A shorter driver....

I have been spending an inordinate amount of time with my driver(s), and I spend next to no time with my three wood and my five wood – the ball – with those clubs is straight and for me, long enough. So, I am thinking of selling my Taylormade 540xd – stiff graphite and going with a Talyormade 540xd steel, and have the shaft cut about an inch less than standard. I have never considered a steel driver – is one steel shaft the same as another…. I am supposing that I have no problems with my 3 and 5 because they have shorter shafts… it has just occurred to me – I could have the shaft shortened on my Taylormade….



I have been using the Speedstick – and I have seen major gains in swing speed (as measured by the speedstick) However, it has not parlayed in distance with my other clubs.

This isn’t to say the speedstick doesn’t work – it may well be my technique which is lacking.



As a newbie, it has finally dawned on me that I am spending a vastly disproportionate amount of time with my driver at the expense of all of my other clubs. If Ihad a driver that was built for accuracy as opposed to distance – perhaps I wouldn’t spend so much time trying to go for distance.



A big thanks to Gord – I was out yesterday hitting with my irons – I was deliberately hitting with a “descending blow”. I had better results, but if you focus on hitting with a descending blow you can be damn sure you are not going to “scoop” the ball.



I will be taking a series of six lessons for beginners next month. The money had to be spent either there – or on Anger Management!





James

Jamesh,

The 540XD is a great club, don't do it.


Take the lessons then hit the driver again...you may find that you can hit it better after some tuition.

The driver swing is slightly different than the irons you have been hitting with a desending blow (quite correct). The driver is played off the front foot with a sweeping action...also try teeing the ball higher, almost the whole ball above the head at address, the 540xd is a big club.


Hope this helps



Ian.

I agree with Ian - don't switch shafts and then go for a lesson - take a few lessons and then make the decision on whether the club/shaft combo is the right combo for you.

I was about ready to s c r a p the isi and change to a shorter steel shafted driver. Then i got to work on my swing and work with some pro's and my drive is now, well, good for my age. (270)

You're 270!!! You're a freak of nature!

Congratulations on still getting out to golf!

I still need work on consistency with the big stick tho. In comp today, i hit one shot driver exactly like i wanted to. For now, 270 doesn't mean anything until i can hit 270 in the short grass 80% of the time.

I find that people who hit fairway woods well but drivers poorly suffer from problems with 2 things.

1. Driver may have too low loft and possibly too stiff of a shaft for their swing

2. Your Brain

3 woods and 5 woods have from 13* to 21* of loft which makes it easier to get the ball in the air and also has less side spin so it should fly straighter then the driver. As for the brain this can be the toughest to overcome, once you hit a few bad ones and go into panick mode you lose your confidence and swing reluctantly afraid of the outcome. I think you should try a regular flex regular length driver with 12 or 13 degrees of loft, you will not lose distance but should get the ball up easier. Shortening the shaft will stiffen it and perhaps make things worse. I am a scratch golfer and was creeping lower and lower with lofts on my drivers but recently went back to 10 degrees and am hitting it longer and straighter then I ever have, callaway makes a 15 degree driver geared towards beginners and weekend hackers for this reason.

Dave D...

__________________
Someone asked Fred Couples, "what do you think about when you are playing golf?" his response, "Basketball".

I just don't like my driver right now, and the only thing wrong is #2. I got the driver early in my career so i got a higher loft(11.5*). The shaft is deffinately not too stiff because i hit my 3 wood like a dream and it is a stiff while my driver is regular. My swing is ground under repair right now so we will see how this works out!!

[quote=Ian Hancock]Jamesh,

The 540XD is a great club, don't do it.

Thanks for the posts, much obliged. I will take the collective advice of the Tuition and keep thiings as they are. I read a post here some time ago about the "Samurie Sword" - essentially you imagine a sword above your hands on the takeway - and the image will prevent you from a poor takeaway - I just read an article on the April edition of Golf Magazine and the advice really helped me.

The advice.....amatures... lift the club and roll their hands away from their body, which draws the clubhead inside and opens the face. As a result they make erratic contact. To gurad againt this, imagine someone is holding a Samurai Sword, just above your wrists, you will be forced to keep your hands low...

This has worked beautifully for me -I didnt realize that I was lifting the club away from my body - my drives tend to be straighter.

If I hadn't read that Samuri post here, I would of most likely skipped over the article!

I suppose this is kind of like the inside approach.


James

I am a scratch golfer and was creeping lower and lower with lofts on my drivers but recently went back to 10 degrees and am hitting it longer and straighter then I ever have, callaway makes a 15 degree driver geared towards beginners and weekend hackers for this reason.

Dave D...[/quote]

Double D I have just started playing golf - for about a year now - my driver is 9.5 degrees - would a higher lofted driver be necessarily easier to hit....

For you scratch golfers - is the game always a struggle... or do you reach a point at which you score consistently and you do not have the same kind of re-ocurring problems... with drivers and irons. Perhaps the game is more frustrating than normal since it is more difficult in the beginning.


James

James,

The short answer to you question...........YES it's a constant struggle.


Golfers of every level must constantly work on flaws in their game...........most of which are the same problems that keep creeping back into your game.



JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT............

Sometimes we over practice and not play enough.......until we play more we do not know what to practice.......so why keep practicing and changing things at the range.


Ian.