I can’t hit my driver consistently.?
February 15th, 2013 | 
Author: Question by Never 3 Putt: I can’t hit my driver consistently.?
I have tried strengthening the grip (showing the top 2 knuckles), making sure the left hand has the club basically resting in the last three fingers and letting the thumb rest in the lifeline of the right. I have been very aware of my takeaway – both angle/plane and tempo, I address with ball of the front heal. Still a slice. and sometimes a “next county” slice. Any tips?
Thanks much.
Best answer:
Answer by Pat B
Most will tell you the best tip is to take a lesson. In the meantime – try tucking a head cover under your right arm pit and holding it there thru backswing and impact. Keeps your arms in tight to the body.
Hold your backswing at about halfway back and see where your two thumbs are pointing and try to rotate your wrists slightly so that they point back vs. straight up. This promotes a less steep swing.
Finally, posture – your shoulders, hips, feet all aligned straight and hands hanging straight down from shoulders and knees slightly flexed like you are just about to take a seat with a slight forward lean, so if anyone pushed on your shoulders you would not fall back. Good balance and on your follow through, imagine you are hitting a baseball over the second baseman’s head. All these drills promote the inside to out swing path that helps promote a draw.
Again, I recommend a lesson first. But good luck.
What do you think? Answer below!
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I was fighting a slice at the beginning of the season and finally decided to take a couple of lessons from a good pro in my area. He was able to spot my flaw right away. One 30 minute driver lesson and a few buckets at the driving range cured my woes.
No one is consistent with a driver but if you get a lesson or two a teaching pro can probably fix your swing.
You probably hit an outside-in downswing which cuts across the ball causing a slice (a lot of people do). A pro can help you get an inside-out swing promoting draw and giving you more distance.
Another option is to get an offset driver or one with draw but they can only do so much. You would still have a problem with your swing.
Whatever you do, don’t just start aiming way left as this will just increase the outside-in swing and make matters worse. And there’s no harm in hitting a 5 or 7 wood off the tee if you’re more comfortable with that and then hit it again for your second shot if necessary.
Hope this is of some use. Good luck.
All of that is good, but if you come over the top with the clubface open you will still hit it right of Rush Limbaugh! Make sure that you are sweeping the club straight back along the target line, NOT inside the line. From the top you must start the downswing with the lower body moving to the left and the arms falling before the shoulders start to unwind. If you can do this the slice will disappear forever!
I would guess your driver is a “standard” driver you bought off-the-rack from a golf retailer. The standard drivers are often 45.5″, 45,75″ and 46″ in length! That is too long for regular golfers. Longer shafted drivers = harder to hit
The average driver length on the PGA Tour is 44.5″. I think the longest hitter on tour uses a 44″ driver. If the best players are using 44″ and 44.5″, why would you use something longer? If they could hit 45.5 and 46″, they would.
The misconception is that a shorter driver costs you lots of distance. It is false. At a swing speed of 85 mph, some tests show that the difference in distance between a 44″ and 46″ driver is like 2-yards.
A shorter driver that is properly built and swing weighted will probably add distance because shorter drivers are easier to hit consistently on the sweet spot. Unless you are really tall, I wouldn’t recommend anything longer than a 44″.
What you are suffering from is a swing flaw or combination of swing flaws ( hard to tell without actually seeing you swing) The only cure for swing flaws is lessons and practice……absolutely nothing else works long term.
have a pre-shot routine and stay focused.
Take your practice swings as if you’re swinging a baseball bat. Back & forth around your body & rolling over your hands naturally. When you address the ball keep that thought/method intact. Swing around your body, not back & forth.
Simplicity is the key.
I had the same problem mine was that my left wrist was to strong causing the clubhead to be to slow loosen grip with left hand and strengthen right hand grip and also if you still get a slice make sure your hands aren’t in front of the club head if they are work with it till you have your hands behind it
There is a slice – ball starts on target line and then takes a big curve to the right, and there is a pull slice – ball starts left of target line and then curves back to the right.
The slice usually can be repaired by taking a “softer” left hand grip (not strangling the club) and squaring up the clubface at impact.
The pull slice usually happens when you let the right shoulder get out ahead early in the downswing(gets worse when trying to hit it harder) causing the pull. The open shoulders cause you to cut across the ball and the open clubface cause the slice. One cure would be for you to start your downswing by droping the right elbow down to the right pants pocket. It feels like your back will be to the target when your swing starts. This move put the shoulders moving in the right direction on the right plane. Practice the move with club only first, then hit balls without trying to kill it. Once you get the move feeling comfortable….kill it
try new stances and new grips with your hands ect.
I could tell u what u may be doing wrong, but we really need to see ur swing. The best thing u can do would be to find a pro and ask what u r doing wrong. Chances are he/she will find ur mistake right away and tell u what to do to fix it.
Watch Annika Sorestam. She has a solid one piece takeaway. Shoulders and arms move with the head on the driver. Her swing is built for consistancy..and that she has. Also make sure the club is on plane. Turning the club head over after impact cured my slice and it hasnt come back since.