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Driver can't get the yardage

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T_money28

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I'm struggling to get some decent yardage out of my full swing. While at my nearest range with shot tracer I'm getting 150-160 yards carry with a 7i, 6i, 4i. I can hit my 5h 10-20 yards carry further than my 4i for some reason.

When it comes to driver I struggle to make it past 170-180 carry. While my irons carry is reasonable for someone of my level, I'd expect to get 200 carry with driver but can't get close. The range uses cheapest of the cheap Srixon range balls.. could this have something to do with it? When I'm hitting proper balls at the club it looks like I'm getting 20 yards further than shot tracer based on the yardage markers but it's hard to tell.
 
Range balls most likely wouldnt account for that. Impact will almost always be.
 
What is your driver loft?

"I'm getting 150-160 yards carry with a 7i, 6i, 4i. "​

You're getting 150-160 yards with all three clubs(7,6,4)?

If that's the case, sounds like swing speed is an issue. Maybe contact, but......

IF it is swing speed, you MIGHT be better off with a "thriver"; 3 wood or loft of a driver near 3 wood as a driver.

But, I may have completely misread your post.
 
Sounds like you need to get on a real launch monitor and get with a professional.

My guess would be you're flipping badly, but you should have a trained eye look at it.
 
wadesworld said:
Sounds like you need to get on a real launch monitor and get with a professional.

My guess would be you're flipping badly, but you should have a trained eye look at it.
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Na, I used to get 270 with a flip. Well, " badly" may be the key word. Of course, isn't a flip badly?;)
All in fun.
 
I was in a similar spot... my 22* 4H would get the same distance as my 9.5* driver.

2 things were going on there

-I'm a very slow swing player (probably 80 MPH driver swing, ball speed in the 110s).

-I was hitting down on my driver. My swing thought with it was to treat it like a very long 7 iron, which made contact easier but robbed all my distance.

Couple that with a slice and driving was miserable. I teed off with that 4 hybrid for months.

Learning to hit up is what got my distance with the driver going. There are plenty of videos and articles about the technique, but it was one drill that grooved it for me. Tee up a ball, then put an empty sleeve of balls one grip length forward of the tee. Now take a drive without hitting the sleeve.

Sometimes I used my headcover, which is probably too tall, but hey! It's right there.

Anyway, once you learn how to do that, your distances will take off. This chart is very accurate for my ball speed. I used to be right at the -5 angle of attack distance and now I am at +5 when I catch it clean.

Trackman_Optimization_Chart.png


A couple things to try to get you going...

-Put the ball far forward in your stance.
-Drop your right shoulder a bit
-Keep your head behind the ball.
-Tee the ball higher up than you might think.

I don't think it took more than 2 driving range sessions of experimenting with the ball sleeve drill before I started seeing results.
 
JB nailed it. This is a quality of contact issue. That's why your distances are bunched. Wadesworld's suggestion to get with an instructor is a good one. There are all kinds of swing problems (or combinations of swing problems) that are possible. It's impossible for us to diagnose based on the scant information given.

Alternatively, you could post video of your swing. Give us multiple swings down the line and face on.
 
I took OP's post to mean "I get decent carries with my irons", but if he is really getting the same distance with a 4i and a 7i, something else is going on.
 
I definitely wouldn't trust TopTracer range balls. My local has the yellow 2-piece Srixon but they definitely don't go as far as proper golf balls.

I too struggle with driver distance. On the range I can barely get it past 210 carry with a ball speed up near 140. Yet last week I hit a good drive out on the course with a brand new ball, a nice baby fade, and it carried around 230 with a big bounce and went through the back of the green around 290 total.
 
Thoughts on this 3 wood? Someone mentioned that I might be better with a 3 wood length club with driver loft to get the speed up. This was at the golf club with decent balls, so didn't have access to a launch monitor.
 

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Nick20UK said:
I definitely wouldn't trust TopTracer range balls. My local has the yellow 2-piece Srixon but they definitely don't go as far as proper golf balls.

I too struggle with driver distance. On the range I can barely get it past 210 carry with a ball speed up near 140. Yet last week I hit a good drive out on the course with a brand new ball, a nice baby fade, and it carried around 230 with a big bounce and went through the back of the green around 290 total.
Click to expand...

Likewise, I was thinking they're losing about 20 yards distance. I hit a ball on the golf club range and went out to check it on the distance markers. It rolled out to about 250. Can't tell what it carried but it was sure as **** a lot further than 180
 
Looks a reasonable swing tbf. If distance is the issue I'd say you need to work on maximising the lower body and weight transfer. Really feeling that very slight side to side motion and weight shift (a little sway right then left is fine), and pushing up hard from the left heel to really maximise that club head swish that through the low point of the swing.

I'm a similar distance struggler, and this video below has a couple of drills which are helping me add a bit recently.

A proper coach or some more knowledgeable people on here would be the best bet though rather than my amateur analysis!!

Vid link
 
Nick20UK said:
Looks a reasonable swing tbf. If distance is the issue I'd say you need to work on maximising the lower body and weight transfer. Really feeling that very slight side to side motion and weight shift (a little sway right then left is fine), and pushing up hard from the left heel to really maximise that club head swish that through the low point of the swing.

I'm a similar distance struggler, and this video below has a couple of drills which are helping me add a bit recently.

A proper coach or some more knowledgeable people on here would be the best bet though rather than my amateur analysis!!

Vid link
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Cheers. Full swing with other clubs is okay but I'll look at getting a driver lesson booked, as there isn't any reason someone my size couldn't drive the ball 300 yards.
 
T_money28 said:
Thoughts on this 3 wood? Someone mentioned that I might be better with a 3 wood length club with driver loft to get the speed up. This was at the golf club with decent balls, so didn't have access to a launch monitor.
Click to expand...
I don't like the advice you were given. Especially after looking at you and your swing. You aren't a wimp. You've got the size and strength to fling a driver head with a couple more inches in length. Where you have the most potential to pick up clubhead speed is to get your core more involved. I like the lag you are generating and retaining until hip high. You don't see that very often in we weekend warriors and it is serving you well. ...and you are turning the hips, back and shoulders on the backswing. On your through swing though they are mostly along for the ride, following more than leading. Which means they aren't powering your swing.

If you look at impact, your hips are barely past square to the target line. If your core was powering your swing, they'd be much more open. Your shoulders look inline with your hips. They should be lagging if the core was engaged in powering your swing. Also, it's hard to see for sure from this angle, but it looks like your head may be over the ball and not behind the ball. A common problem, but it robs you of distance in a number of ways.

In summary, I think you'd benefit far more from lessons to improve your swing than fiddling with your equipment.
 
leftshot said:
I don't like the advice you were given. Especially after looking at you and your swing. You aren't a wimp. You've got the size and strength to fling a driver head with a couple more inches in length. Where you have the most potential to pick up clubhead speed is to get your core more involved. I like the lag you are generating and retaining until hip high. You don't see that very often in we weekend warriors and it is serving you well. ...and you are turning the hips, back and shoulders on the backswing. On your through swing though they are mostly along for the ride, following more than leading. Which means they aren't powering your swing.

If you look at impact, your hips are barely past square to the target line. If your core was powering your swing, they'd be much more open. Your shoulders look inline with your hips. They should be lagging if the core was engaged in powering your swing. Also, it's hard to see for sure from this angle, but it looks like your head may be over the ball and not behind the ball. A common problem, but it robs you of distance in a number of ways.

In summary, I think you'd benefit far more from lessons to improve your swing than fiddling with your equipment.
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Thanks. Good to hear from someone that I'm turning with the body properly on the backswing but as you say I'm not utilising the core on the downswing. Its not a move that comes naturally to me as whenever I try to fire the hips it messes up my entire swing - I actually did another post on this as I was trying to see if there are any legit golfers that don't do it. I learned everything I know so far online and now at a point of whether I want to spend 100s on lessons or not
 
T_money28 said:
When it comes to driver I struggle to make it past 170-180 carry. I'd expect to get 200 carry with driver but can't get close. The range uses cheapest of the cheap Srixon range balls.. could this have something to do with it?
Click to expand...
Yes; those range balls, like most, are 'reduced flight' balls. They carry 10-15% shorter than normal balls you use on the course.
 
*Range Rat said:
Yes; those range balls, like most, are 'reduced flight' balls. They carry 10-15% shorter than normal balls you use on the course.
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Nice to see someone put a figure on it. I can certainly get round the course with 200 carry for now and let the rest come with experience. I'll try sacrificing a decent golf ball to the driving range next time to see if it's right.
 
T_money28 said:
Thanks. Good to hear from someone that I'm turning with the body properly on the backswing but as you say I'm not utilising the core on the downswing. Its not a move that comes naturally to me as whenever I try to fire the hips it messes up my entire swing - I actually did another post on this as I was trying to see if there are any legit golfers that don't do it. I learned everything I know so far online and now at a point of whether I want to spend 100s on lessons or not
Click to expand...
I understand the "whenever I try to fire the hips it messes up my entire swing" comment. That is precisely why I suggested it's time to work with an instructor on this. He or she can guide you on the sequencing and other adjustments (like grip) that you will need to make for it all to come together. Your current swing is very smooth, and ultimately you should be able to add these power boosters while retaining the smoothness of your swing, which is a strength.

When getting the core involved we often have to fight some of the same tendencies we do with our arm swing. The tendency to go from 0-100 MPH at the beginning of the downswing, the tendency to dump our lag early, the tendency to hit the ball rather than send it to the target. We even have phrases we use like the one you mentioned "fire the hips" that conjure up a sudden violent movement that is anything but what is efficient and effective.

A good instructor can help you navigate through these changes much quicker and more effectively than if we try to do them ourselves.
 
*Range Rat said:
Yes; those range balls, like most, are 'reduced flight' balls. They carry 10-15% shorter than normal balls you use on the course.
Click to expand...
I've never understood this. I get that they are cheap mass produced 2-piece balls, but you can get decent versions of that construction.

Surely if you had decent balls that went further you'd encourage more people to use your range because of the distance they were getting.
 
leftshot said:
I understand the "whenever I try to fire the hips it messes up my entire swing" comment. That is precisely why I suggested it's time to work with an instructor on this. He or she can guide you on the sequencing and other adjustments (like grip) that you will need to make for it all to come together. Your current swing is very smooth, and ultimately you should be able to add these power boosters while retaining the smoothness of your swing, which is a strength.

When getting the core involved we often have to fight some of the same tendencies we do with our arm swing. The tendency to go from 0-100 MPH at the beginning of the downswing, the tendency to dump our lag early, the tendency to hit the ball rather than send it to the target. We even have phrases we use like the one you mentioned "fire the hips" that conjure up a sudden violent movement that is anything but what is efficient and effective.

A good instructor can help you navigate through these changes much quicker and more effectively than if we try to do them ourselves.
Click to expand...
Thanks man. I think it very well could be the last piece of the puzzle to completing my full swing, so worth investing in the advice.
 
Nick20UK said:
I've never understood this. I get that they are cheap mass produced 2-piece balls, but you can get decent versions of that construction.

Surely if you had decent balls that went further you'd encourage more people to use your range because of the distance they were getting.
Click to expand...
Where I practice on the range, the balls go farther than mine.
I get into groove on the range and I can start "over swinging". Being in that groove, the swing survives. It probably won't be a good swing on the course if I try to swing that hard/fast. I don't try to swing fully ramped up on the course.
So, I'd say our balls are normal balls.
 
leftshot said:
I understand the "whenever I try to fire the hips it messes up my entire swing" comment. That is precisely why I suggested it's time to work with an instructor on this. He or she can guide you on the sequencing and other adjustments (like grip) that you will need to make for it all to come together. Your current swing is very smooth, and ultimately you should be able to add these power boosters while retaining the smoothness of your swing, which is a strength.

When getting the core involved we often have to fight some of the same tendencies we do with our arm swing. The tendency to go from 0-100 MPH at the beginning of the downswing, the tendency to dump our lag early, the tendency to hit the ball rather than send it to the target. We even have phrases we use like the one you mentioned "fire the hips" that conjure up a sudden violent movement that is anything but what is efficient and effective.

A good instructor can help you navigate through these changes much quicker and more effectively than if we try to do them ourselves.
Click to expand...

I was hitting a few warm up 7 iron today. Just slowed things down a bit and tried to get the feel of letting my lower body whip the club through without much arm action.
View attachment received_5980532512017010.mp4
 
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