Just ordered mine!

Sorry I missed your original question,

Ok, so your hit a big draw with the driver etc and drawing your short irons, which I may add is quite a difficult task, as it is easier to draw a straight faced club.

3Sks aside, you need to look at your set-up, I suspect it is closed to the target, either feet or shoulders or maybe both.

You can either put your heels against a wall, or just something very straight, look down at your feet, if they look strange there's your problem, or face the wall with hands out stretched touching the wall, then drop into set-up, again if your shoulders feel open to the wall, they you have been playing with them closed.

Hope this all makes sense


Ian.

__________________
Once you learn the swing, your next step is mastering golf psychology................

I tend to hit my really lofted clubs straight. I struggle to draw these at all, but thats ok as know where the ball is going.

The longer irons seem easier to draw.

I too am still struggling with my driver, every so often I get it correct and melt it further than any of my playing partners, but mostly Im duffing it or hooking it off the tee. But since 3 skills Ive eliminated any slice fades!

Could be a bit of my problem aswell. Big draws with the shorter irons and to a lesser degree with the longer ones (closed set-up that is).


Funny I tend to struggle a bit with my Driver too. I have hit some howitzers but a bit too hooky or blocky most of the time. I suppose changing from hitting down to hitting horizontal might muck up the mind a little.

Thanks for advice Ian. For sure i believe that my problem lies with my shoulder being closed to the target and my arms, shoulders and upper body not moving in once pieces, but analysing this does rather take awake from the philosophy of 3skills golf. It seems that you do still need to refer to some basics of swing and setup and not solely rely on the striking area.

It seems from all the threads concerning 3skills golf that it does help enormously with the irons but does not particularly help with driving. There are many people getting inconsistant results with their drivers - substituting slices for hooks, which is no better. Is the 3SK too basic for the driver? I'm aiming out at 12 o'clock but the ball is starting out at about 2.30, even 3 o'clock and hooking back in to about 11 o'clock. If indeed it is my shoulder being closed or my set up incorrect, why is this not happening with my irons.

would have to disagree with that point

my driving has improved beyond all recognition!

prior to 3 skills my driving was so inconsistent now the driver is my favourite club in the bag as im finding the fairway most times and a lot further as well

It does throw things out a bit because the 1st main mantra is a "downward attack" so you concentrate on getting that going. Then it says "You know the downward attack?, well don't use it with the driver" That's one 3rd of the book abandoned for the driver.

I'm not having a go here as the lessons in the book keep everything simple and un clogged, skills 1 + 2 have given mea new lease of life in this pergatory of a game, it's just to the average golfer the contradiction does you're head in a bit.

I don't think the book does contradict? It uses the imagery of hitting nails into the ball and is clear that the nails are set at three different angles for different clubs. 20 deg for the shorter clubs, 10 deg for the longer and horizontal for the driver and three wood. It explains in detail how with these two clubs you have to pummel the clubface into the core of the ball with a horizontal blow to get maximum power. It also has the drill with the range basket handle to teach a shallow approach with these clubs.

3Skills is not a quick fix and needs you to put in a lot of practice to gain the benefit. What it teaches for woods is good sound golf principles. Stick with it, practice and let it happen.

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Best Regards
Brian

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Funny o'l game!

I didn't mean the book contradicts I meant the contradiction in learning between irons and tee'd up shots. The book lays it all out for you and is very clear.

My point was that, a few on here, myself included are a bit shaky with the driver. This could stem from having to adjust from the downward attack to the horizontal.

As you said practice is the key, being comfortable and confident with subtle changes. It's just in these early days, the subtle change could throw things wobbly a bit!

I should say my driver has been a problem for a long time even before 3 skills, but the problem is different in that I never slice it now. I pretty much know where my shots are going, I'm just not getting a good connection.

For skill 2 I have been standing further away from the ball with driver to ensure I hit it at furthest point, I need to get back to range to experiment with this I think as I am definately not getting that ping off the sweet spot.

I did struggle with "hitting the nail" with the driver, although there are no swing thoughts, I definately have to make some conscious change to my backswing to try and hit the nail at correct angle and this is what I have been struggling with.

I am confident I will get there, but like others I'm just sharing my experiences with the 3 skills and the driver has been a bit more difficult.

Address your driver like any other club, it will have its natural lie angle that is shallow but your posture should not change. Don't let your arms get away from your body while swinging it and use the same tempo as your 7 iron, you should see some improvements.

Thanks Brian,

I will give this a try tonight in my round after work!

Hi Guys,

Some great replies and some obvious problems with the driver.

The main thing that some of you are missing is that sound fundimentals are a must, this means a good solid alinement, your athletisim will build with confidence.

The other point some of you are leaning towards is there are two different swings this is not true, you are getting a miss conseption with SK1, the downward blow, the swing stays the same for the driver, you should still feel like your swinging with a downward blow, but because the club is longer and the ball further forward in your stance you will not hit down on the ball like you do with the shorter irons etc.

SK1 is like 'Quote', like pushing a child on a swing you apply the pressure just as the swing is decending to create power or momentum (i.e a downward blow), but the child doesn't dig into the ground............neither will your driver.


Ian.

__________________
Once you learn the swing, your next step is mastering golf psychology................

I had my 2nd 3skills session at the driving range last night. If anything, the book has helped give me renewed enthusiasm for practicing!

The results from my irons were not as good as my first time around, with the draw coming sporadically, however i feel confident with some more practice this will happen more consistently.

Driver time - I had a good session with it and started to get some good results. Ian's last post to me prompted me to look at my setup at address and I agree with your most recent post Ian, fundamentals with the driver are a must. I took some info from the web concerning this and put that into practice and it did make a difference. I think that any small mistakes you make at setup with the driver are compounded and enhanced by the time you swing the big dog and return it to the ball.

I concentrated on keeping my right shoulder lower than my left and have 60% of my weight on my back foot. This helped with the alignment of my shoulders. I would say that I had about a 50% success rate with the driver last night, with the goods ones having a nice draw flight back to line of target. The other 50% started out at about 1.30 and remained straight out there. The connection was good but it was just not drawing back. I believe that my best shots came when i really focused on visualising the shot in front of me and then the draw came.

So i retract my previous comments. The 3SK does work for the driver but personally I feel you need to make sure you have the fundamental setup correct. You may get away with some poor fundamentals with your irons but you don't get away with it on the driver!

Handicap was cut on Sunday from 15.4 to 14.8. I'm hoping that combination of more practice, 3skills book and some time on the putting green can help me get myself down to 11 before end of the summer. That's my goal anyway.

I'm going to put my first 2skills round of golf out there tomorrow and see what the results are. I'll keep ya all posted.

I had some success last night with my driver also. I had a few wild ones, but definately now get the power and distance. I think it just needs some fine tuning now.

I removed all thoughts of trying to come in on a more horizontal plane to hit the nail. Instead I took Brians advise and just swung like a 7 iron. I was getting them long and mostly straight. I will go back to range before I attempt to start drawing again, but now I have my power and distance back Im confident I shall get sk3 working with the driver.

Overall with 3 skills I have found that the biggest challenge is putting in practise on the course what you learn on the range.

It really is quite scary aiming straight down a fairway but thinking about starting the ball out right and trusting it will draw back, especially when on the right there is a whole lot of trouble. Its a great feeling when it works though! Thanks again for all advice and input folks!

On a side note I reminded the club secretary last night about reviewing my HC.