COMMUNITY

I don't understand how the associate can make a statement like that. What if you're hitting your driver 250+ and hitting 75% of your fairways but can't putt to save your life and frequently 3 and 4 putt greens??? Should you take the putter out of the bag and use your 4 iron instead?

It might be a general statement that could potentially be true for some people but to make a blanket statement like that is just wrong.

great read.i think if you can get fitted into a DRIVER,that can give you the Accuracy & Distance,that you need to play your game.also,you need to take several swing lesson's to help you understand the golf swing and help you improve on hitting more fairways.When I ,first started plaing golf,i was a big time slicer,so i pull the diver out of the bag.2 years without a driver in the bag,i used my 3-wood,and sometimes,you can get some great distance with the 3-wood.with Lessons & more Lessons,i am ready for the driver.so now when i play,i always pull the driver out.unless there is trouble in front that i can reach.i only hit it 250 yards down the middle,so theres not alot to worry about.i just swing away

i could totally agree with that. I have had a rollercoaster of a ride trying to get my score down with my drive in my bag. Sometimes i hit 300 straight. Sometimes I hit 270 to the right. Sometimes 250 doen the middle. So inconsistent. But when I hit those straight 300 shots, thats when I get on a par 5 in 2 putting for eagle. Thats the only reason I still use my drive when i know I can't hit it well. When i use my 3 wood, I hit it straight 240 which is good. But 300 is better as we all know.

I wish I could make myself leave the driver in the bag. I just love Driving for show. It makes me feel good to see that ball flay away with authority. I have much lower scores when I play with my 3 wood, but it just feels like I am holding back and I hate holding back.

You will never learn your drive if you don't use it. Gotta learn sometime. What if you shoot 85 and then try to work your driver in. Your score will go up. Anyway you look at it, your score sill go up with the driver until you get it under control.

Just my thoughts on it.

i could totally agree with that. I have had a rollercoaster of a ride trying to get my score down with my drive in my bag. Sometimes i hit 300 straight. Sometimes I hit 270 to the right. Sometimes 250 doen the middle. So inconsistent. But when I hit those straight 300 shots, thats when I get on a par 5 in 2 putting for eagle. Thats the only reason I still use my drive when i know I can't hit it well. When i use my 3 wood, I hit it straight 240 which is good. But 300 is better as we all know.

I wish I could make myself leave the driver in the bag. I just love Driving for show. It makes me feel good to see that ball flay away with authority. I have much lower scores when I play with my 3 wood, but it just feels like I am holding back and I hate holding back.

You will never learn your drive if you don't use it. Gotta learn sometime. What if you shoot 85 and then try to work your driver in. Your score will go up. Anyway you look at it, your score sill go up with the driver until you get it under control.

Just my thoughts on it.

Good day golfers!

Looking at your scores I would definitely leave it at home for a few rounds and see what happens. A few years back I decided to leave the driver in the garage for two seasons and my 3 wood was the longest club in the bag. It helped A LOT! Being 20-40 yards shorter, BUT being in play or in the fairway twice as often was well worth the potential loss of distance. I found my scores much more consistent and steadily going down. I didn't put the driver back in the back until I was consistently shooting under 100. I think the 85 rule is a bit excessive but I would try to break 100 to work with your driver. Also, if you decide to try rounds without the driver, leave it at home. If it's in your bag you'll be too tempted to use it.

Good luck!
- Dave

My driver is was saves my butt, where I am in one the others in my 4some are in 2 sometimes, its my 2nd shot and my putting that gets me, so I say carry the driver. It doesnt make since to me not to.

I assumed since you were wondering whether to carry it or not that you are not hitting it well. If you are hitting it well and usually in play or not taking penalties with it, then carry it. If you are costing yourself strokes by duffing, slicing, OBing, etc.. then leave it at home.

Why are you quoteing me, lol. I never question my driver its the only thing I can hit. That and chipping, lol

Since we play the game for fun, I'd say carry the driver. Been learning lately, however, when to use it and when not to...been teeing off with a 5 wood on some short, tight par 4's, and even using a 5 iron off the tee on a long par 5 that has a creak running through the fairway.

As I said originally, I am not very consistent with it, not that I am very consistent with anything that I hit. The driver is the one that I has a big slice (it goes out a ways, nice and straight, maybe a bit of turn, and then turns somewhere between 30 and 90 degrees to the right). It may OB, or in the rough, or just to the edge of the fairway.

The reason I pose the question is that you read and hear different things. You can see, on my limited statistics, and my previous posts in different forums, that I am not the longest hitter (average 200 - 220). I played a course right after I bought my clubs a few years ago, and headed the advice of not carrying a driver, and on the par 5s, I wanted to use it. Hitting multiple 3W, though practical, didn't make sense to me. So, I went back, and another rep told agreed that I should carry the driver. After about a year of slicing, and having one almost come back at me, I purchased a Burner Draw driver. The slice continued. This year I purchased a G15. First time on the range, was great, nothing but little cuts. When I went on on Memorial Day weekend, the big slice was back, and it was back on the range this past weekend.

As I have said, I was wondering what you guys thought, just because I wanted to view the opinions of people like me: out there "beating balls", working on their game.

Jeremy,the SLICE,what is the root cause? is it your Grip?do you have a weak grip,or a ,strong grip ? is your swing an OUT to IN swing? too get rid of the Slice.you have to make some changes.i was a big time slicer of the ball,i use too play with a weak grip & my swing path was out to in.after a few lessons,i change my weak grip to a strong grip & my swing path to a IN to OUT Swing.when you get a chance check out your grip & swing path,hope this helps... hit your driver long & straight!

I don't care what my handicap is there will always be a driver in my bag

That's just it, I truly don't know what causes the slice. I know I have to make time to get some lessons. The associate last night, didn't tell me whether my swing path was out-in or in-out. I think he attributed my slice to the club face pointing straight up in the air at the top of my backswing.

There are times, though rare, when I can pull off the fade, or a straight shot, normally when I'm trying to aim more left to correct for the slice (still haven't figured that part out).

First time I broke 80, I didn't hit the driver at all. Fairway woods, hybrids, irons...they're all much easier to keep in play than the driver, for two reasons: 1) the more loft a club has, the less sidespin it can impart on a ball, and 2) even if it does go off-line, it's not going to travel as far as a driver would.

Even now, as a 3 handicap, I only use driver if I need to. There are ten par 4s and four par 5s at my country club, and on 6 of those 14 holes I hit a 3 wood or less about 99% of the time, because there simply isn't a need to hit driver. I'm more concerned about keeping the ball down the middle on those holes.

If you're struggling to break 100, chances are you're all over the place off the tee. And the number one key to becoming a better player--at that stage in your game, anyway--is keeping the ball in play. Later on you can worry about chipping and putting better...right now, though, your number one goal should be to keep the ball where you can see it off the tee. So yes, I agree that you might do well to use more fairway woods or hybrids off the tee. Don't take the driver out of your bag, though. It is an important club once you learn to use it.

About that slice...it's impossible to tell without seeing your swing. But I WILL say that if your clubface is looking at the sky at the top of your backswing, then that means the clubface is dead closed. From there, you will likely instinctively "hold on" through impact to avoid hitting a wild hook, and the result is an inconsistent slice. The likely culprit of a closed clubface at the top is your grip. Go see a pro about your grip and get that really working, and you'll probably start hitting better golf shots.

Thanks!!! This is the type of advice I knew I could count from you and a few others, and was hoping a few more would give. As soon as I have the means to, I'll provide you guys with some video.

Thank you for the insight. That's what the associate pointed out, was that the clubface being closed at the top and me coming over the top of the ball produced the slice. But he couldn't point to a specific why (I asked). He had me perform a drill that Furyk and Ryan Moore do (they do the same just a bit differently). One way is to set your wrists, raise your arms and then set the for your back swing, the other way just reverses the arm raise and the wrist cock, but even then I had clubfaces pointing skyward, and it appeared to me that I was setting wrists lifting club straight off of the ground; however, according to the associate, I must not have been doing that.