The Challenge of “Letting it Go!”

[Jason89er]

I’m a 14 hcp golfer at the moment. Solid player. Good short game. Very good putter. Inside 140 I’m probably a 7 hcp. I’m not a long hitter. At all. Particularly with the Driver. So getting inside that 140ish mark after drives on Par 4s and even some 5s is what is holding me back from getting into single digits. Arccos confirms this.

I have never been able to just let go with the Driver. Just take a devil-may-care attitude and let it rip. On the range when it doesn’t count? Sure. On the course? No way. Keep it in play. However, I’m at the point now where it’s finally holding me back from shooting the kinds of scores I know I’m capable of. 210 with occasional 220s off the tee isn’t gonna cut it anymore. I can get it to 250 plus but my accuracy goes WAY down.

It’s almost a mental block at this point. I want to “let it go” with my Driver on the course. My brain quite often will not let my body agree to “Rip It!! Who cares where it goes!” Anyone deal with this? How did you overcome it? I’m ready to start breaking 80 consistently. I can taste it.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[WLG1952]

I probably use my driver 5 or less times a round. I use my 3w most of the time....for better accuracy. The distance, with the same easy, controlled swing is near the same for both clubs. (+/- 10-15 yards difference)

When I do hit my driver, it's usually because I have a wide landing area available. I also "swing for the fence" when I do take the big dog cover off. I figure if I'm going with my longest club in my bag, I might as well get my money's worth, so to speak. A good swing, and ball contact will net me 220-235 yards.

My plan this new year is to spend time swinging for fence a couple of times a week at the range using my D. Some distance training Penick described is his "Little Red Book". Get the distance first, then work on accuracy.

 

[pattyboy21]

Without seeing your swing, I have 2 thoughts:

1) Go the tech route, finding the best driver/shaft/specs to optimize your performance
2) Play around with your current driver, learning to hit high, low, fades, draws, and even hooks. Then optimize your distance by playing the conditions (e.g., for soft conditions, maybe a high fade to maximize carry; for hard conditions, maybe a low draw or "slinging" hook to maximize roll).

Either way, swing with confidence and full release. "Holding on" works with wedges and irons, but not too well with a driver.

 

[Luchnia]

The only way you will let it go is let it go. Get out and do some fun rounds and put the smack down on it for fun and see what happens. If you can smack it on the range, you can do it on the course.

Lately I have been ripping the driver on the course in more of a let it go attitude except for tournaments. Sometimes you just gotta grip it and rip it. When I golf when my boys they always say that I hit my best drives when I let go and fire into it as if I am swinging out of my shoes. I just don't tend to do that all that much though.

Had some fun this morning during our seniors best ball I only used the driver twice (use 4 wood most of the time), but I hit possibly one of the longest drives yet on a hole because I just let 'er rip for the fun of it. It was approximately 285/290 give or take. Distance to center green was 306 and had it not faded it would have been close to the front of the green.

 

[Buckeyegolfnut]

Years ago I read a tip that said to imagine that the ball is a soap bubble sitting on the tee. All you want to do is swing the club and pop that bubble! I used it for a while, and it seemed to help with "swinging through" the ball instead of "hitting at" it.

 

[That post]

I’m very interested in the responses to this thread. You have described almost exactly my game off the tee. I’ve been prioritizing safety over distance and I don’t hit long enough to be able to make that decision without it hurting my birdie and par opportunities on some holes.

 

[leftshot]

Typically, when people use the phrase “Let it go!” they have one of two things in mind. Hit the @&$^*# out of it, or let the swing happen without trying to force or manipulate the club. Accuracy is doomed with the former. It’s available with the latter.

I swing with about 20% effort and average the 250 yard average you desire. I hit 80% of fairways—mostly split down the middle and I achieve this with a 64 year old body. So, I suspect I’m a good model for where you want to go.

It is all about building trust.

It starts at the range learning to turn and throw the club head down the target line with no manipulation of the club. Learning to get your grip, stance, and swing sequence and effort dialed in and then build trust seeing the results repeat over and over again. Then translating that to the course.

There are some intermediate steps you can make to help convert your success at the range to the course, but I’ll save that for another post as this one is getting long.

 

[That post]

I swing with about 20% effort and average the 250 yard average you desire. I hit 80% of fairways—mostly split down the middle and I achieve this with a 64 year old body. So, I suspect I’m a good model for where you want to go.

It is all about building trust.

It starts at the range learning to turn and throw the club head down the target line with no manipulation of the club. Learning to get your grip, stance, and swing sequence and effort dialed in and then build trust seeing the results repeat over and over again. Then translating that to the course.

Thank you for posting this. I think this thought will help. Now if I can only get the sequencing right on the turn and throw. Do you have any tips on that?

 

[Jason89er]

Typically, when people use the phrase “Let it go!” they have one of two things in mind. Hit the @&$^*# out of it, or let the swing happen without trying to force or manipulate the club. Accuracy is doomed with the former. It’s available with the latter.

I swing with about 20% effort and average the 250 yard average you desire. I hit 80% of fairways—mostly split down the middle and I achieve this with a 64 year old body. So, I suspect I’m a good model for where you want to go.

It is all about building trust.

It starts at the range learning to turn and throw the club head down the target line with no manipulation of the club. Learning to get your grip, stance, and swing sequence and effort dialed in and then build trust seeing the results repeat over and over again. Then translating that to the course.

There are some intermediate steps you can make to help convert your success at the range to the course, but I’ll save that for another post as this one is getting long.

All good stuff. I have no trust in my “let it go swing”. Even though it nets me 30 more yards at least. When I say let it go I’m talking about taking the Driver back to parallel, then firing by body and releasing all the way through the ball with a nice high finish. It’s a solid swing when I execute it. But one or two sprays on the course and I resort back to my 3/4 smoother and slower (club head) Driver swing. Which I can stripe in the middle over and over again. But with much less distance. Seems to be one or the other for me. If there is a happy middle my brain can’t seem to lock in on it.

Ultimately it’s about trust. And I’m just a big ole chicken when it comes to the possibly bad outcome. Only club in the bag I feel this way about. But it’s the only one that’s gonna get me the yardage I need to get those lower scores.

 

[Hamfist]

Oh man, can I relate to this. I'm too tentative to even take a full backswing.

 

[BostonSal]

The modern, 460cc driver is something different.

The face is so deep that you have to tee it high.
That effectively gives you a ball above feet sidehill lie on the tee.

If you have a 10.5º or stronger model, you probably have to hit it a bit on the upswing so you're playing the ball more forward in your stance that you may like.

Also, the shaft is so long that it's going to droop in the swing..
Thus, the lie angle is upright to compensate, and you must get used to addressing the ball with toe pointing skyward.

In short, it's just not your normal golf swing.

Now the concept has thrived because most people aren't having a problem with it.
They find the big driver longer and more forgiving. They wouldn't want to give it up.

But we're not all most people.
If I don't pick the direction of my banana with the 460, and if I'm just trying to hit it straight,
I'm effectively asking the club to choose the direction of the banana.
"Surprise me, Big Dog!"

So I've got three wide open holes and then another where I can hit a big banana right at our club.
Those are for the driver, and I've got a nice driving iron for the others. Sometimes a fairway wood.
Sort of what WLG1952 said.

If you can exploit the big driver, do it.
If you can't, don't worry about it.
There are several ways to play this game.

 

[leftshot]

Thank you for posting this. I think this thought will help. Now if I can only get the sequencing right on the turn and throw. Do you have any tips on that?

There is a lot of instruction on downswing sequencing. Everything from Ben Hogan's Five Lessons and Harvey Penick's Little Red Book to tons of video lessons by some of the top golf instructors, and then there is actually getting lessons. They'll all teach the sequencing, but a lot of it has to do with your learning style and starting point.

I had a senior software engineer who worked for me who learned by reading. Sending him to a conference was useless. His eyes would just glaze over and he'd check out. Give him a stack of books and he'd spend hours digging out every last ounce of learning.

Me? I'm a really good visual learner. Show me what to do and I can replicate it pretty quickly. So videos where someone models everything well works best for me.

I know other people that watch videos and find their feel isn't real. They THINK they are mimicking what they saw but aren't even close and aren't aware they aren't close. Those folks really benefit from an instructor who can both give them a second set of eyes and video the student, so they can see the deltas and address them.

A good place to start working on the downswing is starting with weight shift. The start of the downswing should start way before the backswing finishes. Most amateurs do not every get their weight over their front foot, or if they do it happens way too late in the downswing. When you hear top instructors and players talk about sequencing the golf swing from the ground up, this is the ground part. Greg Ballard is one video instructor that does a good job describing and modeling this and especially how early in the backswing you need to start.

When you do this weight shift properly a lot of good things naturally follow: shallowing the plane on the downswing, inside/out swing path, moving the bottom of your swing forward are three examples. Conversely, if you don't learn to do this first building the rest of the sequencing becomes hard to impossible.

 

[Arlo]

"letting it go" implies no conscious control.. simply reaction to an intention?

The BS comes before the DS, so have 100% of our attention of the BS , then at top of BS...one intent for DS.. then its over.. no time (less than 1/4 second) for conscious control....we just let it go.
"Now isnt that simple. Anyone can do that" Ben Hogan

 

[Jason89er]

"letting it go" implies no conscious control.. simply reaction to an intention?

The BS comes before the DS, so have 100% of our attention of the BS , then at top of BS...one intent for DS.. then its over.. no time (less than 1/4 second) for conscious control....we just let it go.
"Now isnt that simple. Anyone can do that" Ben Hogan

Hogans swing…a work of art and power. Nice! The elbows attached drill is a good idea to get the body moving through the shot and not just the arms. I like that. Hogan prob never hit a slice/fade his whole life. Not unless it was on purpose of course.

 

[Scorp]

So you want more distance... the average male golfer drives the ball 200 yards or so. You're right there with your distance or maybe even a touch longer. Aside from changing your swing, maybe there are other things you can do.

Ball. Try a different ball. More spin = more distance. Right?

Subscribe to the tee it forward train of thought and move up a set of tees. Depending on where the tee boxes are you could gain some extra yards there for FREE! Do this for a couple of rounds and see if you're breaking 80 consistently. Plus it gives a different look at the course.

 

[Arlo]

Hogans swing…a work of art and power. Nice! The elbows attached drill is a good idea to get the body moving through the shot and not just the arms. I like that. Hogan prob never hit a slice/fade his whole life. Not unless it was on purpose of course.

Agree. Golfers of his calibre never hit a straight ball except by accident.

 

[Arlo]

So you want more distance... the average male golfer drives the ball 200 yards or so. You're right there with your distance or maybe even a touch longer. Aside from changing your swing, maybe there are other things you can do.

Ball. Try a different ball. More spin = more distance. Right?

Subscribe to the tee it forward train of thought and move up a set of tees. Depending on where the tee boxes are you could gain some extra yards there for FREE! Do this for a couple of rounds and see if you're breaking 80 consistently. Plus it gives a different look at the course.

Suggest to maximize total distance (carry + roll) use a high lofted driver (11-12 degree) and low spin shaft.
The high loft driver head will provide the launch angle for maximum carry and a low spin shaft will maximize roll.

 

[Desmond]

These images helped me not slap at the ball but to drive through it.

 

[Scorp]

Oh cool! That course has RedBox on site. Do the carts have DVD players? Must be some slow golfers to watch movies while playing!

Yes, I see it's a water cooler cover.

If you play forward tees, you'll quickly see whether your scores are being limited by distance and if they are, you can work on swing speed and club fitting for distance. If your scores don't change, you can focus on other weaknesses in your game. Barring any variance in scoring that moving forward will do to playing the course of course.

 

[Jason89er]

So you want more distance... the average male golfer drives the ball 200 yards or so. You're right there with your distance or maybe even a touch longer. Aside from changing your swing, maybe there are other things you can do.

Ball. Try a different ball. More spin = more distance. Right?

Subscribe to the tee it forward train of thought and move up a set of tees. Depending on where the tee boxes are you could gain some extra yards there for FREE! Do this for a couple of rounds and see if you're breaking 80 consistently. Plus it gives a different look at the course.

Thanks Scorpion.
Unfortunately….
I have maxed out my driver distance from a fitting and tech standpoint with my controlled swing. Been fitted. I have the ability to get it out past 250. Not crazy long I know but great for me. Just can’t seem to build the trust in it mentally.

I don’t play from the tips like a madman for a golfer of my skill level. I am 50 years old. I play from Reg tees. 6100-6400 depending on the course. If I move up tee boxes then that defeats the purpose of meeting this goal I have set for myself. I’ve played from 5400-5600 quite a few times and scored in the 70s. But these are forward tees. Even calculated the yardage difference on each hole to see how much of an advantage it gave me. Being 130 (or less) in compared to 170 (or more) in is a huge difference for me. And it showed in my score. All this did was drive me more crazy.

This is a mental block more than anything. That 30-40 more yards on tee shots will put me in the same approach distances as moving up a tee box.

I just need to let it rip with the driver. But my body/brain/muscle memory won’t seem to let me. Maybe I need a golf shrink!

 

[Acesteve]

it could be anything including your mind. my money goes on a swing flaw that does not penalize you as much with a 9i/wedge as it does on a shallower driver swing up on a peg. could be a steep swing and or a trail hand that likes to help the ball off the ground. an active trail hand will put extra spin on that PW but is OK;;;; throw that spin on a driver and best case is I'm short.

 

[razaar]

It is rather difficult to "let it all go" at the bottom of the swing if it has been let go earlier in the downswing. The downswing is similar to a four horse race, where the hips, shoulders, hands and clubhead are racing towards the ball on the downswing. The shoulders have only a short distance to travel, the hips a little longer, with the hands a shorter distance to run than the clubhead. In this race the hips should always win the race with the other three arriving at the winning post together. For this to happen the shoulders need to be held at the start because they have by far the shortest distance to travel.

 

[Jason89er]

My approach shots GIRs gets about 5% better for each 10 yards closer than this. (See below) And much higher inside 60-80 yards of course. However they get about 10% (or more) worse for every 10 yards further. These stats are what makes me want to get that extra distance with my Driver. Get me here and closer and I can score. Once I’m 160 or more out? Well you do the math. By the time I get to 180 I’m picking my spot to miss to leave myself an easier chip/short pitch shot.

I’m close to 50/50 from here on GIRs. Driver accuracy screenshot below that. Accurate. But not long. Avg about 200ish in the last 8 rounds. Which is actually going down some lately. I’m getting more conservative fearing the big miss. I’m actually getting bored being in the fairway but too short to hit a lot of GIRs consistently.

 

[leftshot]

My approach shots GIRs gets about 5% better for each 10 yards closer than this. (See below) And much higher inside 60-80 yards of course. However they get about 10% (or more) worse for every 10 yards further. These stats are what makes me want to get that extra distance with my Driver. Get me here and closer and I can score. Once I’m 160 or more out? Well you do the math. By the time I get to 180 I’m picking my spot to miss to leave myself an easier chip/short pitch shot.

I’m close to 50/50 from here on GIRs. Driver accuracy screenshot below that. Accurate. But not long. Avg about 200ish in the last 8 rounds. Which is actually going down some lately. I’m getting more conservative fearing the big miss. I’m actually getting bored being in the fairway but too short to hit a lot of GIRs consistently.

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FWIW I found myself in a similar position a few years back. I ended up doing what you did going after more distance. But I also went after improving my dispersion with the irons. Both paid off big time!

 

[Jason89er]

Had a fantastic range session today. I think much of my problem may be getting tight. By tight I mean physically tight. I worked on staying loose. Super loose. Almost to the point the club could fly outta my hands and letting that feeling pass through my whole upper body. I’m gonna just focus on taking a full swing while staying super loose throughout the round. No other swing thoughts. I think it will make a big difference.