Vaseline/Chapstick On Driver Face?

RocketSauce

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Just curious if anyone has ever tried the old vaseline or chapstick on the driver face to keep the ball from slicing? Did it work for you? I've never tried it and I've heard mixed reviews (some said it works, other say it doesn't). If you've tried it, what were your results?
 
It's cheating. Never will try it. takes the skill out of the game.

yeah yeah yeah, i guess you've never taken a mulligan either? i know its not legal, im just curious if it works
 
i just have a feeling that it doesnt really work. but, i really dont know
 
There a some hustlers who still use this method to gain an advantage against the less informed. I know a couple of guys in Vegas who will do it. (1st) rule of thumb. Never play for money against a set of clubs that are greasy. (2nd) Never play for money against a set of irons with with impact marks dead center, on the face about the size of a dime. (3rd) If you do play for money, never play for more than you can afford to lose. It is my opinion that not all the world's best golfers play on the PGA tour. :comp:
 
i just asked this question out of curiosity. i dont play for money ever. and i dont play "against" anyone. i just play for fun. so i was just curious if it worked or not. im not trying to cheat anyone. just curious if this old wives tale is one that is true or false
 
I had never heard of the chapstick on the driver. I have been working on my slice the hard way :)
 
yeah yeah yeah, i guess you've never taken a mulligan either? i know its not legal, im just curious if it works

I guess you kind of mistook my response. I didn't mean to come off as a snob about it, sorry if I did. I was just taught and heard that it actually works and comes as a huge advantage and is literally a huge cheat.
 
Yeah, I've wondered how well it works too. Definitely is cheating, but just curious about the efficacy. I've read that golf sharks swear by it.
 
I tried this on my driver today. Played 45 holes. I struggle with a slice if my swing speed gets over 105 mph. I can actually say that my ss has been clocked at 120, but still not swinging as hard as I can. About 90%. Anyway, to add my $.02, it worked. I have been having to hold off of my driver speed to keep them straighter, and my usual distance is around 220. I decided to try this just for kicks, and it truly enabled me to unleash some serious power, without slicing. I hit at least 4 drives 300 yards, 5 drives 275+, and none less than 250. All straight. Now, the extra distance did not come from the chapstick. It only enabled me to swing faster (my own ability), creating much more swing speed, without creating as much, if little sidespin. It worked so well, I used it on my 3 wood, and 3 + 4 hybrids also to compare. Yes... it also worked. You do have to reapply the chapsick every 3-4 hits, also. Don't get me wrong, I would never do this in competition play, but do not see what the big deal is to do it in recreation. For those that are going to jump on me... did you actually make a drop outside of the woods last time you hit it in there, or did you actually go all the way back to the tee, pissing the group waiting behind you off, and tee off again, after looking for and couldn't find your ball? Or, what about the gi irons that make it easier to get the ball in the air/off of the ground? Or isn't the Pro v1 ball just too easy to spin on the green? Etc., etc. I know the last 2 were not against the rules, but they change the difficulty of play, right? There are a lot of the rules that should be followed, but are neglected, or ignored, or just not known, but in recreational golf to me, it's more about just having fun. In addition, I use a driver with a regular flex, and am getting an Adams 9015d with a stiff flex, and this will help with my swing speed problem and hopefully my slice at higher speeds. I will combat the slice with hard work and practice, but if I throw some chap stick on my driver in the future... Who Cares? Sorry about the long post.:golf2:
 
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Just curious if anyone has ever tried the old vaseline or chapstick on the driver face to keep the ball from slicing? Did it work for you? I've never tried it and I've heard mixed reviews (some said it works, other say it doesn't). If you've tried it, what were your results?

I have never heard of such a thing. Very odd. You have to wonder why anyone would have thought of putting chapstick on the face of a driver to begin with. Sort of like the first guy to find a lobster in his net while fishing and think "I am going to try and eat that".
 
There a couple golfers here I know that make 7 figures just from gambling on the golf course here. It's hard to imagine, but there are plenty of high rollers who like to bet big on golf when they come to town. You might think that because they have the game to play on the tour they would, but if you are making high 6 figures and 7 figures while sitting around at home on the course, why take the gamble on the tour to almost give up a sure thing? Especially if you are a mediocre pro at best. As a mediocre pro could still make a substantial amount of money on the course gambling and probably have a higher bring home total at the end of year then just getting by on the tour.
 
It works! I don't approve, nor condone, but I've seen it in action. A buddy of mine has an incredibly hard swing, with the slice from hedoubletoothpick. He actually aims at 9 oclock and the ball ends up around three oclock. Unless he puts the lipbalm on. He will cut the slice in half or less doing that, legal no, but it works.
 
OK, here’s a variation of this subject: Car wax.

I recall reading an article on this very subject years ago in a golf magazine. The subject was addressed because right about that time, metal drivers had begun to take on a more traditional look with painted finishes meant to somewhat replicate the varnished woods of yesteryear.

The question specifically dealt with using car wax on metal drivers including the face. In the article, it was pointed out that if waxing a driver head (face and all) was what someone did as a means of maintaining the club and they brought this freshly waxed club to the golf course, there was no violation of the rules. If, however, someone decided to add wax to the club once the club was in play, then THAT would violate the rules.

It's all semantics, but the gist of it is that what someone deems to be proper maintenance cannot be discerned or disputed by any governing body. The best that any governing body could do would be to levy penalties if the club was altered in any way after it was placed into play. Only the person applying the wax knows why they're doing it and if that person truly believes that they're simply maintaining their investment and not intentionally attempting to gain an advantage, then who's to say they're not being truthful?


Thoughts?

wow, now that is genius. you sir, must be a highly paid Juris Doctor or an amazing marketing director for a Fortune 500 (I mean that as a compliment)!


-JP



Thoughts?

wow, now that is genius. you sir, must be a highly paid Juris Doctor or an amazing marketing director for a Fortune 500 (I mean that as a compliment)!
 
It's cheating if you use it in actual play. We used chapstick in HS and college to guage our ball striking. Kinda like the old carbon paper trick but easier to deal with chapstick and it really will show you where you are making contact. I'd never play with it though.
I'm a member at my local course, I ususally shoot 9 with a buddy twice a week and last week I went back after work because I had a great round in the am. I ended up pairing at the 2nd hole with the local HS football coach and he was using chapstick on every hole. I didn't say anything because he was lining up on the tee 45 degrees to the left of his target line and still hitting it right. I at first told him he could fix that with a left hand adjustment but later realized that I'm not a pro and allowed him to grease the ball and still watched him shoot into the triple digits.
 
It's cheating!
A guy in our league uses PAM cooking spray to "clean" his driver.

Looks like he dips the dang thing in a deep fryer.
 
It's cheating if you use it in actual play. We used chapstick in HS and college to guage our ball striking. Kinda like the old carbon paper trick but easier to deal with chapstick and it really will show you where you are making contact. I'd never play with it though.
I'm a member at my local course, I ususally shoot 9 with a buddy twice a week and last week I went back after work because I had a great round in the am. I ended up pairing at the 2nd hole with the local HS football coach and he was using chapstick on every hole. I didn't say anything because he was lining up on the tee 45 degrees to the left of his target line and still hitting it right. I at first told him he could fix that with a left hand adjustment but later realized that I'm not a pro and allowed him to grease the ball and still watched him shoot into the triple digits.

Yes, it's cheating. I personally have never done this. With that said, I see a post a little higher than mentioned how you can see your ball mark on your club after impact by doing so. I like that idea, if that was something that I felt I needed to know while on the range. If I noticed someone doing this in a tournament or playing them for money, then sure I'm going to say something. BUT just like you said Chaiyz, if I'm playing with a guy who's just using it to try to break 100, and try to play better...go for it. In the end, the day he does, he'll have to sit back and know it was because he cheated, not due to improved play. We have all taken a mulligan off the first tee, or what have you, during a fun round...but if you think you really shot _______ and not at least 1 or 2 shots higher, then your lying to yourself.
 
I've never tried it because on the rare occasion that I do actually hit the ball straight, I want to know it was because I put a good swing on the ball.
 
I tend to think it'd do more harm than good. Coating the face with stuff would lower ALL spin imparted on the ball and depending on your backspin numbers would hurt distance. In addition, wouldn't leaving a chunk of whatever gunk you put on the face mess with the ball's flight? Like juicing a baseball to get more break. A bit of goo on the ball would cause an unstable flight and actually make it shape more in its spin direction (making a slice worse).
 
I faintly recall an interview with Lee Travino when he addressed this very issue. He said that back in his day (when he was a young hustler) the "guys" would have two towels attached to their bags. One was clean and the other one had Vaseline smeared on the inside of a second folded towel. Thus they had a clean towel to wipe the club face clean after taking the shot.

However, for the life of me I can't remember what he said was the reason for using the Vaseline on the club face in the first place.

Anyone recall this interview, it may have been recently with David Feherty....?
 
I faintly recall an interview with Lee Travino when he addressed this very issue. He said that back in his day (when he was a young hustler) the "guys" would have two towels attached to their bags. One was clean and the other one had Vaseline smeared on the inside of a second folded towel. Thus they had a clean towel to wipe the club face clean after taking the shot.

However, for the life of me I can't remember what he said was the reason for using the Vaseline on the club face in the first place.

Anyone recall this interview, it may have been recently with David Feherty....?

It takes all the spin off the ball and you can't hit a slice or a hook.
 
It works. But you have to use a VERY thin amount. It takes the spin off the ball. I used cheap chapstick, put just a little dab on then smooth it out with my finger.

I did not know of this until last year when a buddy at work told me that a GOLF TEACHER told him about it. LOL. I tried it out of curiosity and for fun.

I found:

1) it does work, it went straight and I gained distance
2) you have to reapply after about two or three hits
3) you can tell where the ball hit on the face.

So...I will go to the range and put some on to see where I'm hitting on the face....then I'll wipe it off. I played a round by doing it once and while it was fun, I didn't feel it was "real".

I don't want to feel like I NEED to do it to play golf. And for that I don't do it when playing a round. I want to be honest with myself...otherwise it's like playing a video game. It's fake. And I damn sure wouldn't do it if there were money on the line. I don't roll that way.
 
Just heard about this today. Might have to throw some chapstick in my bag for those days when you can't hit crap. I love to play golf but when your frustrated the whole time and nice straight long drive can change your mood hugely.
 
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