We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Leave the driver in the bag for now? (Beginner)

SuperStroke
TWO2SEVEN

TWO2SEVEN

Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2015
Messages
233
Reaction score
0
Location
Dallas, TX
Handicap
36
Quick question for those with more experience:

I have been playing, going to the range, and taking lessons for almost two months. I am getting much more confident with my irons, but I still struggle with my driver.

I am not sure what it is, but on Friday I figured out I could tee off the same distance with a long iron (not very far really). I seem to hit the driver poorly, which leads to a loss of confidence. My instructor explained to me that the driver is probably the last thing we will work on, which seems logical to me based on my experience with it.

I guess my (not so) quick question is, when you started, did you have any sort of driver issues? Should I stick to irons or maybe even a 3 wood off the tee for now or should I push through and try to work on the driver now?




Side note: This forum has been a huge help thus far, thanks for all of the advice everyone!
 
I'm someone who historically had a ton of trouble with driver, and spent many of my early years playing taking 3W off the tee. It wasn't until the last couple years that I've been comfortable with driver off the tee, and it's made a world of difference in my game.

My suggestion? Don't ruin your round by sending the ball in the woods with the driver, but maybe start working on driver earlier. There's a lot to be said in terms of confidence for hitting a shorter club into a green when you can.
 
I have the same issue. My driver is so hit and miss right now its not funny. I will have 3-4 shots that are 240 and solid and then 3-4 hooks that are so ugly it makes me want to cry. If I was smart (and not stubborn) I would play more with my fairway wood. I have no confidence in my driver right now.

My suggestion and something I have started to do more of is not use my driver in rounds as much. I will still practice it a lot on the range and on holes that are very low risk. As my confidence builds, I will go back to using my driver more.
 
Should you work on driver, now? Sure, you should spend some time working on it, but you can certainly play, and score OK, without pulling driver. Find the longest club (might even be an iron) that you can hit, reasonably well, off the tee. Run with that club, or maybe one club more, for a while, on-course. You can match this up with moving up one (or more) tee boxes, so that it is commensurate with your length.

At some point, as you get better, driver will be something you have to tackle.
 
I played for several years with no driver to help me lower my scores by keeping balls in play or having better chances of getting on/near greens in regulation. I kept a driver at home to work with on the range and in lessons.
 
My 2 cents are not to hit driver because you think you should but hit the club that gets you the best trade-off of accuracy and distance off the tee. If that is a long iron/hybrid, that's fine. If it is a fairway wood, even better. Work your way up the bag in lessons/practice and as a longer club becomes that best trade-off club, then start using it.

Also, don't feel funny picking a tee box that works with what you are teeing off with. You're learning the game and, as mentioned upthread, you should approach the game in a way that is fun, builds your skills and helps your confidence. The hardest thing to learn is how to scramble out of trouble and those shots don't teach you what you need to experience for 90% of what you would do as a good golfer. Hit it straight and in the fairway and have fun.
 
Always an interesting convo to me as the driver is the biggest face and overall the most forgiving option for most amateurs.

Play what works for sure, but most ams benefit from having a bigger target/face exponentially.
 
I still have isues with the driver (and every other club in the bag) so on days where I am not swinging well I will leave it in the bag unless the hole is open enough that you won't be punished too badly for using it if you do hit a bad one

If you are working with it on the range, do you have markers that you can use as the edges of an imaginary fairway? If you do, use them to give you a target to aim for rather than just hitting balls with it - my range has flags at every 50yds all the way out to 250 yards so I use them either as a target for the shorter irons or as the edges of a fairway for the longer irons and woods

You will need to conquer it though if you want to get the maximum distance out of your bag, and lessons should be the best place to get any help you need
 
Jman said:
Always an interesting convo to me as the driver is the biggest face and overall the most forgiving option for most amateurs.

Play what works for sure, but most ams benefit from having a bigger target/face exponentially.
Click to expand...

^^^this^^^

Don't be afraid of it. Learn to hit it and it makes the rest of the game easier.
 
In a similar boat as OP, I started playing last June. Had lessons, videos, read many books, and one of my playing partners is a pretty good teacher and helpful. Still, like most, I struggled with driver. My advice, work on it on the range as much as you can but play a hybrid or 3w off the tee to keep the ball in play. I had no confidence in driver until recently (bought a used BB Alpha 815 and started dedicating more time). I tend to draw/hook my irons and was slicing with driver. Finally figured out it was swing path related for me with driver and am hitting it much better, so stick with it.
 
hell I still have driver issues and I've been playing for over 20 years haha

If you are more comfortable hitting an iron or something like a 5 wood off the tee on the course, then go with it. Keep working on the driver at the range. It will all come together. The driver will be more forgiving, but if you are finding more control with the iron, rock it.
 
My driver babble...

I've always recommended the driver stay in the bag if hitting it usually results in trouble. After all, the reality of this game is to get into a scoring position off the tee. I look at it this way, my goal is to turn every hole into a par 3. In other words, I want to use a mid-to-short iron with a full swing on all my approach shots. Even after you consider the trouble a driver can get you into (woods, bunker, rocks, water, etc.) there are a lot of times a driver is just too long for a particular hole anyway.

Things my grandfather use to say...

- The driver is the hardest club to hit, if you can't hit the fairway with it, leave it in the bag.
- Don't hit the ball, swing through the ball.
- Let the clubface do the work.

I always come back to this ^^^^^ when I'm spraying the ball.
 
Jman said:
Always an interesting convo to me as the driver is the biggest face and overall the most forgiving option for most amateurs.

Play what works for sure, but most ams benefit from having a bigger target/face exponentially.
Click to expand...

I agree with this to an extent. Doesn't the longer shaft make it tougher to control? Also, being that it's the longest club distance wise, doesn't it have the ability to get you furthest off line and into the most trouble?

To the OP, play what helps you enjoy the game. If driver is killing you, set it aside until you can hit it. Whatever you do, don't forget about it, a solid driver game can transform your golf experience for the better! Welcome to the game and keep having fun!
 
Some good advice already stated here. I find that a five wood is one of the best options for beginners to the game. I personally didn't add a driver to my game until I was a single digit. I find it was no detriment to my game not having driver. It also help create speed as I was hitting five wood off the tee.
 
Some interesting stuff here that may be helpful:





 
My Opinion to OP.

Golf is Hard. That is why most play it.
Do not fear the driver... but be realistic about the hole you are playing. Some holes are not driver holes.

The Driver is a specialty club with a unique swing. There is driving the ball with a driver and then there is the game of golf. The driver setup is different than any club in the bag. I would not put myself into trouble because of feeling that you needed to use a driver on every hole. I typically with think about the hole from the pin back to the tee box. Where is the pin? How do I want to come into a green? Is it a trick pin or is it a straight forward unguarded pin location?

I love the driver. I was a horrible driver of the ball until I made it 2 games.. Driving the ball and playing golf. I play with a ton of different players and the same struggles come up.

- lack of knowledge on why the ball travels as it does.. 15 minutes on youtube will get you the info on modern flight laws

- incorrect changes based on what they think is happening vs. what is really happening. Most of the time swings are ok but the face to path relationship is way out. This is a driver death move. You can have a perfect swing path with perfect face to path... Hit it out on the heel & you will cut the ball without a doubt.

- ball not forward enough in the stance & inconsistent tee heights from drive to drive
- descending blow with driver causing crazy amount of spin (backspin & axis tilt)
- not enough loft on driver leading to less than optimal launch.
- zero repeatable tempo.

The driver as mentioned earlier in this thread is the easiest club to hit. The issue really is ball speed and how far it travels offline compared to say a 5w.

What would I do:
Get on a launch monitor & get the parameters that matter.
Face to Path
Path
Where is impact on the face? Is it repeating?
Launch angle
Spin Loft
It is truly amazing what 10 swings can tell you. Baseline #'s and some knowledge will help greatly.
Note: Swing speed may not change much if you have a reasonable good swing, ball speed will almost always get a jump when the above parameters are improved. Swing speed is pretty to look at but ball speed is king in my book.

Good luck to you..
 
I'm a firm believer that every golfer should learn to hit their driver. Even if someone struggles with the driver, I think they should continue to hit it until they become comfortable with it. I think giving up on driver (taking it out of the bag) is leaving you without one of your weapons, and personally I want all the weapons possible at my disposal in a round of golf.

Obviously though, we are all different and you have to do what helps you enjoy the game more. So if taking the driver out of the bag does that for you, I think you should do that.
 
Thanks everyone, all of this is very helpful.

To clarify, I do not intend to abandon the driver totally. I was more asking about reserving it for lessons or practice until I am more comfortable, consistent, and confident with it.

As usual, this place is a wealth of knowledge!
 
TWO2SEVEN said:
Thanks everyone, all of this is very helpful.

To clarify, I do not intend to abandon the driver totally. I was more asking about reserving it for lessons or practice until I am more comfortable, consistent, and confident with it.

As usual, this place is a wealth of knowledge!
Click to expand...

One question I ask everybody who says something similar to what you just mentioned is: How are you going to get truly comfortable with a club, if you only use it on the range for practice and lessons? Hitting the ball great on the range is completely different than hitting on the course. If you watched Tiger warming up on the range this year and then the way he looked on the course, you would have thought it was two different golfers.

I'm not trying to say that working with your driver on the range for practice and lessons is bad or not helpful. I'm just saying that you also have to work with your driver on the actual course where there are rewards and consequences for your shots. In my opinion, taking your game to the course is the only way to become fully confident with your game. This goes for all clubs/shots in my opinion, not just driver.

In the end though, you need to enjoy the game, it's why we play.
 
This a true statement. I am the worst range performer I know. It used to freak me out. I would skull, shank, pull, hook shots out on the range. Go out on the course and be fine. Weird thing. I am not sure what it is. The down side is the range is not very enjoyable to me. It does get my hands loose prior to a round. Even if I hit 10 bad balls. I like to feel impact prior to getting out on the course. The course is where the rubber meets the road. I get more out of playing 4 balls @ twilight than I do on the range. Drop 3-4 balls at 60/70/80/90 yards and play them out. I am a member at a course that is cool with the play if you repair all your damage.

Thanks

Gregg
 
I had huge driver issues. It was a giant banana slice and I got so frustrated that I would tee off with a 3 iron. One I learned not to swing out of my shoes my driver improved.
 
If you're lessons have been going well and the things your instructor has been teaching you have been working, I would leave the driver in the bag until he says it's time to start learning the right way to hit it. Until then you would probably pick up bad habits and it might take more time to unlearn what you've done on you're own, like someone else said its a totally different swing. I have always struggled with the driver and some days still don't pull it out but for maybe one or two holes depending on the course. I tee off with a 3w and a 5w a lot though, they're just easier to hit for me and it makes the round more enjoyable when you play from the short grass.
 
The driver isn't an easy club to hit that's for sure. Just when you have a few good rounds with it you'll have a round that looks like you've never hit one before. Just keep working at it and it'll come around. Until then, use a comfortable club off the tee. Good luck!
 
Jman said:
Always an interesting convo to me as the driver is the biggest face and overall the most forgiving option for most amateurs.

Play what works for sure, but most ams benefit from having a bigger target/face exponentially.
Click to expand...

I agree. I'd use the driver and keep working with your teacher on it. It will come around.
 
When I started a couple years ago, I took the driver out of the bag, and didn't put it back in for a long (6 months) time.

When I put it back in, I worked really hard with it. I believe at that point, I was practicing almost exclusively a short iron and driver.

I would alternate back and forth between the driver and a short iron b/c I wanted to feel the commonalities between the 2 swings, to make sure I wasn't going to undo what I'd spent 6 months to learn to that point.

Newer golfers likely aren't going to be bombing their driver far enough to really take advantage of the risk/reward associated with the club anyways, hence risk/reward really becomes risk/risk.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top