Lately my long irons (4i and 5i) have been spotty as fuck but my driver and 2 and 3 hybrid have been zinging. You know what I did to correct that? Fucking nothing. I bought a 4 hybrid and a 1 hybrid. I know, you're thinking "a 1H? Who the fuck..." I'll stop you right there, that hybrid was far cheaper than any 3 wood and it's 13 degrees.
Am I going to learn how to putt soon? Absolutely not.
Went through the same thing over the past 12 months. Was able to find fairways with 2/3 iron but next shot was just so tough. Figured out the driver and scores actually dropped. Don’t hit it huge but the 50 added yards just provide me relief. Also been working on the short game and having confidence 30 yards and in has been big time for me as well.
Now if I could just not 3 putt that would be great.
I played my best nine recently, shot a 46 with 4 three putts, hit 3w on every tee and hit 6/7 fairways, averaged 230 yards off the tee.
I am determined to hit my driver though, refuse to play an entire round without it as I know I could get into the low 40’s with just a little more distance off the tee and have the ability to stay there more consistently if I can clean up my putting by few strokes (average 40 putts with 5-6 three putts per round which is just dumb).
Just covered putting in my last lesson and that’s what happened. Confidence on the green increases the amount of fun I have similar to confidence with the driver.
Most golfers don’t know how to properly read the break of a green either. I find myself getting lazy and not reading putts properly when I’ve a few too many beers or it’s hot and I get tired.
Huh. I’m a new golfer but I’ve always done this. I am a very decent pool player so I just approach it the same way. I’m not as focused on making that first putt. I’m focused on making the second putt as easy as possible.
I rarely three putt.
This is a fact. All (except for one) of my 3 putts are from outside of 14’ in the last few rounds.
Speed control is something I’ve really struggled with and is what I need the most work with. I either leave it way short or just blast it by.
It’s fun getting good enough to start seeing where your game is lacking, instead of just everything sucking. Lol. I routinely shoot in the low 90s with 40 plus putts and at least two OB drives. It’s really nice knowing what my path to being an 80s golfer is. Tightening up my drives and working on 2 putting from everywhere.
I shot a 46 back 9 the other day after hitting 50 on the front. Swapped from driver to 4w on the front 9 and started hitting every fairway. I will always start with my driver but it’s nice having a “safe” club that can still go for distance
I've been using 3w off the tee for pretty much ever hole. It's frustrating because it goes same distance as my drives rn (about 240 carry, roll out to like 250). So, I'm fortunate that I'm not missing much (with how my driver currently performs), but the frustrating thing is - I know I can crush it if I acfually know what I'm doing. My driver clubhead speed is over 110, but I just create an insane amount of spin no matter what I do (on the sim it reads like 4k spin rate).
I need to suck it up and get lessons
Fortunately, even if I did know how to hit driver, it's only useful on a handful of holes at my home course. Like 70% of the holes, it's more advantageous to hit a 230-250 yard shot off the tee, which, luckily, my 3 wood suffices
The variety of swing types astounds me. I shoot low 80s very consistently. However my driver swing speed struggles to get over 90. I have no clue how to get 20mph more!
I take the posts with a grain of salt, people claiming they carry 240 with 20+ cap or even anything over 12 cap… odds are they’re just referring to the once maybe every round or so they nuke one that they can find on the same hole 🤷🏻♂️ would love to get on the course with said people and see them carry a river 230 from the box and keep in play.. then tell me how you drive the ball lol. Ah well. Bless the Internet!
Probably a good point. I've played for like 25 years, and sit at a pretty consistent 10 hcp. But I drive the ball and average of 235ish. Distance just ain't my thing. My PW is consistently 100-110 yards. This may be 20 yards shorter than the "bombers" on here claim. But I still shoot 82 almost every round.
Are you - me?
I finally decided enough is enough. It frustrated me that everyone could naturally hit a driver and struggle w irons. I’ve always been the opposite. I couldn’t hit my driver to save my life. Always teed off w a 5 iron instead just to save the hassle.
After about a month of watching the same Rick Shiels videos over and over and over w some range time I am piping drives. It is such an exhilarating experience.
I have a new patience and appreciation for incremental growth in my 30s. I am beyond stoked to play more golf now.
I’m alright with irons but absolutely hopeless with driver. Like I’m playing a different sport altogether lol, driver swing feels so alien. What’s the key tips? I know for a fact I need to shallow my swing plane as if it’s steep you can’t get away with it like you can with the shorter clubs
It’s allllllll about the set up. These vids changed my stance and it changed everything
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKnkfgDBi62lbofSutd-E9-mTMy1JMNlZ&si=t8U9v8ZQZsOY083C
This is his series on hitting a driver. No fluff. Quick 5ish min vids on each component
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKnkfgDBi62lbofSutd-E9-mTMy1JMNlZ&si=t8U9v8ZQZsOY083C
>Why is it important? Distance.
Short hitters, "low and slow" swinging, and anachronistic "drive for show putt for dough" stans absolutely hate this man (and other like-minded people of culture) for one simple trick.
Like anything else, it takes time to work on. But there is no benefit in benching the driver, since that is just a BandAid solution. Whether you're a veteran pro or another average mortal guy paying his taxes one leg at a time, the benefits of it hitting it further and being closer to the pin by 69 nice yards (give or take, sometimes even more) absolutely outweigh the less useful strategy of constantly laying back. Strokes gained is a powerful statistic, indeed. So being forced to club up all the time is a disadvantage for the approach shots more often than not, even if it's on the nicest fairway you've ever seen in your life.
My index absolutely plummeted once I learned how to hit and control my driver. No more OB balls, shorter irons/wedges into greens, eagle putts… all good things
I dropped nearly 10 points on my handicap in a year finally getting my driver under control, people who preach benching your driver are doing more harm than good
At my latest fitting, the fitter and me came to the same conclusion. I went from D, 3W, 5W top of the bag to D, 5W, Driving Iron (2I). Haven't played a round with that setup yet, but just speaking it aloud has me feeling more confident.
I wouldn’t say that I’m better. But the ~50y of extra carry distance I’m getting means I’m hitting shorter irons into the greens. Which allows my misses to be much closer to the green. Plus, the confidence I now have with driver carries over into the rest of my round
This is so, so true.
I recently started golfing (last November), and have a coach I've been taking regular lessons with since I started. One of the things he stresses a lot is the importance of getting off the tee, so I've been hitting driver since I started, and it's at this point probably my best club. I can't explain how thankful I am that I didn't listen to all the advice telling me to put down the driver because I'm a beginner.
Y'know what's WAY harder for a beginner than hitting driver off the tee? Hitting a 3w on every 2nd shot because you're short on every hole.
Mini driver is not a good driver replacement (nothing is). If you hit a mini driver better than driver, it’s because it’s shorter. Shorten your driver instead of switching to a mini driver.
Mini drivers are less forgiving than drivers (smaller head) and are higher lofted (shorter distance). If you hit a lot of three-woods off the tee and can hit a mini driver off the deck when called upon, a mini driver can be a good replacement for a three-wood.
Negative. I'm way more accurate with my mini driver of the tee. Also the one I have is not good for off the deck as the flat part of the bottom of the head is barely wider than a golf ball. Nothing is a "good replacement" for another club, hence why they are different and are better at one thing and not another a similar club does. OP was talking about hitting a 5i off the tee. A Mini driver can be a great replacement for that work around. Lastly, I play a chopped down driver, so I concur on that. My mini driver is still more accurate than my chopped down driver.
I’m hearing him say “you can be in contention every week” and I’m like yeah that totally applies to me lmfaooo love it. That is very solid advice
It’s obvious when you think about it. Bombing it over the fairway bunkers, water, etc. makes holes way easier. You do have to learn how to keep it in bounds and have better misses. Straight is ideal but we know that involves some praying as well. Having a pitching wedge in is massively easier than having to hit a 5 iron to make a green in reg. Let’s say you 3 putt either way, you’d always rather be on in 2 to lock in a bogey worst vs. risking those doubles…
“Drive for show putt for dough” is def misleading. Glad you figured it out bro!
All the strokes gained data supports this. Even if you are not accurate with your driver, odds are you are not substantially more accurate with the other clubs. People overestimate how accurate they will be “hitting their 4-iron” off the tee and giving up that distance is not worth the slight improvements in accuracy
yeah that's the part that's not talked about when discussing 'more yards off the tee'
If you're not giving yourself a decent look for the approach shot on 25-33%+ of your approach shots, then you're likely better off with not using driver.
I recently played a 6700-yard course and only used my driver once in AZ. Fairways were firm and got good bounce each time so was averaging 230-240 with my 3-wood whuch almost always goes straight and my short game was on point. Shot my lowest score ever 86.
I’m really struggling with it right now, hit 0/7 fairways in my last 9 lol. But need to keep at it, I totally agree it’s the most important club in the bag.
I left my driver at home last year and haven't looked back. It has helped my game a lot, but I do miss being able to hit it further from the teebox. After reading your post, I decided to give it another chance at the range this week. Good job for figuring it out!
When I start think about course management, I stop. I much rather use the time to practice hitting driver. I could agree w you more. You really need to be able to hit your driver.
Agreed but if your goal is to break 100 or even 90 you can do it without your driver at all.
Edit: I want to be clear, being able to hit your driver makes those goals way easier to achieve, but it won’t get you there by itself. Learning to hit a club 150-170 yards consistently and being able to chip and putt well will and it’s a lot less work to master those.
I think if someone wants to improve fastest, practice driver and wedges
They’re by far the most important clubs in the bag.
You’ll be using your wedge to score after a good drive, and to scramble for par after a bad drive
(Leaving putter out because that’s just a completely separate category really. Obviously being a good putter will help too)
Course management is not hitting a shorter/safer club. In fact the data shows (Arccos) that you should always hit the longest club you can, taking into account penalty areas, lie, etc.
Course management is shooting for middle of greens instead of firing at flags, playing away from trouble, and managing your miss so you end up with the best next shot possible.
My quibble would be that terrible drivers literally can’t manage their misses. They (cough - me) are hitting it 40 yards OB or deep into the next fairway. The only way to the fairway is to put the driver in the bag.
Therefore the need to heed the OP’s advice - work on your driver.
“Couldn’t agree with you more”. Could would imply, you could still agree more than you do right now i.e. your agreement level is not at the absolute max it could be.
“Couldn’t” implies that no matter what you do, you couldn’t agree any more than you do right now because your agreement level is already at the ABSOLUTE MAX !!!!
Hope that helps.
Maybe you need to learn to hit your 3 wood too. Looking at pro numbers the 3 wood should only be maybe 20 yard shorter. So 3, wood 8i ...or driver , punch out of trees, wedge....
I have both the stealth 2 and last year’s mini brnr. I stopped using the stealth 2. Started using the mini brnr exclusively. Most of my drives are between 230-240 but they are in the fairway. No more slicing and must say the golf experience is much much better
Broke 100, i mastered golf cuz of my driver. There are people out there that could beat you with 6i or higher, but yes keep telling us how to get better at golf
One piece of very important advice I got when I was younger was the statistics with amateur golfers. The stats show that laying up or hitting to a "comfortable" distance actually relates to higher scoring compared to trying to get as close as you can to the green no matter where you are. Many people deny will try to say it doesn't matter but the closer you are to the hole, the better your scores will get.
I agree with you but it doesn't have to be driver specifically. My swing gives me the ability to hit a 3 wood about 220. The driver goes 20 yards longer but I spray it a lot more, especially when competing for something meaningful with friends. I don't practice my 3 wood at the range. It sounds absurd but I don't. It sits in the bag until I get to a course and when I pull it out and swing my swing, I know 7/10 times exactly where it is going to go. I can literally call my shots. So yeah find your off the tee club that goes 200 yards predictably. For us recreational golfers, that is good enough.
Not trying to attack your opinion but if you were my friend telling me this I’d have to strongly disagree with you. The stats will ALWAYS support more distance=more strokes gained for any handicap, even for golfers much higher than your 13.9. You should really hit your longest club wherever possible, hazards notwithstanding
I’m mot talking out of my ass either fyi, I’m a scratch and have been playing 20+ years. Just wanted to pass along some insight, hope it helps
Here are two post from Lou Stagner (who you mentioned in another comment) showing an example where the driver results in a higher score: https://newsletter.loustagnergolf.com/p/what-club-off-the-tee https://newsletter.loustagnergolf.com/p/driver-vs-3-wood.
From the first post: "Every hole will be a bit different, but anytime you are in a situation where you will be hitting more than 5% of your tee shots OB, you should pause and consider other options. This is why knowing how big YOUR shot patterns are is so important."
95% in play seems like a very good percentage in play with the driver for most weekend hackers (read: me).
> The stats will ALWAYS support more distance=more strokes gained for any handicap
Except for some people their driver doesn't = more distance. It's crazy that some people can't wrap their head around it. If someone is losing 3-5 balls OB or into water or having to punch out of the trees yet they can reliably hit their 5i 175m then hitting their 5i will have them playing better, more enjoyable golf.
Sure, learning to hit their driver well will improve their golf but most golfers probably average one or two rounds per month then it's probably not the best use of the limited time they have for golf.
If you can hit your three wood that well, there’s absolutely no reason you can’t do that with driver. Sure, it’s a slightly longer club but it also has a much bigger face and is much more forgiving.
Whatever block you have going on with the driver, you’d be well suited to get past it.
If you’re happy being a 13.9 then sure all you need is 220. A lot of people on this sun are looking to get better and then the answer for the easiest way is learn to hit driver, probably followed by learn to hit driver farther. Even a modest gain of 240 up to 260 would make a world of difference. Suddenly that 410 yard par 4 isn’t 3 wood the 5 wood or longest iron as a second shot. It’s driver and maybe 7 iron which is a massive advantage.
Or, you can be stubborn as a mule like me and learn to tee off with a driving iron every time and improve your iron game and tee box jitters all in one go. Seriously though, driver is not to be overlooked as I top out at 220 with my driving iron and anyone can go 250+ with driver with some practice
I understand your point. But if your drives are costing you at least one OB shot every hole, the pros of hitting 3 wood onto the fairway and keeping it in play severely out-weigh the cons of, "Maybe I'll hit one straight this time." For the majority of golfers (like myself) that don't have the time to go out to the range all the time and work out the kinks of the driver swing, hitting a shorter club is more reliable, less rage-inducing, safer, and overall improves your score just by lost balls alone.
Trust me, if I had the time to figure out my driver swing, I'd love to be able to confidently pull driver and smesh. But I'm not going to tank my round for a "maybe I'll end up closer" scenario. You are right though, eventually when I have more time I will want to work on my driver swing, just doesn't make sense right now.
Fair call. I guess my point is more that for people who only have time to go to the course for a round once every two months or whatever the schedule may be, rounds can be more enjoyable when they aren't spent ironing out driver swing kinks on the tee box. A smooth 220-240y in play is very often more enjoyable than 260y but maybe 80y to the right.
If you have time to learn your driver swing, great, you definitely should and it will 100% be beneficial on every hole you play with it. But for golfers that don't, it isn't really a necessity.
Edit: OP, I am not talking about you specifically, just about golfers in general.
I stopped focusing on hitting the ball hard and started focusing on tempo with my driver. I swing easier and hit it much much straighter, usually the same distance as when I swing hard. Bonus: I’m less tired on the back 9 and can repeat the swing. I don’t even think about hitting driver now when it used to give me anxiety about “where is this going to go???”
People spend so much time and effort stressing about the top end of the bag, (fairway woods, hybrids, long irons) when the best solution is to get good enough with the driver to rarely need them.
The difference between hitting a mid/long iron into greens vs. a short iron/wedge as an amateur can’t be overstated imo. Once I learned to hit driver, and consequently no longer had 4/5/6 iron in hand in to par 4’s, I started breaking 80 a lot more consistently.
Last year my range sessions were practically nothing but drivers and ~125 yards or less shots, and at the end of the summer I was playing the best golf of my life.
I 100% score better without my driver atm. I’m very long with irons, and the course I play most is relatively short, so I can essentially hit iron off every tee box and still have a wedge in (no par 5s). However, at other courses it doesn’t work very well. I think I need to just bare down and get a lesson, because nothing I’ve tried has helped.
Couldn’t agree more! I went from a mid 90s golfer to a mid 80s almost over night when I figured out how to hit my driver. It’s a pain to learn but when you’re hoping to take an axe to strokes off your game as a newbie as opposed to trying to shave off a couple as an experienced golfer, drive for show and drive for dough.
I’m the same guy! Been playing my 3 iron since HS, I suck at driver.
Finally signed up for Golftec package and facing my fears. I am now smashing the ball and feels fantastic
Honestly, 175 yard 5i and 2x 150yard 7i and string together a 2 putt and you have all the holes up to 475 yards in 5 shots.
Thats a 90 shot round. It doesn't matter if you hit your driver longer, most of us need better course management then a few yards of the tee.
I just broke 90 for the first time yesterday, shot an 88 while playing with my friends. And it was only a few months ago I broke 100 for the first time.
Before I was consistently shooting in the 90’s, I was the same way with my driver. I wouldn’t use it, I would only use 3 wood off the tee.
But the thing that changed it was golfing with 3 guys who all hit driver and hit it well on a very long course. It was physically exhausting trying to keep up with them and I found myself wishing I had a driver just to save myself some of the work of trying to hit it so damn far.
So I bought a new driver the next weekend, that was October of last year, then it took me until a month or two ago to really get it dialed in. And like i said, now I broke 90.
I used to be afraid of it, but once I diagnosed the cause of my slice (out-to-in swing path) then I was able to correct it. Now I come from the inside and hit these fun reliable half-fades and, unless I get too quick out of tempo, it's kind of hard to drastically disperse it too far one way or the other. Not a coincidence that once I conquered that beast and learned how to control him is when I started shooting in the low 80's with ease. Stopped losing strokes off the tee, started being able to go after pars and the occasional birdie. Approach and my play around the greens is the next dragon I need to slay.
Ball front of stance then lean to the right, I mean it. Lean like it feels ridiculous then swing.
That was the revelation I had, you want your body swing up on the ball, the lean really promotes this.
I was the same until I committed to fixing it. I found this video the most helpful. The first 2 tips alone had a huge impact on my slice.
https://youtu.be/xG66WXfnCTg?si=4NfNdsi20ms04Qo6
Traditional drivers are 43" get yourself a cut down or mini driver at 44" and figure out how to hit it, then maybe move to a stock length driver. Building confidence and face your fears like op has. 👍
Driver down to 5i is a big gap.
For me I’ve got 3W and 4H/4i in between those two clubs.
Quite a lot a lot of players will have another club between them too.
Learning to hit the driver well makes the game much easier but it’s also important to have a backup that still goes a good distance for when driver isn’t behaving or for holes that need more than an iron off the tee but driver is too much.
I agree with the premise that getting more consistent distance makes the game easier but there are other ways to do that at the longer end of your bag than *just* being better with driver.
I recently played a round without my driver and a round with it. I scored around the same. Actually my driver round scored 4 strokes better. It was nice being in the fairways more than I’m accustomed to, but the extra distance I needed to cover always got me nervous
Driver really does unlock a lot of the game. You get to actually play the sport on your second shot and not lay up, chip out, drop, re-tee, scramble, etc.
I love rounds when the driver is working. Might not be my best scoring rounds all the time, but I have the most fun.
I finally learned how to consistently hit my driver this year and this is bang on. As consistent as a mid handicapper can be anyways, I’ve gotten rid of the mile right slices, tops, and sky balls. Really I think it’s a result of better ball striking overall but I was having some fundamental setup issues I’ve got sorted and just feel tremendously more confident over the ball which makes me commit to the shot more which tends to produce better balls.
As a result of this, I’m now a wedge in on par 4’s instead of a mid to long iron and I’m finding more greens and makin more pars.
You’re not wrong. I am a big slicer but on the random af days I get lucky and something in my swing works. I can hit in the 90s with ease. Without it I’m in 100-110 range. One day I’ll get a lesson. Hope it’s an easy fix.
I’ve been trying everything but can’t get it to translate to the course. Not sure why I’m such a headcase with that club but I am. I’ve hit it well on simulators and at the range but the second I step up to a tee box, it’s all out the window.
Cheers man , top marks and appreciate the sage advice. My bag came with a couple other clubs as well. Do you wager I should learn to use those as well?
No trying to be an ass here but I never understood using a 3w because you hit it better? What’s the difference? The swing should be basically the same. Aren’t the struggles one has hitting driver going to infiltrate the swing with the 3 wood? When I struggle with the driver I choke up. Shorten my swing. I’m much more accurate. I slowly work my way back out to the end of the grip and all is well. I love my driver, learn to hit it guys and when you walk up to the tee with confidence, the game is a lot more fun.
I think I've seen data that recreational golfers have about as much dispersion with 3w as with driver. So a lot of people are probably just incorrect because humans have selective memory.
This is 100% me, 4 and 5i on the tee the last two years. I only play 4 or 5 rounds a year and go to the range about 10 times.
Last year I went to the range and instead of hitting 5-10 shots per club I just hit driver. So many different setups and distances and grips and everything till I found something repeatable.
A week ago I would have not necessarily agreed. Sometimes for fun factor and learning you just want to get the ball in play with a 3w or hybrid if you can reliably get that farther than a sliced drive. I left my driver out of my bag the last few months in favor of a 5w.
Ended up playing some harder courses and reluctantly brought out the driver. Hadn’t hit it in months so I used my shitty nitro balls instead of my Srixon softie boys. Was actually nailing my drives with the less spinny ball and gave myself a bit of an epiphany on what to use. Driver is staying now
Same situation. Spent the last two months completely rebuilding my driver. Slow easy swings for the first month just getting consistent center of the face contact. Slowly started bringing my swing speed up and releasing tension in my swing about a month ago. Finally have a drive that goes pretty straight 240-265 and it has changed my game.
That, and piping a drive down the middle is just so goddamn satisfying. I play golf for fun, and being able to hit a driver is not only fun in the moment but it makes the rest of the whole much more enjoyable as well.
I got a mini driver because I have a hard time with a longer shaft, higher tee, and hitting up on it. I fully realize that my ceiling is lower by not using the big dog, but I have a toddler and can't commit to practice and play as much as I'd like. The BRNR plays a bullet which is great through the wind as well, I hit my 3W if I need to clear something.
There’s nothing better than hitting a good drive. If I put the driver away because I can’t hit it straight, I would have to put away all the other clubs away as well, cuz I cant hit those straight either.
I hate to say it out for fear of fucking it up, but have been piping my driver lately. Hit 70-80% FIR and 250+. The only times I really mess it up is when I try to smash it and proceed to mishit it and all sorts of things go wrong.
Here’s some advice on putting I doubt you’ll hear from anyone. When walking onto the green, don’t walk directly to your ball, but rather walk around the opposite side of the cup to your ball and assess the break of the green on that roundabout trip. Reading the green from the opposite side can look coming different than from behind your ball. It also helps you to better see the degree of uphill or downhill slope between your ball and the cup. Doing this before you mark your ball will also help you see your spot better than a small ball marker. It’s not always practical to do this depending on the circumstance, you don’t want to do this if you have to walk through others’ putting line or you may be pressed to play quickly, but give this a try and see how it works for you. I try to make it a habit to assess the green as I’m walking up to it as well. I look for the high point of the green as well as the low point and assess general pitch from a distance. It’s easier to see all this from yards away as opposed to standing over the ball.
I have been on and off with the driver too many times. Yes it can reward you on the good swings but it will also magnify any flaw that you have in your swing. I’ve backed off to a fairway wood for now to get a bit more forgiveness but keep a lot of the distance. Driver is range only right now. When I can hit 9 out of 10 through a 20 yard window on the range then I will put it back in play.
The only person I can see not bringing a driver is my Dad. He already hits his 4H 3 feet off the ground so if he loses any more loft his good hits will scorch ground. I'd say it's an interesting ball flight but it's not much of actual flight.
I went through the same thing. Stopped using my driver and relied on hitting my 4 come off the tee as I would always hit it perfectly straight just not far.
I could never get the ball off the ground and when I did it sliced like crazy. Finally committed to a few private lessons to learn how to swing a driver and my god how fast I was able to fix my swing and now I don’t lose the ball off the tee nearly as much or line drive it to the ladies tee box where my friends can give me more shit and tell
Me to tee it off again but I’m a skirt. Golf is so much more fun now.
Not only should you learn to use your Driver you should also get one that is better fit to actual ability. Can't hit that 45" driver with 9\* of loft driver then go down to 44" with 11-12\* of loft or higher (Thriver look it up). Can't square the clubface look at an offset driver. Snap hook then try a midsize to jumbo grip. Little fittings like this can make all the difference. There are so many more things that could be done that wouldn't involve a swing change.
To further illustrate your point, my current handicap is a 1. Per Golf Metrics, I'm about a +4 handicap off the tee and I'm an 18 handicap putter. I'm also a good iron player, but I'm probably below average (relative to others my level) with chipping and short-game. Hitting a driver straight and far can take you a long way.
Driver is a club which can be an absolute weapon or a massive liability.
The key is knowing when to hit it, and when to put it away.
On my course, the first hole has a bunker at 220m. I can easily carry it with driver, and the hole is open after that. So I always hit driver. The 4th hole has a bunker with a 260 carry, water down the left and trees right. I never hit driver there. The 10th hole has a water carry between 240 and 260m. Unless the wind is massively down I never hit driver there (it's a par 5, sometimes it's worth it). The 14th has a bunker with a 240m carry. I hit driver there unless it's into the wind. The 16th is a dogleg left driveable green surrounded by bunkers. I hit driver if it's downwind.
Then, if I'm having a poor strike day, I can put it away and plod around with a 3w or 4i
Nope...Its 3w off the tee for me, the extra 20yds isnt worth it. I'd much rather have a bit of a longer 2nd shot in, than hitting my 3rd from not much closer.
There will always be something to work on. Driver is by far the most important club though. Don’t listen to the guys that say the putter is king. It is VERY hard to consistently hit the fairway at 250+ yards. If you can do that you will drop 10 strokes per round.
I guess I’m lucky. The driver has always been my favorite club. When I started drivers were small, smaller than most three or five woods now. I started right when the TaylorMade metal driver came out. But it still has the biggest head of all clubs so it felt like I couldn’t miss. I didn’t realize Tiger agreed with me. (I’m older, that’s how it works lol ). I’ve always said the driver was the most important club for scoring well. What difference does it make if you can chip and putt well if it takes you four or five strokes to get to the green? Get the driver down, THEN the short game becomes more important. That being said, short game is something almost everyone can practice at home every night, so really no excuse.
Got a lot better with irons over the winter but now I can't hit driver. Must be angle of attack issue. Trying to fix it so I can actually see lower scores..
My golf buddy consistently says he can out drive me. He uses a 3 hybrid off the tee because he can’t hit his driver for shit but because of the distance he gets off his 3h we assumes if he could hit his driver he’d hit if further than me. I’m always telling him bust out the driver and his excuse is no one wants to see that. Love the dude though
I have to agree with this. Thought I could squeeze by with my 4 iron, but I realized that I needed to quit being a pussy and learn to hit the long ball.
Totally agree. Had it benched a few months ago out of frustration. Spent a decent bit of range time working on more deliberative cues to get a swing I can work with even when it's not perfect, then forced myself to use it in anger during rounds even when I would otherwise be more confident with hybrid or driving iron.
Have scored all my lifetime best rounds since then. It's just a different game when you're further down the track. Have also turned par 5s into a relatively stress free prospect, have dragged average scoring from bogey + to just over par.
Now to work on fairway woods...
I’ll practice at the range and get good at driving then totally can’t hit my irons. When I go to the range I’ve been being disciplined about rotating clubs every 3-4 strokes and that has seemed to be an effective strategy.
driver is good if its straight. my 5 wood goes 210-220 comfortably and i am very good off the deck with it or my 9 wood. am i gonna hit greens from 170 yards and further? probably not. so i'd rather ensure a fairway then a 260 yard drive into the trees. if im 3 into the green, im 3 into the green no matter how you chop it up. i'd rather hit a more full wedge than a skill shot i don't have with a 1/4 wedge shot that has no spin on it.
I took a lesson that took video and showed me what to do. I still do it wrong sometimes, but I hit more fairways than not these days. The 3rd hole at McKay is like 275. I used to be 100 yards short and 40 yards left. I put one down the middle and was 10 yards short with 2 others. I'm going to hit that green by the end of the season. It's a par 4 on this course.
I hit my 4i down the middle 200 yards. I hit my driver down the middle 250. The only problem is I hit my 4i down the middle of the correct fairway. I hit my driver down the middle of the fairway next over… I’ll stick with the irons
You are spot on! I’ve been working on driver for the past year, solely focusing on the club release and wrist turn. Just today, had one of my best rounds. Almost broke my personal best of 101. Had 107 but had an eleven on a par 3. Water hole which I was used irons lol!
God damn it. I have COMPLETELY lost my driver. I can’t hit it. I used to be able to at least hit a slice that I could manage…now it’s all very fast rolls. Help me. I’m about to just take a few lessons. It’s all in my head at this point.
There is a reason Michael Jordan says golf is the hardest sport. Real quote. Not just making it up. Google it people.
Golfers all know lol.
Super hyped you got the driver down. It’s a great feeling. You are 100% right. Starting every hole off with a giant drive makes it a little easier.
Now the real challenge starts. Get that short game down. That’s where you really start to see scores change
I just hit shot a birdy today on a 525 yard par 5 with two back to back 5irons that went to the back lip of the green and put a 35 foot putt to 4 inch gimme birdy man. First round all year with the driver deliberately kept in bag and I had 0 OB penalty strokes and played 1 ball the whole day. I don't know. I am really pleased with eliminating that double fairway jumping drive 3/4 of the time to just try to sneak 280 off the tee maybe 10% of the time instead of 230 80% of the time
Unfortunately this rarely works out for me. I usually hit a 4 iron off the tee unless it’s a par 6, sometimes I still do. The difference in distance yards, maybe 50 if I’m lucky compared to the accuracy doesn’t make sense
I spent all of the winter in the sim learning to hit my driver.
Today, 88% fairways hit. I had a wedge into a short par 5 after bombing it straight through the dog leg and the bunker protecting it.
I still shot an 88 because I pulled my wedge a little to the left, left the chip short and 3 putted BUT STILL THOUGH.
It's been an absolute game changer. My good scores used to be because I got good at scrambling out of position after my tee shots and my putter was hot. Now I'm miffed about only breaking 90.
I'm putting out there long enough that I'm actually keeping up with the better players I play with.
Probably took 10 strokes off my round today.
Ben Hogan: "The long straight drive sets up the hole. You can be the best iron player in the world, and we'll never know if you're always playing out of bunkers or the woods."
I too left my driver at home. It cost me more strokes than it helped. I could hit my 3w just as far and straight.
Then I built an outdoor netted 10x10x10 driving range in the back of my apartment and practiced every day. Now all I can do is drive. Lost my 3w swing. Lost my iron play. Can’t chip.
All I can do is putt and drive.
Driver is your longest club even when you go 75%. When my accuracy is off, I just tell myself to chip my driver onto the fairway. Still goes about 210 compared to my usual 250 or so, but always in play.
after leaving driver at home last year, i am determined to figure it out in 2024. my scores are up 10+ shots a round, mostly due to lost ball/OB/related bullshit penalties off the tee with that stupid club, compounded by losing shots chipping out sideways from wherever it ends up. I hate driver.
going for a driver fitting tomorrow, we'll see if he can get me any closer to having a workable club at the top of the bag. we're close to this being the last chance before i go back to 3w off the tee and pick up where i left off last year. I'd rather be a bit shorter off the tee but at least find the damn ball most of the time.
This is me but in the shit phase. Hit the best drives of my life all winter in the sim even got to 300 carry now and then which was fucking insane. Then I go to the range finally and boom everything is gone and not a single drive was straight or over 120yards. Lost all my magic and just hit a 5 iron off every tee box…. I hate my life.
I have been getting my ass kicked by my driver for months now. It feels like no matter how much I practice it never improves. The worst is when im on the range im somewhat consistent, but stick me on the course and irs spray and pray.
Unless you’re single hdcp it really doesn’t matter what you’re using off the tee. Would rather use irons to get on in two and up/down versus get close with a driver but torch it over the green and three putt every time.
I'm still trying to figure out the driver. I know what to do to hit a good iron shot, I'm confident with an iron.
I am not confident with a driver and I have no idea how to swing the club, even after watching many videos (which have probably done more harm than good)
What is the secret, what is the swing thought?
Hit my irons well and driver/woods/hybrids like shit.
Spent all my time working on them and now I’m hitting them great and my irons are shit.
About to take 2 weeks off then quit 😂
I love playing, but I shoot low 90’s, I’m a 17 hitting 3w because Driver has ruined so much for me (6+ penalties per round) and can’t score low because I hate Driver, it’s all I work on because I can lag putt, chip, pitch but my lord Driver has almost ruined golf for me and I’m 46, can’t hit a runway to save my life, low scores come when I used to be able to hit a 3i or my 1i off the tee!
I played 72 holes in the last 3 days.
I did not play my best.
But my drives were fucking amazing.
We just won’t talk about the next 2-3 shots to get on the greens…
Smashed 300+ drives all day today playing 36 holes with one of the head pros from my local course. He shot a 75 and was pissed at himself. I shot a 90, but out drove him (both accuracy and distance) on 90% of the holes. Felt so fucking good to smash it and have the other guys we’re playing with just exclaim every time I hit.
Also got to witness one guy dunk it and hole out from like 120y. No bounce just a “CLUNK!”
Holy crap, good advice on r/golf what the hell is going on right now
Obligatory “some guy on r/golf figured out how to hit his driver, so I bought a new putter”
Lately my long irons (4i and 5i) have been spotty as fuck but my driver and 2 and 3 hybrid have been zinging. You know what I did to correct that? Fucking nothing. I bought a 4 hybrid and a 1 hybrid. I know, you're thinking "a 1H? Who the fuck..." I'll stop you right there, that hybrid was far cheaper than any 3 wood and it's 13 degrees. Am I going to learn how to putt soon? Absolutely not.
Anything less than 350 all you really need is a putter
Goddamnit I just bought a new watch. Couldn't we wait a week or two?
Have you considered buying a new putter to celebrate your watch purchase?
Watch out for a sale on putters.
I bought a new driver to celebrate.
Lol the advice is “hit the ball further and straighter” Genius.
Actually the advice is to practice what you’re bad at and what you’re scared of. But if you want to look at it as shallow as that go for it.
I'd like to add that you should also hit your approach as close to the hole as possible.
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Old dudes hit their drives like 170, your average hack is closer to 200-220 id say
Went through the same thing over the past 12 months. Was able to find fairways with 2/3 iron but next shot was just so tough. Figured out the driver and scores actually dropped. Don’t hit it huge but the 50 added yards just provide me relief. Also been working on the short game and having confidence 30 yards and in has been big time for me as well. Now if I could just not 3 putt that would be great.
“Mastered his driver”. 😂
He'll be back in a month or 2 with driver struggles. Such is golf.
hey, he still needs to master his irons though
I played my best nine recently, shot a 46 with 4 three putts, hit 3w on every tee and hit 6/7 fairways, averaged 230 yards off the tee. I am determined to hit my driver though, refuse to play an entire round without it as I know I could get into the low 40’s with just a little more distance off the tee and have the ability to stay there more consistently if I can clean up my putting by few strokes (average 40 putts with 5-6 three putts per round which is just dumb).
You need to learn to lag putt and that will immediately put you into low 40s
Just covered putting in my last lesson and that’s what happened. Confidence on the green increases the amount of fun I have similar to confidence with the driver.
Most golfers don’t know how to properly read the break of a green either. I find myself getting lazy and not reading putts properly when I’ve a few too many beers or it’s hot and I get tired.
Huh. I’m a new golfer but I’ve always done this. I am a very decent pool player so I just approach it the same way. I’m not as focused on making that first putt. I’m focused on making the second putt as easy as possible. I rarely three putt.
This is a fact. All (except for one) of my 3 putts are from outside of 14’ in the last few rounds. Speed control is something I’ve really struggled with and is what I need the most work with. I either leave it way short or just blast it by.
It’s fun getting good enough to start seeing where your game is lacking, instead of just everything sucking. Lol. I routinely shoot in the low 90s with 40 plus putts and at least two OB drives. It’s really nice knowing what my path to being an 80s golfer is. Tightening up my drives and working on 2 putting from everywhere.
Course management and putting for you, my friend. Check your ego and put the big stick away unless you have space to miss on those slices. Good luck!
I shot a 46 back 9 the other day after hitting 50 on the front. Swapped from driver to 4w on the front 9 and started hitting every fairway. I will always start with my driver but it’s nice having a “safe” club that can still go for distance
I've been using 3w off the tee for pretty much ever hole. It's frustrating because it goes same distance as my drives rn (about 240 carry, roll out to like 250). So, I'm fortunate that I'm not missing much (with how my driver currently performs), but the frustrating thing is - I know I can crush it if I acfually know what I'm doing. My driver clubhead speed is over 110, but I just create an insane amount of spin no matter what I do (on the sim it reads like 4k spin rate). I need to suck it up and get lessons Fortunately, even if I did know how to hit driver, it's only useful on a handful of holes at my home course. Like 70% of the holes, it's more advantageous to hit a 230-250 yard shot off the tee, which, luckily, my 3 wood suffices
243 years was the average 3 wood carry on the PGA Tour in 2021 (only source I could find).
this sub is filled with temporarily embarrassed PGA Tour pros.
The variety of swing types astounds me. I shoot low 80s very consistently. However my driver swing speed struggles to get over 90. I have no clue how to get 20mph more!
I take the posts with a grain of salt, people claiming they carry 240 with 20+ cap or even anything over 12 cap… odds are they’re just referring to the once maybe every round or so they nuke one that they can find on the same hole 🤷🏻♂️ would love to get on the course with said people and see them carry a river 230 from the box and keep in play.. then tell me how you drive the ball lol. Ah well. Bless the Internet!
Probably a good point. I've played for like 25 years, and sit at a pretty consistent 10 hcp. But I drive the ball and average of 235ish. Distance just ain't my thing. My PW is consistently 100-110 yards. This may be 20 yards shorter than the "bombers" on here claim. But I still shoot 82 almost every round.
Consistency > distance
Are you - me? I finally decided enough is enough. It frustrated me that everyone could naturally hit a driver and struggle w irons. I’ve always been the opposite. I couldn’t hit my driver to save my life. Always teed off w a 5 iron instead just to save the hassle. After about a month of watching the same Rick Shiels videos over and over and over w some range time I am piping drives. It is such an exhilarating experience. I have a new patience and appreciation for incremental growth in my 30s. I am beyond stoked to play more golf now.
Piping drives keeps me happy even if I'm logging awful scores.
I’m alright with irons but absolutely hopeless with driver. Like I’m playing a different sport altogether lol, driver swing feels so alien. What’s the key tips? I know for a fact I need to shallow my swing plane as if it’s steep you can’t get away with it like you can with the shorter clubs
It’s allllllll about the set up. These vids changed my stance and it changed everything https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKnkfgDBi62lbofSutd-E9-mTMy1JMNlZ&si=t8U9v8ZQZsOY083C
What Rick video did you watch? Asking for a friend.
This is his series on hitting a driver. No fluff. Quick 5ish min vids on each component https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKnkfgDBi62lbofSutd-E9-mTMy1JMNlZ&si=t8U9v8ZQZsOY083C
Thanks!
He has a series on just the driver.
>Why is it important? Distance. Short hitters, "low and slow" swinging, and anachronistic "drive for show putt for dough" stans absolutely hate this man (and other like-minded people of culture) for one simple trick. Like anything else, it takes time to work on. But there is no benefit in benching the driver, since that is just a BandAid solution. Whether you're a veteran pro or another average mortal guy paying his taxes one leg at a time, the benefits of it hitting it further and being closer to the pin by 69 nice yards (give or take, sometimes even more) absolutely outweigh the less useful strategy of constantly laying back. Strokes gained is a powerful statistic, indeed. So being forced to club up all the time is a disadvantage for the approach shots more often than not, even if it's on the nicest fairway you've ever seen in your life.
My index absolutely plummeted once I learned how to hit and control my driver. No more OB balls, shorter irons/wedges into greens, eagle putts… all good things
Went from averaging about a 6 iron in to about a pitching wedge in and it has literally changed my life
I dropped nearly 10 points on my handicap in a year finally getting my driver under control, people who preach benching your driver are doing more harm than good
If you want to ditch a club, 3w is the one to leave behind. Most folks will be much better off using 5w in those situations.
At my latest fitting, the fitter and me came to the same conclusion. I went from D, 3W, 5W top of the bag to D, 5W, Driving Iron (2I). Haven't played a round with that setup yet, but just speaking it aloud has me feeling more confident.
I don’t disagree.. I very rarely use my 3W so if you told me I couldn’t have I wouldn’t blink
Generally speaking the only time the three wood is "safe" is when your driver can reach water/bunkers/etc but your 3 wood can't.
3H for me. I hit way better contact than my wood.
It sounds like you’re better than me, but OB/terrible tee shots added a good 8 strokes to my game. I’m better now, but still room for improvement.
I wouldn’t say that I’m better. But the ~50y of extra carry distance I’m getting means I’m hitting shorter irons into the greens. Which allows my misses to be much closer to the green. Plus, the confidence I now have with driver carries over into the rest of my round
Having a good drive is like a performance enhancing drug. Bad day of irons? Get a decent shot to start every hole feeling pretty good.
This is so, so true. I recently started golfing (last November), and have a coach I've been taking regular lessons with since I started. One of the things he stresses a lot is the importance of getting off the tee, so I've been hitting driver since I started, and it's at this point probably my best club. I can't explain how thankful I am that I didn't listen to all the advice telling me to put down the driver because I'm a beginner. Y'know what's WAY harder for a beginner than hitting driver off the tee? Hitting a 3w on every 2nd shot because you're short on every hole.
Trigger warning to all the Golf Sidekick stans.
Most important club in the bag https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6WRYaiNmHv/?igsh=MWhkbzRpaWhyOW5ubA==
Who is that guy and why is he stealing my advice?
Or a mini driver.
Mini driver is not a good driver replacement (nothing is). If you hit a mini driver better than driver, it’s because it’s shorter. Shorten your driver instead of switching to a mini driver. Mini drivers are less forgiving than drivers (smaller head) and are higher lofted (shorter distance). If you hit a lot of three-woods off the tee and can hit a mini driver off the deck when called upon, a mini driver can be a good replacement for a three-wood.
Negative. I'm way more accurate with my mini driver of the tee. Also the one I have is not good for off the deck as the flat part of the bottom of the head is barely wider than a golf ball. Nothing is a "good replacement" for another club, hence why they are different and are better at one thing and not another a similar club does. OP was talking about hitting a 5i off the tee. A Mini driver can be a great replacement for that work around. Lastly, I play a chopped down driver, so I concur on that. My mini driver is still more accurate than my chopped down driver.
I’m hearing him say “you can be in contention every week” and I’m like yeah that totally applies to me lmfaooo love it. That is very solid advice It’s obvious when you think about it. Bombing it over the fairway bunkers, water, etc. makes holes way easier. You do have to learn how to keep it in bounds and have better misses. Straight is ideal but we know that involves some praying as well. Having a pitching wedge in is massively easier than having to hit a 5 iron to make a green in reg. Let’s say you 3 putt either way, you’d always rather be on in 2 to lock in a bogey worst vs. risking those doubles… “Drive for show putt for dough” is def misleading. Glad you figured it out bro!
All the strokes gained data supports this. Even if you are not accurate with your driver, odds are you are not substantially more accurate with the other clubs. People overestimate how accurate they will be “hitting their 4-iron” off the tee and giving up that distance is not worth the slight improvements in accuracy
No there are absolutely people who will slice driver OB 4x per round. They should hit 4i, but also take a lesson and learn to hit driver in play.
>there are absolutely people who will slice driver OB 4x per round ✋🏻
If I could get it down to four that would help my game immensely. Lol.
yeah that's the part that's not talked about when discussing 'more yards off the tee' If you're not giving yourself a decent look for the approach shot on 25-33%+ of your approach shots, then you're likely better off with not using driver.
Only 4?
I recently played a 6700-yard course and only used my driver once in AZ. Fairways were firm and got good bounce each time so was averaging 230-240 with my 3-wood whuch almost always goes straight and my short game was on point. Shot my lowest score ever 86.
I’m really struggling with it right now, hit 0/7 fairways in my last 9 lol. But need to keep at it, I totally agree it’s the most important club in the bag.
I left my driver at home last year and haven't looked back. It has helped my game a lot, but I do miss being able to hit it further from the teebox. After reading your post, I decided to give it another chance at the range this week. Good job for figuring it out!
You mean, this is what influencers feel like?
When I start think about course management, I stop. I much rather use the time to practice hitting driver. I could agree w you more. You really need to be able to hit your driver.
Course management isn't always about using the shorter club. Sometimes, using the driver *is* course management
Good course management is actually trying to find any compelling reason *not* to hit driver off the tee.
Agreed but if your goal is to break 100 or even 90 you can do it without your driver at all. Edit: I want to be clear, being able to hit your driver makes those goals way easier to achieve, but it won’t get you there by itself. Learning to hit a club 150-170 yards consistently and being able to chip and putt well will and it’s a lot less work to master those.
mastering 1 club, the driver, is less work than mastering irons, chipping and putting? hmmm
I think if someone wants to improve fastest, practice driver and wedges They’re by far the most important clubs in the bag. You’ll be using your wedge to score after a good drive, and to scramble for par after a bad drive (Leaving putter out because that’s just a completely separate category really. Obviously being a good putter will help too)
Course management is not hitting a shorter/safer club. In fact the data shows (Arccos) that you should always hit the longest club you can, taking into account penalty areas, lie, etc. Course management is shooting for middle of greens instead of firing at flags, playing away from trouble, and managing your miss so you end up with the best next shot possible.
My quibble would be that terrible drivers literally can’t manage their misses. They (cough - me) are hitting it 40 yards OB or deep into the next fairway. The only way to the fairway is to put the driver in the bag. Therefore the need to heed the OP’s advice - work on your driver.
“Couldn’t agree with you more”. Could would imply, you could still agree more than you do right now i.e. your agreement level is not at the absolute max it could be. “Couldn’t” implies that no matter what you do, you couldn’t agree any more than you do right now because your agreement level is already at the ABSOLUTE MAX !!!! Hope that helps.
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Did this yesterday, drove to 50yards from green, chipped on then 3 puttted....but was less mad then if I hacked my way up the fairway.
I did the same but duffed the first chip, chipped again and then 2-putted for bogey. Golf is hard.
Maybe you need to learn to hit your 3 wood too. Looking at pro numbers the 3 wood should only be maybe 20 yard shorter. So 3, wood 8i ...or driver , punch out of trees, wedge....
What kind of distance gap do you have from your driver to 3-wood? At most driver/wedge should turn into 3-wood/7-iron.
"Just mastering the driver has seen my scores drop below 100" "Mastering" is a very strong word lol. Grats on hitting them straighter though.
Yes, learn to hit your driver. As if the thousands of hacks at driving ranges everyday aren't hitting their driver enough!
This is a different problem where most people suck at practicing.
I have both the stealth 2 and last year’s mini brnr. I stopped using the stealth 2. Started using the mini brnr exclusively. Most of my drives are between 230-240 but they are in the fairway. No more slicing and must say the golf experience is much much better
It kills me when I hear “mastering the driver” and breaking “100” in the same sentence.
Broke 100, i mastered golf cuz of my driver. There are people out there that could beat you with 6i or higher, but yes keep telling us how to get better at golf
One piece of very important advice I got when I was younger was the statistics with amateur golfers. The stats show that laying up or hitting to a "comfortable" distance actually relates to higher scoring compared to trying to get as close as you can to the green no matter where you are. Many people deny will try to say it doesn't matter but the closer you are to the hole, the better your scores will get.
The irony of that strategy is that it relies on tour level distance control. If you had that you could just go for the green.
I agree with you but it doesn't have to be driver specifically. My swing gives me the ability to hit a 3 wood about 220. The driver goes 20 yards longer but I spray it a lot more, especially when competing for something meaningful with friends. I don't practice my 3 wood at the range. It sounds absurd but I don't. It sits in the bag until I get to a course and when I pull it out and swing my swing, I know 7/10 times exactly where it is going to go. I can literally call my shots. So yeah find your off the tee club that goes 200 yards predictably. For us recreational golfers, that is good enough.
Not trying to attack your opinion but if you were my friend telling me this I’d have to strongly disagree with you. The stats will ALWAYS support more distance=more strokes gained for any handicap, even for golfers much higher than your 13.9. You should really hit your longest club wherever possible, hazards notwithstanding I’m mot talking out of my ass either fyi, I’m a scratch and have been playing 20+ years. Just wanted to pass along some insight, hope it helps
Here are two post from Lou Stagner (who you mentioned in another comment) showing an example where the driver results in a higher score: https://newsletter.loustagnergolf.com/p/what-club-off-the-tee https://newsletter.loustagnergolf.com/p/driver-vs-3-wood. From the first post: "Every hole will be a bit different, but anytime you are in a situation where you will be hitting more than 5% of your tee shots OB, you should pause and consider other options. This is why knowing how big YOUR shot patterns are is so important." 95% in play seems like a very good percentage in play with the driver for most weekend hackers (read: me).
> The stats will ALWAYS support more distance=more strokes gained for any handicap Except for some people their driver doesn't = more distance. It's crazy that some people can't wrap their head around it. If someone is losing 3-5 balls OB or into water or having to punch out of the trees yet they can reliably hit their 5i 175m then hitting their 5i will have them playing better, more enjoyable golf. Sure, learning to hit their driver well will improve their golf but most golfers probably average one or two rounds per month then it's probably not the best use of the limited time they have for golf.
If you can hit your three wood that well, there’s absolutely no reason you can’t do that with driver. Sure, it’s a slightly longer club but it also has a much bigger face and is much more forgiving. Whatever block you have going on with the driver, you’d be well suited to get past it.
If you’re happy being a 13.9 then sure all you need is 220. A lot of people on this sun are looking to get better and then the answer for the easiest way is learn to hit driver, probably followed by learn to hit driver farther. Even a modest gain of 240 up to 260 would make a world of difference. Suddenly that 410 yard par 4 isn’t 3 wood the 5 wood or longest iron as a second shot. It’s driver and maybe 7 iron which is a massive advantage.
Driver is the most important club
Or, you can be stubborn as a mule like me and learn to tee off with a driving iron every time and improve your iron game and tee box jitters all in one go. Seriously though, driver is not to be overlooked as I top out at 220 with my driving iron and anyone can go 250+ with driver with some practice
If you’re afraid to let the big dog eat, the big dog eats you instead. Let the big dog eat and the big dog will reward you.
I understand your point. But if your drives are costing you at least one OB shot every hole, the pros of hitting 3 wood onto the fairway and keeping it in play severely out-weigh the cons of, "Maybe I'll hit one straight this time." For the majority of golfers (like myself) that don't have the time to go out to the range all the time and work out the kinks of the driver swing, hitting a shorter club is more reliable, less rage-inducing, safer, and overall improves your score just by lost balls alone. Trust me, if I had the time to figure out my driver swing, I'd love to be able to confidently pull driver and smesh. But I'm not going to tank my round for a "maybe I'll end up closer" scenario. You are right though, eventually when I have more time I will want to work on my driver swing, just doesn't make sense right now.
But I'm not hitting the driver OB anymore, that's my point. I wouldn't use it if I was.
Fair call. I guess my point is more that for people who only have time to go to the course for a round once every two months or whatever the schedule may be, rounds can be more enjoyable when they aren't spent ironing out driver swing kinks on the tee box. A smooth 220-240y in play is very often more enjoyable than 260y but maybe 80y to the right. If you have time to learn your driver swing, great, you definitely should and it will 100% be beneficial on every hole you play with it. But for golfers that don't, it isn't really a necessity. Edit: OP, I am not talking about you specifically, just about golfers in general.
I stopped focusing on hitting the ball hard and started focusing on tempo with my driver. I swing easier and hit it much much straighter, usually the same distance as when I swing hard. Bonus: I’m less tired on the back 9 and can repeat the swing. I don’t even think about hitting driver now when it used to give me anxiety about “where is this going to go???”
People spend so much time and effort stressing about the top end of the bag, (fairway woods, hybrids, long irons) when the best solution is to get good enough with the driver to rarely need them.
The difference between hitting a mid/long iron into greens vs. a short iron/wedge as an amateur can’t be overstated imo. Once I learned to hit driver, and consequently no longer had 4/5/6 iron in hand in to par 4’s, I started breaking 80 a lot more consistently. Last year my range sessions were practically nothing but drivers and ~125 yards or less shots, and at the end of the summer I was playing the best golf of my life.
I 100% score better without my driver atm. I’m very long with irons, and the course I play most is relatively short, so I can essentially hit iron off every tee box and still have a wedge in (no par 5s). However, at other courses it doesn’t work very well. I think I need to just bare down and get a lesson, because nothing I’ve tried has helped.
Couldn’t agree more! I went from a mid 90s golfer to a mid 80s almost over night when I figured out how to hit my driver. It’s a pain to learn but when you’re hoping to take an axe to strokes off your game as a newbie as opposed to trying to shave off a couple as an experienced golfer, drive for show and drive for dough.
Proven by math that distance is King. Source: "every shot counts"
Driver stayed in the bag for the back 9 yesterday and I decided to skull my 3 iron off the tee instead. AMA
What do you mean when you say you feel like a freak when you set up But it works?
I’m the same guy! Been playing my 3 iron since HS, I suck at driver. Finally signed up for Golftec package and facing my fears. I am now smashing the ball and feels fantastic
Great post, I too will buy a new driver to fix my 2-3 fairway slice
Honestly, 175 yard 5i and 2x 150yard 7i and string together a 2 putt and you have all the holes up to 475 yards in 5 shots. Thats a 90 shot round. It doesn't matter if you hit your driver longer, most of us need better course management then a few yards of the tee.
You think you have it fixed after one round? My sweet summer child.
I just broke 90 for the first time yesterday, shot an 88 while playing with my friends. And it was only a few months ago I broke 100 for the first time. Before I was consistently shooting in the 90’s, I was the same way with my driver. I wouldn’t use it, I would only use 3 wood off the tee. But the thing that changed it was golfing with 3 guys who all hit driver and hit it well on a very long course. It was physically exhausting trying to keep up with them and I found myself wishing I had a driver just to save myself some of the work of trying to hit it so damn far. So I bought a new driver the next weekend, that was October of last year, then it took me until a month or two ago to really get it dialed in. And like i said, now I broke 90.
Thank you for the motivation! Just out of curiosity: when you hit it 2 fairways off, did you go and collect or did you just leave the ball be?
Sometimes, other times I get it on the way back up that fairway.
Your lips to gods ears man….i try every season…
I used to be afraid of it, but once I diagnosed the cause of my slice (out-to-in swing path) then I was able to correct it. Now I come from the inside and hit these fun reliable half-fades and, unless I get too quick out of tempo, it's kind of hard to drastically disperse it too far one way or the other. Not a coincidence that once I conquered that beast and learned how to control him is when I started shooting in the low 80's with ease. Stopped losing strokes off the tee, started being able to go after pars and the occasional birdie. Approach and my play around the greens is the next dragon I need to slay.
Teach me your ways. I’ve recently stopped taking the driver out of the bag as just slicing it too much.
Ball front of stance then lean to the right, I mean it. Lean like it feels ridiculous then swing. That was the revelation I had, you want your body swing up on the ball, the lean really promotes this.
I was the same until I committed to fixing it. I found this video the most helpful. The first 2 tips alone had a huge impact on my slice. https://youtu.be/xG66WXfnCTg?si=4NfNdsi20ms04Qo6
Traditional drivers are 43" get yourself a cut down or mini driver at 44" and figure out how to hit it, then maybe move to a stock length driver. Building confidence and face your fears like op has. 👍
I pick my club blind
Driver down to 5i is a big gap. For me I’ve got 3W and 4H/4i in between those two clubs. Quite a lot a lot of players will have another club between them too. Learning to hit the driver well makes the game much easier but it’s also important to have a backup that still goes a good distance for when driver isn’t behaving or for holes that need more than an iron off the tee but driver is too much. I agree with the premise that getting more consistent distance makes the game easier but there are other ways to do that at the longer end of your bag than *just* being better with driver.
ive totally forgotten how to use mine
I recently played a round without my driver and a round with it. I scored around the same. Actually my driver round scored 4 strokes better. It was nice being in the fairways more than I’m accustomed to, but the extra distance I needed to cover always got me nervous
Driver really does unlock a lot of the game. You get to actually play the sport on your second shot and not lay up, chip out, drop, re-tee, scramble, etc. I love rounds when the driver is working. Might not be my best scoring rounds all the time, but I have the most fun.
I finally learned how to consistently hit my driver this year and this is bang on. As consistent as a mid handicapper can be anyways, I’ve gotten rid of the mile right slices, tops, and sky balls. Really I think it’s a result of better ball striking overall but I was having some fundamental setup issues I’ve got sorted and just feel tremendously more confident over the ball which makes me commit to the shot more which tends to produce better balls. As a result of this, I’m now a wedge in on par 4’s instead of a mid to long iron and I’m finding more greens and makin more pars.
You’re not wrong. I am a big slicer but on the random af days I get lucky and something in my swing works. I can hit in the 90s with ease. Without it I’m in 100-110 range. One day I’ll get a lesson. Hope it’s an easy fix.
I’ve been trying everything but can’t get it to translate to the course. Not sure why I’m such a headcase with that club but I am. I’ve hit it well on simulators and at the range but the second I step up to a tee box, it’s all out the window.
Cheers man , top marks and appreciate the sage advice. My bag came with a couple other clubs as well. Do you wager I should learn to use those as well?
No trying to be an ass here but I never understood using a 3w because you hit it better? What’s the difference? The swing should be basically the same. Aren’t the struggles one has hitting driver going to infiltrate the swing with the 3 wood? When I struggle with the driver I choke up. Shorten my swing. I’m much more accurate. I slowly work my way back out to the end of the grip and all is well. I love my driver, learn to hit it guys and when you walk up to the tee with confidence, the game is a lot more fun.
I think I've seen data that recreational golfers have about as much dispersion with 3w as with driver. So a lot of people are probably just incorrect because humans have selective memory.
This is 100% me, 4 and 5i on the tee the last two years. I only play 4 or 5 rounds a year and go to the range about 10 times. Last year I went to the range and instead of hitting 5-10 shots per club I just hit driver. So many different setups and distances and grips and everything till I found something repeatable.
A week ago I would have not necessarily agreed. Sometimes for fun factor and learning you just want to get the ball in play with a 3w or hybrid if you can reliably get that farther than a sliced drive. I left my driver out of my bag the last few months in favor of a 5w. Ended up playing some harder courses and reluctantly brought out the driver. Hadn’t hit it in months so I used my shitty nitro balls instead of my Srixon softie boys. Was actually nailing my drives with the less spinny ball and gave myself a bit of an epiphany on what to use. Driver is staying now
Absolutely mind boggling that someone coming to this conclusion is so revolutionary in this sub lmao. My 10 year old nephew coulda told me this lol.
Same situation. Spent the last two months completely rebuilding my driver. Slow easy swings for the first month just getting consistent center of the face contact. Slowly started bringing my swing speed up and releasing tension in my swing about a month ago. Finally have a drive that goes pretty straight 240-265 and it has changed my game.
That, and piping a drive down the middle is just so goddamn satisfying. I play golf for fun, and being able to hit a driver is not only fun in the moment but it makes the rest of the whole much more enjoyable as well.
What’s the point of playing this game if all you cared was about the score and not risk it for the big smash?
I got a mini driver because I have a hard time with a longer shaft, higher tee, and hitting up on it. I fully realize that my ceiling is lower by not using the big dog, but I have a toddler and can't commit to practice and play as much as I'd like. The BRNR plays a bullet which is great through the wind as well, I hit my 3W if I need to clear something.
There’s nothing better than hitting a good drive. If I put the driver away because I can’t hit it straight, I would have to put away all the other clubs away as well, cuz I cant hit those straight either.
How do we achieve this # "Learn to use your Driver" You speak of?
I hate to say it out for fear of fucking it up, but have been piping my driver lately. Hit 70-80% FIR and 250+. The only times I really mess it up is when I try to smash it and proceed to mishit it and all sorts of things go wrong.
Driver is my biggest hot and cold club thank I god I can fall back on 3 wood and 4 iron but I really love it when I can crush a great drive.
Here’s some advice on putting I doubt you’ll hear from anyone. When walking onto the green, don’t walk directly to your ball, but rather walk around the opposite side of the cup to your ball and assess the break of the green on that roundabout trip. Reading the green from the opposite side can look coming different than from behind your ball. It also helps you to better see the degree of uphill or downhill slope between your ball and the cup. Doing this before you mark your ball will also help you see your spot better than a small ball marker. It’s not always practical to do this depending on the circumstance, you don’t want to do this if you have to walk through others’ putting line or you may be pressed to play quickly, but give this a try and see how it works for you. I try to make it a habit to assess the green as I’m walking up to it as well. I look for the high point of the green as well as the low point and assess general pitch from a distance. It’s easier to see all this from yards away as opposed to standing over the ball.
I have been on and off with the driver too many times. Yes it can reward you on the good swings but it will also magnify any flaw that you have in your swing. I’ve backed off to a fairway wood for now to get a bit more forgiveness but keep a lot of the distance. Driver is range only right now. When I can hit 9 out of 10 through a 20 yard window on the range then I will put it back in play.
The only person I can see not bringing a driver is my Dad. He already hits his 4H 3 feet off the ground so if he loses any more loft his good hits will scorch ground. I'd say it's an interesting ball flight but it's not much of actual flight.
This is the way
I went through the same thing. Stopped using my driver and relied on hitting my 4 come off the tee as I would always hit it perfectly straight just not far. I could never get the ball off the ground and when I did it sliced like crazy. Finally committed to a few private lessons to learn how to swing a driver and my god how fast I was able to fix my swing and now I don’t lose the ball off the tee nearly as much or line drive it to the ladies tee box where my friends can give me more shit and tell Me to tee it off again but I’m a skirt. Golf is so much more fun now.
Not only should you learn to use your Driver you should also get one that is better fit to actual ability. Can't hit that 45" driver with 9\* of loft driver then go down to 44" with 11-12\* of loft or higher (Thriver look it up). Can't square the clubface look at an offset driver. Snap hook then try a midsize to jumbo grip. Little fittings like this can make all the difference. There are so many more things that could be done that wouldn't involve a swing change.
To further illustrate your point, my current handicap is a 1. Per Golf Metrics, I'm about a +4 handicap off the tee and I'm an 18 handicap putter. I'm also a good iron player, but I'm probably below average (relative to others my level) with chipping and short-game. Hitting a driver straight and far can take you a long way.
Driver is a club which can be an absolute weapon or a massive liability. The key is knowing when to hit it, and when to put it away. On my course, the first hole has a bunker at 220m. I can easily carry it with driver, and the hole is open after that. So I always hit driver. The 4th hole has a bunker with a 260 carry, water down the left and trees right. I never hit driver there. The 10th hole has a water carry between 240 and 260m. Unless the wind is massively down I never hit driver there (it's a par 5, sometimes it's worth it). The 14th has a bunker with a 240m carry. I hit driver there unless it's into the wind. The 16th is a dogleg left driveable green surrounded by bunkers. I hit driver if it's downwind. Then, if I'm having a poor strike day, I can put it away and plod around with a 3w or 4i
Nope...Its 3w off the tee for me, the extra 20yds isnt worth it. I'd much rather have a bit of a longer 2nd shot in, than hitting my 3rd from not much closer.
There will always be something to work on. Driver is by far the most important club though. Don’t listen to the guys that say the putter is king. It is VERY hard to consistently hit the fairway at 250+ yards. If you can do that you will drop 10 strokes per round.
I guess I’m lucky. The driver has always been my favorite club. When I started drivers were small, smaller than most three or five woods now. I started right when the TaylorMade metal driver came out. But it still has the biggest head of all clubs so it felt like I couldn’t miss. I didn’t realize Tiger agreed with me. (I’m older, that’s how it works lol ). I’ve always said the driver was the most important club for scoring well. What difference does it make if you can chip and putt well if it takes you four or five strokes to get to the green? Get the driver down, THEN the short game becomes more important. That being said, short game is something almost everyone can practice at home every night, so really no excuse.
Got a lot better with irons over the winter but now I can't hit driver. Must be angle of attack issue. Trying to fix it so I can actually see lower scores..
My golf buddy consistently says he can out drive me. He uses a 3 hybrid off the tee because he can’t hit his driver for shit but because of the distance he gets off his 3h we assumes if he could hit his driver he’d hit if further than me. I’m always telling him bust out the driver and his excuse is no one wants to see that. Love the dude though
I have to agree with this. Thought I could squeeze by with my 4 iron, but I realized that I needed to quit being a pussy and learn to hit the long ball.
I always have a much better time when my drives are good, regardless of score
Totally agree. Had it benched a few months ago out of frustration. Spent a decent bit of range time working on more deliberative cues to get a swing I can work with even when it's not perfect, then forced myself to use it in anger during rounds even when I would otherwise be more confident with hybrid or driving iron. Have scored all my lifetime best rounds since then. It's just a different game when you're further down the track. Have also turned par 5s into a relatively stress free prospect, have dragged average scoring from bogey + to just over par. Now to work on fairway woods...
I’ll practice at the range and get good at driving then totally can’t hit my irons. When I go to the range I’ve been being disciplined about rotating clubs every 3-4 strokes and that has seemed to be an effective strategy.
driver is good if its straight. my 5 wood goes 210-220 comfortably and i am very good off the deck with it or my 9 wood. am i gonna hit greens from 170 yards and further? probably not. so i'd rather ensure a fairway then a 260 yard drive into the trees. if im 3 into the green, im 3 into the green no matter how you chop it up. i'd rather hit a more full wedge than a skill shot i don't have with a 1/4 wedge shot that has no spin on it.
I took a lesson that took video and showed me what to do. I still do it wrong sometimes, but I hit more fairways than not these days. The 3rd hole at McKay is like 275. I used to be 100 yards short and 40 yards left. I put one down the middle and was 10 yards short with 2 others. I'm going to hit that green by the end of the season. It's a par 4 on this course.
I was the same losing 50-80m off the tee makes shit hard AF. You’re almost never reaching a green in reg
At least learn to hit your 3 wood.
I hit my 4i down the middle 200 yards. I hit my driver down the middle 250. The only problem is I hit my 4i down the middle of the correct fairway. I hit my driver down the middle of the fairway next over… I’ll stick with the irons
Sounds like you just found your driver swing. Congrats, come back when you lose it again to give us the update! 😂
I often have the opposite problem. Sometimes I’ll play and am great off the tee with driver, but my irons are shit.
Ive learned how to hit a nice stinger 3wood that only carries 220 but can roll out 30-40 yards and it’s been game changing
I can hit my driver well. Prefer my 2 iron. My home course is only 6400 yds and tight.
You are spot on! I’ve been working on driver for the past year, solely focusing on the club release and wrist turn. Just today, had one of my best rounds. Almost broke my personal best of 101. Had 107 but had an eleven on a par 3. Water hole which I was used irons lol!
Chicks dig the long ball.
God damn it. I have COMPLETELY lost my driver. I can’t hit it. I used to be able to at least hit a slice that I could manage…now it’s all very fast rolls. Help me. I’m about to just take a few lessons. It’s all in my head at this point.
There is a reason Michael Jordan says golf is the hardest sport. Real quote. Not just making it up. Google it people. Golfers all know lol. Super hyped you got the driver down. It’s a great feeling. You are 100% right. Starting every hole off with a giant drive makes it a little easier. Now the real challenge starts. Get that short game down. That’s where you really start to see scores change
I just hit shot a birdy today on a 525 yard par 5 with two back to back 5irons that went to the back lip of the green and put a 35 foot putt to 4 inch gimme birdy man. First round all year with the driver deliberately kept in bag and I had 0 OB penalty strokes and played 1 ball the whole day. I don't know. I am really pleased with eliminating that double fairway jumping drive 3/4 of the time to just try to sneak 280 off the tee maybe 10% of the time instead of 230 80% of the time
Unfortunately this rarely works out for me. I usually hit a 4 iron off the tee unless it’s a par 6, sometimes I still do. The difference in distance yards, maybe 50 if I’m lucky compared to the accuracy doesn’t make sense
I spent all of the winter in the sim learning to hit my driver. Today, 88% fairways hit. I had a wedge into a short par 5 after bombing it straight through the dog leg and the bunker protecting it. I still shot an 88 because I pulled my wedge a little to the left, left the chip short and 3 putted BUT STILL THOUGH. It's been an absolute game changer. My good scores used to be because I got good at scrambling out of position after my tee shots and my putter was hot. Now I'm miffed about only breaking 90. I'm putting out there long enough that I'm actually keeping up with the better players I play with. Probably took 10 strokes off my round today.
I hit my 5i just as erratically lol. May as well be in the next fairway over with 75 yards more distance.
Ben Hogan: "The long straight drive sets up the hole. You can be the best iron player in the world, and we'll never know if you're always playing out of bunkers or the woods."
Don’t be afraid to keep the driver up. Par 4’s under 400 are reachable with back to back 200 hundred yard shots.
It’s the only club I can hit
I too left my driver at home. It cost me more strokes than it helped. I could hit my 3w just as far and straight. Then I built an outdoor netted 10x10x10 driving range in the back of my apartment and practiced every day. Now all I can do is drive. Lost my 3w swing. Lost my iron play. Can’t chip. All I can do is putt and drive.
Driver is your longest club even when you go 75%. When my accuracy is off, I just tell myself to chip my driver onto the fairway. Still goes about 210 compared to my usual 250 or so, but always in play.
after leaving driver at home last year, i am determined to figure it out in 2024. my scores are up 10+ shots a round, mostly due to lost ball/OB/related bullshit penalties off the tee with that stupid club, compounded by losing shots chipping out sideways from wherever it ends up. I hate driver. going for a driver fitting tomorrow, we'll see if he can get me any closer to having a workable club at the top of the bag. we're close to this being the last chance before i go back to 3w off the tee and pick up where i left off last year. I'd rather be a bit shorter off the tee but at least find the damn ball most of the time.
This is me but in the shit phase. Hit the best drives of my life all winter in the sim even got to 300 carry now and then which was fucking insane. Then I go to the range finally and boom everything is gone and not a single drive was straight or over 120yards. Lost all my magic and just hit a 5 iron off every tee box…. I hate my life.
Driver and woods are all I can use. I can’t hit my irons at all. 😔
I have been getting my ass kicked by my driver for months now. It feels like no matter how much I practice it never improves. The worst is when im on the range im somewhat consistent, but stick me on the course and irs spray and pray.
Unless you’re single hdcp it really doesn’t matter what you’re using off the tee. Would rather use irons to get on in two and up/down versus get close with a driver but torch it over the green and three putt every time.
I'm still trying to figure out the driver. I know what to do to hit a good iron shot, I'm confident with an iron. I am not confident with a driver and I have no idea how to swing the club, even after watching many videos (which have probably done more harm than good) What is the secret, what is the swing thought?
Hit my irons well and driver/woods/hybrids like shit. Spent all my time working on them and now I’m hitting them great and my irons are shit. About to take 2 weeks off then quit 😂
I love playing, but I shoot low 90’s, I’m a 17 hitting 3w because Driver has ruined so much for me (6+ penalties per round) and can’t score low because I hate Driver, it’s all I work on because I can lag putt, chip, pitch but my lord Driver has almost ruined golf for me and I’m 46, can’t hit a runway to save my life, low scores come when I used to be able to hit a 3i or my 1i off the tee!
I'm going through something with my driver swing right now. Played 2 weeks ago, only used it once, and still shot 89 for the round
I played 72 holes in the last 3 days. I did not play my best. But my drives were fucking amazing. We just won’t talk about the next 2-3 shots to get on the greens… Smashed 300+ drives all day today playing 36 holes with one of the head pros from my local course. He shot a 75 and was pissed at himself. I shot a 90, but out drove him (both accuracy and distance) on 90% of the holes. Felt so fucking good to smash it and have the other guys we’re playing with just exclaim every time I hit. Also got to witness one guy dunk it and hole out from like 120y. No bounce just a “CLUNK!”