need some advice on how to hit driver straight.....

[rbhokiefan]

The majority of the time i hit every club in my bag straight. But i have trouble with my driver. Sometimes its a extreme fade , extreme draw and sometimes srtaight but not as often as i want. I have no idea what im doing wrong. I feel like i have the exact same swing when it goes left , right or straight. What could cause the mis hit? Im guessing its where im making impact on the face but im not for sure. I know its hard to give advice without seeing my swing but i just thought i would ask. Thanks in advance!

[Belly]

An extreme fade is a slice.... an extreme draw is a hook....
Best advice I ever recieved is keep a light grip and swing from the inside. Swinging from the inside will eliminate the over the top swing which causes a slice, and a light grip eliminates closing the clubface too early and hitting a big hook.

[Tee'd Off]

My advice to hit the driver well is to clench a golf ball (it must be a Noodle) in your butt cheeks and swing. If the ball does not drop out you are well on your way to long and straight. If the ball disappears well thats another problem entirely...just my two cents.......

[rbhokiefan]

Thanks for the tips belly , i'll give it a try......... Tee'd off , thanks for the advice but i think i will pass. lol

[Home-slicer]

NOW you tell me it must be a Noodle. I could have used that information a week ago, now I have 4 sleeves of Precept Laddies in my colon.THANKS!!!

[strokeguru]

Sure...you can hit em straight .. You 1st have to figure out what is your natural ball flight and are you comfortable with stroking that type of flight. Because you have to have a GO to ball Flight in your driving arsenal. 2nd Check your Grip Pressure, You dont want a death grip on the club. It must feel LIGHT And ALONG for THE RIDE through out the entire swing. 3rd Dont Over Swing , try maybe going for just short of parallel at the top. And last but most IMPORTANT. IS your Driver the right 1 for you. This is the most important club in the bag next to the putter that needs to be properly fit to your swing type so you may want to look into it.......... Anyways When I need to hit a fairway i use a weak grip with 1 1/2 knuckles visible on me left hand and I face me right palm towards the target.on me grip . Then i know What direction I WONT BE GOING and that is left, so now i can swing freely and as hard as I want because i know i wont hit a big hook but rather a straight or a slightly faded bomb.

[dorkman53]

Here's the answer you didn't want to hear; "Take lessons from a qualified professional instructor."

There are endless quick fixes, practice equipment gimmicks, and minor adjustments you can try, but there is no substitute for a mechanically sound, simple swing that can be reproduced easily and under pressure. To get that, I'd recommend a set of lessons.

Murphy has a quote for this one, too. "Advice is something that we seek when we already know the answer, but wish we didn't."

[strokeguru]

Or maybe just get yourself a MEDICUS driver and hit that for a while... You will hit the ball straighter after habitual use of it.

[daveperk]

seriously, try taking the driver back along the target line, which will feel like you're pushing it AWAY from you but is actually only going back straight instead of pulling it inside...

then drop it down a bit before the downswing.

Sounds like you have what I had, a takeaway too far inside and a 'bounceback' at the top that makes you come down outside-in... if you do this with an open face, it's a banana, with a closed face it's a pullhook... you cannot hit the ball straight unless your swing path is straight. The takeaway is the key to straightening the downswing path.

Take it away so far down the line you feel like you're actually thrusting the club OUTSIDE the line, then when you get to the top, just sort of let it fall down toward your shoulder before starting the downswing. The key here is to get it away long and straight down the target line.

[Not a hacker]

Storkeguru has good some advice on this. Find your natural shot and go with it. For most golfers the natural shot is a fade, especially with the longer clubs in the bag. The fade get's a bum rap from most because of it's preceived 'weak' flight, but IMO the fade is the best and most reliable flight with the driver. I can hit draws with the driver (or at least I used to be able to with the older small headed drivers) but these days I just use a square to open faced driver and play for a power fade. As strokeguru said, a fade swing takes the left side right out of play and you can unload and bomb away knowing that a poor swing will go further right than planned, but usually still in play and rarely left (unless you hold back and try to steer it in which case your hands become too active and you might turn it over or hold it too open and the ball could go anywhere, but that goes for any type of swing if you steer it). The drawer is a much less reliable shot, which is always one bad swing away from turning into a nasty hook or a big block right. I think one of the reasons the drawer flight is less reliable is because it usually involves some manipulation of the clubhead through impact with the hands, where as with the power fade the hands and wrists stay firm through impact. If you have decent clubhead speed and good distance, I would definitely recommend going for a fade ball flight.

I think strokeguru also gave some good advice on the technical side of hitting a fade with the grip amd hands. The only thing I would add to his advice is that splaying the front foot open, and lining up slightly (very slightly) left, but aiming the clubhead at the target then swinging down the line of your feet and getting through the ball with hands high at the finish will produce a no hook swing where the ball starts on a flight left of the target and fades back to the target. Strategically, if you plan on using a fade tee up on the right side of the tee box and aim down centre/left of the fairway and I guarantee you will start hitting more fairways.

[daveperk]

hmm. TMI.

I think my tip was better. :-)

Seriously, if you hit hooks and bananas but no straight balls, you're swinging outside to in with either a closed or open face.

Straighten the path of the club through the ball.

Best way to do what you've been doing, take it too far back inside. That binds you up at the top and forces you to bounce the shoulders back out and then the club comes down outside the line and crosses in past the ball. Presto, pull or slice depending on clubface.

Best way to fix it, take it back farther outside (which really is just along the target line, but feels like outside)

[rbhokiefan]

Thanks for all the advice guys , im going to the range tommorrow and im playing on tuesday. I'll try your advice and see what works. Thanks again!

[Not a hacker]

hmm. TMI.

I think my tip was better. :-)

Seriously, if you hit hooks and bananas but no straight balls, you're swinging outside to in with either a closed or open face.

Straighten the path of the club through the ball.

Best way to do what you've been doing, take it too far back inside. That binds you up at the top and forces you to bounce the shoulders back out and then the club comes down outside the line and crosses in past the ball. Presto, pull or slice depending on clubface.

Best way to fix it, take it back farther outside (which really is just along the target line, but feels like outside)

Agreed Dave, the original problem certainly would indicate some swingpath problems. Maybe a combination of yours and Stroke gurus advice would be the way to go. He definitely needs to get a more consistent swing path but setting up for and sticking to a specific ball flight will partially sort that out as well as taking one side out of play. As I said, I think the best ball flight for the driver is the fade which takes the left side out of play.

[daveperk]

Agreed Dave, the original problem certainly would indicate some swingpath problems. Maybe a combination of yours and Stroke gurus advice would be the way to go. He definitely needs to get a more consistent swing path but setting up for and sticking to a specific ball flight will partially sort that out as well as taking one side out of play. As I said, I think the best ball flight for the driver is the fade which takes the left side out of play.

And, interestingly, the result I got once I started taking the driver far enough away down that line (think Furyk, Ochoa, Ryan Moore, looks like it's outside the line but it isn't) was a consistent power fade. I was always afraid that, if I took it further outside, I'd just come MORE outside-in, but the result was the reverse.

With the club far enough outside in the backswing, I found I had room to execute the 'drop into the slot' move-- room I never had before-- and now my swing is straight down the line, with a slight open face, for the power fade I always wanted. I can aim the driver now, instead of just praying it hits the fairway.

I am still leery of trying to draw it off the tee, leery of hitting a monster hook. But the fade is long enough that I don't have to have that shot, not on my course anyways.

ANd of course the newly widened arc gives me more power with less effort too, which is nice. My power fade has not lost me an inch of distance, because I was trying too hard before, in too tight an arc, taking it back too far inside. That effort is what was 'bouncing me outside' at the top, resulting in the outside-in path. Now I just take it back, drop it in the slot, and kind of move the weight toward the target, and the club follows the right path.

I still kick myself for not learning this 20 years ago, when I still had a chance to become a scratch player. Or thirty five years ago, when I could have been competitive. But better late than never, I say. :-) I'll be 48 in August, and I can still hit the odd 300 yarder and I can still break 80 from time to time. :-)

p.s. that same takeaway has miraculously straightened out my iron shots too. much much more consistency of direction and distance.

[Not a hacker]

And, interestingly, the result I got once I started taking the driver far enough away down that line (think Furyk, Ochoa, Ryan Moore, looks like it's outside the line but it isn't) was a consistent power fade. I was always afraid that, if I took it further outside, I'd just come MORE outside-in, but the result was the reverse.

With the club far enough outside in the backswing, I found I had room to execute the 'drop into the slot' move-- room I never had before-- and now my swing is straight down the line, with a slight open face, for the power fade I always wanted. I can aim the driver now, instead of just praying it hits the fairway.

I am still leery of trying to draw it off the tee, leery of hitting a monster hook. But the fade is long enough that I don't have to have that shot, not on my course anyways.

ANd of course the newly widened arc gives me more power with less effort too, which is nice. My power fade has not lost me an inch of distance, because I was trying too hard before, in too tight an arc, taking it back too far inside. That effort is what was 'bouncing me outside' at the top, resulting in the outside-in path. Now I just take it back, drop it in the slot, and kind of move the weight toward the target, and the club follows the right path.

I still kick myself for not learning this 20 years ago, when I still had a chance to become a scratch player. Or thirty five years ago, when I could have been competitive. But better late than never, I say. :-) I'll be 48 in August, and I can still hit the odd 300 yarder and I can still break 80 from time to time. :-)

p.s. that same takeaway has miraculously straightened out my iron shots too. much much more consistency of direction and distance.

Never too late to learn in golf. Look at it from the glass half full perspective. At 48 you have found out in plenty of time to get used to it before you go for your Senior Tour card Nothing is impossible, and if the your recent improvement continues for the next two years and you are still bombing it 300, who knows.

[bjdrivers]

Pingman360 gave me a good tip, which was to flare my left foot out slightly, and it's greatly improved my balance. I've slightly slowed my tempo down with the driver and swing through the ball rather than try to kill it, and make sure I get to my left side. I'm hitting some consistent fairway-splitting fades now. Use light grip pressure as others have said. Try that, it may work for you.

[rbhokiefan]

Well i went and played today and the 1st hole was a 345 yard par 4 and i drove it 300 straight. 2nd hole i drove it 320 straight. I was on top of the world. After that i never hit another fairway and most were a hook or slice. I have never been so frustrated on the golf course. I wanted to break every club in my bag and never play golf again. I just wish i could some how duplicate my 1st 2 drives. My swing felt exactly the same. I play again next tuesday , guess i see if i can work it out.

[strokeguru]

Well i went and played today and the 1st hole was a 345 yard par 4 and i drove it 300 straight. 2nd hole i drove it 320 straight. I was on top of the world. After that i never hit another fairway and most were a hook or slice. I have never been so frustrated on the golf course. I wanted to break every club in my bag and never play golf again. I just wish i could some how duplicate my 1st 2 drives. My swing felt exactly the same. I play again next tuesday , guess i see if i can work it out.

Lol thats because you got a big head after those first two holes... and you started practicing on the golf course aswell which lead to you acting like an immature haker on the course . You cant guide the driver. you gotta let it work for you, its like hammering a nail {dont think about it just stroke it } In a good tempo and 85 % power youll get it bro .. Remember dont practice on the course but have fun and play the course .Trust me ive never played your course and already know you dont need driver on every hole.Pick a club that puts you in the fairway consistently wether a 3 wood or a hybrid this will ease your frustration and give you time to work on your driver at the range

[DaveC]

Lol thats because you got a big head after those first two holes... and you started practicing on the golf course aswell which lead to you acting like an immature haker on the course . You cant guide the driver. you gotta let it work for you, its like hammering a nail {dont think about it just stroke it } In a good tempo and 85 % power youll get it bro .. Remember dont practice on the course but have fun and play the course .Trust me ive never played your course and already know you dont need driver on every hole.Pick a club that puts you in the fairway consistently wether a 3 wood or a hybrid this will ease your frustration and give you time to work on your driver at the range

Ditto. While it's fun to "bomb" drives, setting up the approach is all that matters. Tone it down with the driver or switch to a trusty club and start hitting fairways. Positive thoughts help more than people know.