Giving up the Driver - just avoiding the problem?

[kiteman]

I played a 7,200 yard course the other day and hit my driver 8 times, lost 3 of those shots (2 in the water, 1 in the trees) for 4 strokes of penalties. 2 of the holes were par 5s and I was hitting driver only to get to the green in two, when easily I could have hit a 3 iron off the tee and saved myself the penalty strokes. The other hole was a 415y par 4 and again, I could have hit 3 iron off the tee with a 6-7 iron into the green and saved myself penalty strokes. I would have definitely played better without my driver that day, but I just like hitting the driver. It's worth it when you catch it good. Case in point...

I then came to hole 17, par 5 530y. No idea how far my drive went but it went straight and from there I hit a 3 iron to the edge of the green with an easy 2-putt birdie. Just the accomplishment of getting to the green in two made the other 4 penalty strokes meaningless to me, and I was glad I played my driver that day. That's usually how it goes for me when I play since score is not always my primary objective. I play a lot so shooting an 87 over an 89 or even a 93 doesn't give me much satisfaction.

I've only completely stopped using the driver during a round once when I was E after 8 holes. I knew I had a chance for a great score and didn't want to risk 3-4 penalty strokes from errant drives. I wound up with a 79 which did in fact turn out to be a great accomplishment and a wise choice to leave the driver in the bag. In general though the shots you give up are worth the great shots you make with a club like the driver, that is unless you have a really good round going on or you play competitively and need those extra few strokes you feel confident you will lose from poor drives.

That being said, anyone with a swing flaw should get it fixed, but even if you get it fixed it doesn't mean every drive is going to go 300y in the middle of the fairway. If I'm 60% accurate on driving well per round, I feel pretty good, but everyone is different

 

[Matthew]

I'm going to try and play a "smart" round this weekend. Pull the big dog when it's wide open & see how it goes but I do foresee a lot of hybrids, 3w & long irons off the tee. That's my plan going in anyway.

 

[Floor-is]

I've decided not to play the driver anymore this year, think the decision came when I found I hit my 4wood quite far too and have only two holes on my homecourse where I can't reach the green in two with said 4wood.

Also my driver is about 10 years old, I could do with a new fitted one. My swing changed quite a bit, the SS, AA and swing plane are all different..

That being said I play with four wedges and don't want to give one up so I'll have to drop the 3iron I guess.

 

[Matthew]

Well, I looked over the card for the course I'm playing Sunday & thinking leaving it in the bag might not be too bad off a decision. It looks pretty open but with quite a few bunkers so placement is going to be key.

 

[PureLiquidHell]

I got the chance to play again today. It's unusual I play days back to back, but it was nice to be able to. I decided to go ahead and use the driver when applicable all day. I also decided that I should try to take a much more smoother, controlled swing if I could and see what happened. Now, I'm not sure if it was a product of playing a day back to back, or the more controlled swing, but I did have much more success. The distance still wasn't there for the most part, but if hit it straight more often.


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That's the right mind set, slow it down and don't over think your swing. Hit the range and dedicate 80% of your bucket to the driver. Put in the work and club speed will come, patience is key.