Driver woes!!

For the past several weeks I have been working on various points of my swing as critiqued by everyone on here and see a great improvement...In my irons long/short and my 3 wood. yesterday at the range I was able to hit my irons and do w/e I wanted to with them. But there is one part of my game I still cant get right, my driving. Although I can seem to destroy my 3 wood I cannot hit my driver consistently. I hit approx. 50 balls yesterday just with my driver, 15% were beautifull and the rest were either pulls or hooks. Can somebody give me some sort of suggestion to try next time on the range, starting with an answer to this question?
With driver should your hands be in front of the ball at address as every other club? Im looking for some answer b/c my friends say my position at the top is good, maybe a bit on the inside of the takeaway but not much...ive tried moving the ball up in my stance, back to center, farther away everything...cant seem to get it straight for more than 2-3 shots

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There are two types of criticism. They type you agree with, and the type you wont let yourself believe.

Whether either are helpfull is up to our own stubborness

Here is my view:

Have the ball 2 to 3 inches inside your left heel for all clubs, including the putter, this places it around your left armpit where your left arm reaches the bottom of the swing.

Move your right foot back (right foot only for all clubs) just outside your right shoulder width for the driver (closer for other clubs). You will now have your sternum and head behind the ball, the driver will now bottom out just before being delivered into the back of the ball.

When positioned this way the hands will lie naturally where the square clubface sets them, in line or very marginally behind the ball.

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Best Regards
Brian

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Funny o'l game!

I agree with Brian's recommendations.

I will add one further point. With a driver, the spine must definitely be tilted to the right at address. That will cause your hands to be fractionally behind the ball, so that your clubshaft should appear to be tilted minimally backwards (clubhead marginally ahead of the hands). Then, when your rotate your body perpendicularly around the pre-tilted spine, your clubhead swingpath should have a slightly upwards direction in the immediate pre-impact phase of the downswing - if you maintain a constant spine angle during the backswing and downswing. That will ensire that you sweep the ball off the tee, and it will help avoid a steep descending clubhead swingpath that will more lilkely occur if the hands are ahead of the ball at address, and the spine too centralised at address.

Jeff.

i will give it a try...sounds like i just need to change my set up slightly and i should be on the right path..as far as the rest of my clubs...i like to vary the ball position depending on the club..shorter club ball slightly farther back with hands always in front of the ball

Shamed04

You may want to think more deeply about your approach to ball positioning, and consider an alternative approach (as Brian suggests).

Instead of moving the ball further back for short irons, think of a different approach for short irons. Keep the ball positioned about 3-4" inside the left heel, but move your right foot closer to your left foot for short irons, so that the ball is roughly midway, or slightly forward of midway, between the feet. Also move your sternum, so that its marginally ahead of the ball for short irons. That should result in a clubshaft that is tilted forward (hands ahead of clubhead) and encourage a descending blow.

See the address section of my review for more information on that alternative approach to ball positioning. See - http://perfectgolfswingreview.net/AddressSetup.htm

Jeff.

If you set the ball as I suggest then move your right foot back or forward you will still have the ball position varied. The other important factor is the position of your sternum in relation to the ball, when using a wedge you should have it slightly ahead of the ball, you do this by bringing your right foot close to your left. The ball will always remain in the correct reference position relating to the swing bottom though.


Have a look at this video link it explains the theory: "Ball position and Setup drill" section

http://www.golf.com/apps/instruction/V1Golf/archive.asp

__________________
Best Regards
Brian

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Funny o'l game!

looking back to what i actually do with my irons...it is very similar, i just looked at it differently, the ball is actually in the same relative position with a wider/narrower stance...as for my driver, hopefully your suggestions will be the answer with the spine angle and hand position

im pretty sure its not an over the top move...wouldnt that promote a fade? my problem is a hook or pull, and i generally play with a strong grip

thanks for the thoughts i will try a few more things next time im at the range and if i have no success i will post my swing once again...its about time anyways for some direct criticism

There is not much more you can add to that.
When my game goes off,I go back to basics.Ball position,stance,grip,and to me the most important, shoulder line to target.
I have a weak grip ,if I strengthen my grip I get more length off the tee,but not so accurate.And as a wise Scot once said to me,"you can make up for lack of length, but not lack of accuracy".

hitting them beautifully at the range yesterday..thx

I don't have a Driver in my bag I have a 1W.. I think about the shot exactly the same as if I'm hitting a 3W off the tee.. For some reason higher handicappers think the Driver is some kind of magic swing club.. Just put the ball on the tee and convince yourself you're hitting your 3W if you have to.. If you're hitting your 3W well - like you say you are - you're mentally trying to do something special/different with your Driver.. You don't need to..

seems logical..but i swear ive tried to make the same swign with bad results...idk if its the longer shaft or what...sometimes i wish i had my 3 wood with 12* of loft

hi shamed04
been through all of what you are going through!
so i bit the bullet and bought a ladies cobra mspeed driver it has a shorter shaft and 13.5* loft!
bottom line is i drive longer and straighter than ever before and longest in my fourball.
the guys havent noticed its a ladies club yet but so what it does the job!

sounds like a solution, My gf's younger brother prob has a driver cut down to about that size...ill give it a try and see what happens...worth a shot

slater...thats quite a confession---DO SOMETHING MANLY