes)
Hole 4 felt like I hit this one pretty decent. Left it in the trees on the right trying to fade one around the dogleg.
1713373334251.png
Hole 5 Made decent contact here to only hit it 223? yes it was into wind, but not a huge wind - splashed it in the fairway bunker on the right side of the fairway
1713373374883.png
Hole 7 par 5 downwind, darn near shanked it right
1713373421522.png
Hole 8. Pulled first drive OB into a back yard, felt like I absolutely smoked the second to only get 235 yards out of it
1713373449194.png
Hole 9 - downwind, smoked this one - only driver shot all day that found the fairway
1713373694778.png
Hole 10 - tried to go over the trees on the edge of a dogleg, hit it really poorly left it in the trees on the right
1713373767856.png

At this point I was frustrated with driver and witched to 3w the rest of the day
11 - center of the fairway
1713373895906.png
Hole 12 - have to play to a position here but coppied it for the distance
1713374084226.png
Hole 15 - kind oc crescent shaped hole that bends to the right the whole way. Hit a tree limb and dropped straight down. Worst shot with the 3w
1713374192792.png
Hole 18 - smoked this 3w
1713374250511.png

Even the bad 3w hits left me in better playing position than the bad drivers. The 2 well hit 3w shots went every bit as far as even the best hit drivers of the day. Why do I even bother with a driver!?! I think I might try to put the mini-driver back in the bag for a few rounds soon.
 
If you haven't tried this, maybe some lessons to work on your driver swing?
 
I will echo what @JonMA1 and @TJRyska said. Maybe continue to practice with the driver and take a few lessons aimed at that club. Meanwhile, use the 3-Wood in place of the driver and see what the results are. Averaging 250 yards with a 3-wood is going to work unless you start playing 7,000-yard courses. You may find, however, that your results with a 3-wood are not as consistent as you expect.
 
TJRyska said:
If you haven't tried this, maybe some lessons to work on your driver swing?
Click to expand...
I definitely think I"m at a point where I need lessons with the driver. I used to really fight a pull hook/snap hook with driver. Had finally gotten it straightened out a bit with a driver change to a more forgiving driver and putting one of those stupid Bryson grips on driver to keep from flipping my hands. About August 23 I developed a full on 2 way miss and I've been lost since then.
 
I used to be a driver or bust guy, I'd say if you can't hit driver keep working on it, settling for 3W off the tee is not the path to success.

Then I bought a new 3W and haven't looked back, totally changed my game, it's so easy to hit straight and goes forever, the new technology really works for those clubs even more so than drivers IMO.

So just like most mid-high amateurs, who almost all struggle with driver, I suggest getting a new 3W and hitting it off the tee 80% of time, or more depending on the course FW difficulty, it just works.

So yeah, why do you bother? you can still hit driver on some holes, know your miss and play into it, not against it, watch your scores go down. Found fairways are the #1 most important swing in the game.
 
bkuehn1952 said:
I will echo what @JonMA1 and @TJRyska said. Maybe continue to practice with the driver and take a few lessons aimed at that club. Meanwhile, use the 3-Wood in place of the driver and see what the results are. Averaging 250 yards with a 3-wood is going to work unless you start playing 7,000-yard courses. You may find, however, that your results with a 3-wood are not as consistent as you expect.
Click to expand...
That 3wood has been the most solid and reliable club in my bag since I bought it in 2004. Yes it's ancient and I've tried to replace it multiple times thinking new tech should be better but when I go and try out other 3 woods I still hit it every bit as good or better than modern tech. It's crazy.
 
If you hit it those distances with your 3w, imagine what you would see with a well struck driver. I'd take some lessons and see if you can learn to hit that club better (or why you can't).... worst case scenario, you're not in terrible shape with the 3w.
 
Because no matter how frustrating the struggles are... that feeling when you hit one pure.....



i cant even taylor swift GIF
 
Slowmo said:
I definitely think I"m at a point where I need lessons with the driver. I used to really fight a pull hook/snap hook with driver. Had finally gotten it straightened out a bit with a driver change to a more forgiving driver and putting one of those stupid Bryson grips on driver to keep from flipping my hands. About August 23 I developed a full on 2 way miss and I've been lost since then.
Click to expand...
I'm a big believer in lessons. I normally can figure out what I am doing wrong, but I've been right where you are, and having an extra set of eyes look at my swing and correct my faults has helped me immensely over the years.
 
Slowmo said:
Just signing off of on my round from yesterday on Shotscope so looking at tee shots. I knew I was having a bad day off the tee with driver anyway and stopped hitting it at all after hole 11. Here are a few examples. (note, this course has a lot of holes that are less than driver holes)
Hole 4 felt like I hit this one pretty decent. Left it in the trees on the right trying to fade one around the dogleg.
View attachment 9258089
Hole 5 Made decent contact here to only hit it 223? yes it was into wind, but not a huge wind - splashed it in the fairway bunker on the right side of the fairway
View attachment 9258094
Hole 7 par 5 downwind, darn near shanked it right
View attachment 9258095
Hole 8. Pulled first drive OB into a back yard, felt like I absolutely smoked the second to only get 235 yards out of it
View attachment 9258096
Hole 9 - downwind, smoked this one - only driver shot all day that found the fairway
View attachment 9258098
Hole 10 - tried to go over the trees on the edge of a dogleg, hit it really poorly left it in the trees on the right
View attachment 9258101

At this point I was frustrated with driver and witched to 3w the rest of the day
11 - center of the fairway
View attachment 9258102
Hole 12 - have to play to a position here but coppied it for the distance
View attachment 9258103
Hole 15 - kind oc crescent shaped hole that bends to the right the whole way. Hit a tree limb and dropped straight down. Worst shot with the 3w
View attachment 9258104
Hole 18 - smoked this 3w
View attachment 9258105

Even the bad 3w hits left me in better playing position than the bad drivers. The 2 well hit 3w shots went every bit as far as even the best hit drivers of the day. Why do I even bother with a driver!?! I think I might try to put the mini-driver back in the bag for a few rounds soon.
Click to expand...
Having played golf with you these are my thoughts/comments on the difference between the two and maybe why you're not maximizing the driver.
1. You tee the ball "low" for your driver. I know that is comfort and how you deliver the club through the zone, but I would be curious to see the AoA with driver. I think teeing it up a little higher and a positive AoA, you will see the yards you want from the driver
2. Could be the length of the shaft? Sometimes stock shafts creep into the 46" range. Measure it and make sure you don't need to go down to 45" or maybe just match the length with your 3W
3. The 3w is your tee game. The way you swing off the tee "to me" promotes you to get more out of the 3w versus your driver.

You have plenty of speed through the bag and I think if you tinker with the tee height, check the length on the driver and you might get more consistent distances based on the strikes you are making.
 
mikeg_74 said:
Having played golf with you these are my thoughts/comments on the difference between the two and maybe why you're not maximizing the driver.
1. You tee the ball "low" for your driver. I know that is comfort and how you deliver the club through the zone, but I would be curious to see the AoA with driver. I think teeing it up a little higher and a positive AoA, you will see the yards you want from the driver
2. Could be the length of the shaft? Sometimes stock shafts creep into the 46" range. Measure it and make sure you don't need to go down to 45" or maybe just match the length with your 3W
3. The 3w is your tee game. The way you swing off the tee "to me" promotes you to get more out of the 3w versus your driver.

You have plenty of speed through the bag and I think if you tinker with the tee height, check the length on the driver and you might get more consistent distances based on the strikes you are making.
Click to expand...
When I've tried to tee the ball higher with driver I put dumb dumb marks on my driver crown. Things have gotten so bad with driver that I've straight shanked 2-3 driver a round the last 5 or 6 rounds. I know some of it right now is that I have lost all confidence in driver, and that includes all 3 drivers I currently have. I can't seem to hit any of them right right now and they all have different misses.
 
I've been choking down on the driver a little here recently and have been making much better contact and hitting it better overall off the tee. Maybe try doing that so that the length of the shaft is more like a 3w length. If that works then you may know that maybe a shorter driver shaft would be a good solution.
 
Slowmo said:
When I've tried to tee the ball higher with driver I put dumb dumb marks on my driver crown. Things have gotten so bad with driver that I've straight shanked 2-3 driver a round the last 5 or 6 rounds. I know some of it right now is that I have lost all confidence in driver, and that includes all 3 drivers I currently have. I can't seem to hit any of them right right now and they all have different misses.
Click to expand...
again I am not a professional, but based on playing with you a lot of it has to do with how you set up to hit the driver versus the 3w, hybrid or irons. With the driver I noticed you have an early release or "cast" at times and that kills any speed or distance you can generate.

For the longest time I had a negative AoA and it killed my tee game with a two way miss. This video helped me a ton develop a correct posture at address to help me hit up without sky marking my driver and in the process I get distance and a predictable miss

Go to the 14:00 minute mark but the full video is good

-

This one helped me the most

 
mikeg_74 said:
again I am not a professional, but based on playing with you a lot of it has to do with how you set up to hit the driver versus the 3w, hybrid or irons. With the driver I noticed you have an early release or "cast" at times and that kills any speed or distance you can generate.

For the longest time I had a negative AoA and it killed my tee game with a two way miss. This video helped me a ton develop a correct posture at address to help me hit up without sky marking my driver and in the process I get distance and a predictable miss

Go to the 14:00 minute mark but the full video is good -

This one helped me the most

Click to expand...

I will watch those very soon. I do have a negative AoA on my driver and I know that kills my distance because I hit it too low. I didn't realize that's what could be causing my 2 way miss.
 
Check out a mini driver? It might be the best of both worlds. A bit more length over the 3W, and a bit better control than the D?

Caveat: I stink, so take my input at your own peril.
 
Hamfist said:
Check out a mini driver? It might be the best of both worlds. A bit more length over the 3W, and a bit better control than the D?

Caveat: I stink, so take my input at your own peril.
Click to expand...
I actually have 2 mini drivers and am thinking seriously about putting one back in play. I had a lot of success with them, not sure why I went away from it.
 
Slowmo said:
I actually have 2 mini drivers and am thinking seriously about putting one back in play. I had a lot of success with them, not sure why I went away from it.
Click to expand...
One of golf's most asked questions, I bet.
 
I have had a lot of problems with driver over my last 10 years. It's almost always the club that leads me into my slumps. But i truly believe it's a necessary club for 99% of golfers.

Last April/May i couldn't hit a fairway for 3-4 weeks and actually played some early tourneys without driver due to that. But when i had a month break i probably hit 500+ drivers a week until i figured out a fix.

I always believe trying to fix driver is better than not using it, over long term
 
My swing fault is the same, regardless of the club... Driver just exaggerates it. I have had 3 lessons this year, with a 4th coming and all have focused on driver.

For what it's worth, it's working. Still not getting tons of distance - though I'm not mad between 235-265 - but I am finding fairways on most holes.
 
Slowmo said:
Just signing off of on my round from yesterday on Shotscope so looking at tee shots. I knew I was having a bad day off the tee with driver anyway and stopped hitting it at all after hole 11. Here are a few examples. (note, this course has a lot of holes that are less than driver holes)
Hole 4 felt like I hit this one pretty decent. Left it in the trees on the right trying to fade one around the dogleg.
View attachment 9258089
Hole 5 Made decent contact here to only hit it 223? yes it was into wind, but not a huge wind - splashed it in the fairway bunker on the right side of the fairway
View attachment 9258094
Hole 7 par 5 downwind, darn near shanked it right
View attachment 9258095
Hole 8. Pulled first drive OB into a back yard, felt like I absolutely smoked the second to only get 235 yards out of it
View attachment 9258096
Hole 9 - downwind, smoked this one - only driver shot all day that found the fairway
View attachment 9258098
Hole 10 - tried to go over the trees on the edge of a dogleg, hit it really poorly left it in the trees on the right
View attachment 9258101

At this point I was frustrated with driver and witched to 3w the rest of the day
11 - center of the fairway
View attachment 9258102
Hole 12 - have to play to a position here but coppied it for the distance
View attachment 9258103
Hole 15 - kind oc crescent shaped hole that bends to the right the whole way. Hit a tree limb and dropped straight down. Worst shot with the 3w
View attachment 9258104
Hole 18 - smoked this 3w
View attachment 9258105

Even the bad 3w hits left me in better playing position than the bad drivers. The 2 well hit 3w shots went every bit as far as even the best hit drivers of the day. Why do I even bother with a driver!?! I think I might try to put the mini-driver back in the bag for a few rounds soon.
Click to expand...
Yeah if I could get 250 with a 3W and was way more consistent then why use a Driver? Guess it depends on which tee box you play from but I’d take that ALL DAY!
 
Sometimes it's mental where you feel you need to kill the ball with driver and end up casting or just getting wild. I always have a smoother swing with a 3W or any other club as opposed to driver.
 
I hit more 3 woods than most off the but for most golfers the extra forgiveness and distance of the driver means it’s worth learning how to hit it.

I see a lot of people with driver 45”-46” in length - they go with whatever the stock length the OEM offers. Some golfer can square up a 45.5” driver well but for me, I hit a driver straighter and longer if I go shorter - the sweetspot for me is 44.5” and that length almost cuts my dispersion in half over a 45.5” driver.
 
For a long time I was pretty good with my driver. The idea of being able to hit a club that most couldn't, was self satisfying.. The lower scores the driver made posible were a good thing too.

Then I gave up golf for 8 years. 5 years ago when I started playing golf again, my driver was not a club I could use, so for the next few years My 3w became my driver.

A couple months ago, due to a knee injury, I made a slight swing change. The biggest part of the change was in my grip.

I found that my swing change brought my driver back into play. The extra few yards I found were a good thing. The strokes it saves is a help. That said, just being able to. use my driver again felt pretty darn good too.

My point is, that given the opportunity, the driver can be a "feel good" club too. .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top