Tag: driver

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Hit More Fairways

The Tee Shot – The Most Important Shot

By Scott Messner

We do not have to stripe every drive 300 yards down the center of the fairway to be a good golfer. In fact, not even the best golfers in the world on the PGA Tour do that. 

However, the tee shot is the most important shot of the hole.

We have a perfect, flat lie for the first shot of every hole. We even get to place the ball on a tee. We need to take advantage and put ourselves in a good position for our second shot.

We can also get in the most trouble with our tee shot. The big clubface of the driver lends itself to wild shots when we mishit. The length of our drives also makes it easy to reach danger on either side of the fairway.

Many beginner and high-handicap golfers have the dreaded slice with their driver. It’s important to know the ball flight laws that cause a slice so we can have the self-awareness to know the cause of our shot shapes. You could watch the large amount of YouTube video dedicated to helping golfers fix their slice. While you do get a great deal of satisfaction in correcting swing issues on your own, the fastest and easiest way to correct your slice is with lessons from a PGA Teaching Professional. 

While keeping our drives out of trouble should be the priority, we need to be getting the most distance that we are capable of off the tee. There is no substitute for distance off the tee.

There is an old saying in golf – “Drive for show and putt for dough”. Putting has long been seen by many in the golf community as the most important area of the game. All areas of the game are important. However, strokes gained stats have shown that distance off the tee is the biggest contributor to success on the PGA Tour. Maybe surprisingly, distance off the tee is even more important in the amateur game.  

Increasing your clubhead speed is the way to increase your distance. You gain 2.5 to 3 yards for every mile per hour you increase your driver clubhead speed. That add up to 12 to 15 yards on a 5 MPH clubhead speed increase. That’s a significant difference on the course.

Work on improving all areas of your game but focus on accuracy and distance off the tee. It is the quickest way to shave strokes off your scores. The first shot of each hole is so important to give you an opportunity of scoring well on the hole. 

Similarly, the first hour of your day sets the tone for the rest of it. While you can read your Bible at any time, first thing in the morning works best for many. You’re giving the first part of your day to God, reading His living word. 

David prays in Psalm 143 that he trusts God and asks God to show him the way.

Psalm 143:8
8
 Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you.

By being with God through prayer and scripture to start our day, we are setting ourselves up to walk out the day according to His will. 

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Hit More Fairways

Have You Abandoned Your Driver?

By Shooting 90

The driver has to be the most interesting club in a high handicap golfer’s bag. Possibly only the putter can bring as much joy and sorrow to one’s game. It’s a big thrill to smash a long drive down the middle of the fairway. On the other hand, there is no worse feeling in golf than slicing your drive fifty yards out of bounds. Continually struggling to put your tee shots in play with your driver leads to total frustration. Your tee shot sets the tone for the whole hole. It’s nearly impossible to improve your golf game when you’re not finding the fairway and scrambling to post a decent score hole after hole.

Many high handicap golfers do not know how to fix a slice. They consistently hit a slice with their driver. Instead of fixing their slice on the practice range, they attempt to play around their slice but it keeps getting in the way. Missed fairways and lost distance begin to suck the enjoyment from the game.

This leads some golfers to quit using their driver all together. They hit fairway metals, hybrids, or even irons off the tee to increase the number of fairways they hit in regulation. This keeps them in the hole longer and gives them a chance to score better than if they used their driver. Actually, it’s probably the best choice if you are really struggling with your driver. Leave it in the bag for your round or don’t even bring it to the course. Keeping the ball in front of you, in play, will bring you more enjoyment from the game and much less frustration.

So if you’re not connecting with your driver, it may be best not to use it on the course but you should not abandon your driver all together. You should be working hard to learn how to hit your driver on the practice range. There are ten to twelve holes a round where you driver is the correct club to hit off the tee. As a high handicap golfer, you most likely can use all the distance you can get off the tee. Hitting your driver in the fairway puts you in the best position for your approach shot. Shorter approach shots from the fairway will allow you to hit more greens in regulation, which is the secret to scoring lower in golf.

Learn how to hit your driver. If you need to know how to fix a slice, see our 3 part How to Fix a Slice series – The Grip, Rotate Your Body, and Create an In to Out Swing.

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Hit More Fairways

Should You Try to Hit a Straight Golf Shot?

By Shooting 90

This post is a followup to a post I wrote entitled Master Your Straight Golf Shot where I advise against purposely shaping your shot with a draw (right to left for righties) or a fade (left to right for righties) and encourage you to hit a straight shot. I watched a YouTube video tonight from Joseph Mayo (@TrackmanMaestro) and Grant Waite (@grantwaite) of Waite Mayo Golf. The video was made for a beginner or high handicap golfer audience and discusses grip, stance and weight shift.

In the segment on stance, they discuss the common problem of slicing the ball which many beginner and high handicap golfers have and how these golfers are told to hit the ball straight. Joseph and Grant argue against hitting the ball straight, citing it’s nearly impossible, and even pro golfers could not do it consistently if they tried. Rather than trying to teach high handicap golfers something even pros cannot do, they recommend hitting a predictable curve. A predictable curve is either a draw or a fade. Since many golfers have a problem with slicing, learning to hit a draw would not only give you a predictable ball flight path but would also correct the slice.

I encourage everyone to watch the video. Joseph and Grant provide great tips on a level everyone can understand. I know it has changed the way I think how high handicap golfers should setup and hit the ball.

 

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Hit More Fairways

Let’s Drive

By Shooting 90

Many golfers get more enjoyment from hitting their driver than any other club in their bag. The distance, sound and feel from crushing a ball with your driver is unmatched by any other club. But with the thrill that comes from hitting your driver, there comes a huge amount of responsibility. There is no other club that can take you out of a hole as quickly as the driver can. Some high handicap golfers will avoid using their driver. I disagree with never using your driver. You’ll benefit from the length and it will be the correct club off the tee on several holes during a round. Every golfer needs to be comfortable hitting their driver off the tee.

Since most courses do not have a par 3 as their opening hole, there’s a decent chance driver will be the right choice off the first tee. It’s very important that you warm up and get loose at the practice range before you start your round. Remember time on the practice range before a round is warm up time and not practice time. You shouldn’t work on your swing during warm up time before a round. If you do not have time to hit the range before a round, make sure you thoroughly stretch and take plenty of practice swings. I know for me personally that there’s a good chance I will pull my drive left off the tee if I am not properly warmed up and loose.

You are allowed to tee up your ball anywhere between, but not in front of, and up to two club lengths behind the tee markers on the tee box. There is a preferred side to tee off from but it is more important that you tee off from a flat area. This is not an issue on many courses as the tee area is completely flat. However, there are some courses I like to play that have at least a few unleveled tee boxes. You have a huge benefit starting each hole being able to tee up your ball. The last thing you want to do is give yourself an uneven lie!

Provided you have a flat area, you want to tee off from the same side of the tee box as the trouble you are trying to avoid is. It’s simply easier to hit away from the trouble by teeing up on the same side it is on.

I see a lot of amateurs who do not account enough for the wind during their round. Granted a driver is not going to be affected as much as a wedge shot, but many of us get more air under our drives than we should so they are still going to be affected by the wind. Be sure to check the wind direction and strength before your shot and take it into consideration while lining up.

You’ll need a consistent pre-shot routine before every shot, especially your drives. A consistent routine of visualizing your drive, taking a practice swing and correctly lining up your drive will help you hit more fairways.

Your driver is one of the most used clubs in your bag. Learning to consistently hit the ball in the fairway off the tee with your driver is crucial to avoiding trouble and scoring well on the hole.