release point with Driver....

[30yearlayoff]

Had a lesson today. I am shootin' right at 100. Everyone tells me the way to break 100 is the short game. My short game is decent and putting is pretty good. What is killing me right now is the DRIVER.

I am out of bounds, in the woods, water, etc.... more times than not. Of shots taht aren't previously mentioned, I am not leaving myself many great opps for the green in two.

I spent the entire hour on the driver swing. My instructor says I'm right on the edge of breakin' through but....I can't keep from releasing too late. I am moving my hands past the ball...holding on to the club. The go past my navel. This is causing the face to remain open. The flight of the ball starts out good and then slices hard right.

Any ideas for getting the release to take place sooner and where is the proper place for the hands to be when the release starts????

[Martin Levac]

Re: release point with Driver....

What is your goal? To score below 100 or to hit the driver better?

The first time I broke 100, I didn't use the driver once, I left it in the locker. Instead, I used only irons and divided hole distances by one more stroke to decide which club to use off the tee.

For example, 450 yards par 4. Divided by two means I need a 225 yard club. I don't have one so I divide the distance by three, 150 yards. I have a club for that so I use it three times and I'm on the green in 3. Do that for every hole and the maximum number of strokes over par you can plan to score is 18. Easy enough to do but very hard to believe in at first.

If instead you prefer to go with driver anyway, focus on recovering to the fairway from any rough. You'll soon learn that you'll still make the green in one more stroke. You'll be doing it in a zig zag way instead.

About releasing at the proper time.

Instead of trying to release earlier, try to push the hands faster through impact. The club will release no matter how hard you try to resist or provoque it. It will release no matter if you wait for it or if you push for it.

Notice I say "push the hands" faster through impact. I don't mean to push the club faster, it will follow the hands fast enough. In fact, the faster you push the hands through impact, the faster the club will release and the faster it will move through impact as well.

Two things to try.

Try to hit down on the ball with the driver. I mean truly try to hit the ball into the ground. Look at the result.

Try to hit up on the ball. I mean truly try to lift it in the air. Look at the result.

A proper impact with the driver will look something in between those two extremes.

More things to try.

Conciously try to flip the clubface square through impact. See how much power and accuracy you can produce that way.

Conciously resist squaring the clubface through impact. See how much power and accuracy you can produce that way.

Fiddle around with your grip, don't be scared to try a very strong or very weak grip. You can always revert to whatever grip you normally use. When you change your grip, try to swing the same way you did before so you can really see what the change will produce. Resist changing your swing to adapt to the new grip.

Even more things to try.

Conciously try to maintain focus on the ball, more precisely the space the ball occupies in front of you, before, during and after impact without regards for where the ball will go.

Conciously try to keep your eyes on the ball as it leaves the clubface. Try to follow it with your eyes from impact all the way to its destination.

Forget about the ball, instead focus on a spot right in front or behind the ball and maintain focus all through impact and after. The best point is exactly where the clubhead lies before you begin the backswing and just try to bring the clubhead at the same point on the downswing or more appropriately, try to pass it through this same point.

Don't be scared of trying something new even if it goes against everything you've learned previously, your goal is to learn new things anyway, right?


ML

[30yearlayoff]

Re: release point with Driver....

thanks for the time to write such a lengthy and infomative reply.

I've thought about the options of breaking the course down as you mentioned. Even tried it and was having success. But, was bored to tears!!!!

I love to hit the driver and when I connect, next to sinking a long or difficult putt, I get the most wow/thrill factor. I want hit the driver whenever possible...period! (although I love hitting the 3 off the tee almost as well)

I need to learn to hit a decent driver. If I could get it under control, I hit it well enough to be shooting greens in 2 vs 3.

Again, thanks and I'll take a look at the suggestions you make (except the first one...grin).

[Martin Levac]

Re: release point with Driver....

Boredom is a sign you're making progress. Let me explain.

As you practice, you become better. As you become better, you can expect the ball to go where you aim it. As you learn to expect every shot you make, you become bored because there's no surprise anymore.

That's basically the story of practice.

There's basically two ways to improve. The hard way and the easy way.

The hard way is never boring while the easy way is almost always boring.

The hard way is basically taking all the clubs the pros use and begin playing right away on a championchip course. That's hard, no kidding. It's like learning the whole math from 1st grade to uni in the same class. Incidentally, that's how the game is taught and many players quit after only a game or two. It's also why the "game improvement" clubs are so popular. An instant golf game in a club, sort of.

The easy way is to learn with each club one at a time until we master each of them in turn. Mastery obviously leads to boredom as you can imagine. It also leads to mastery of the game itself in the end. It's like starting out with only the putter and one iron, the 7i for example. It's not surprising that junior sets come only with a wood, an iron and a putter.

Had I been taught the easy way when I started, I'd be a much better golfer than I am today because of it. Fortunately, I caught on quickly during the year and chose to go the easy way for the rest of the season. It allowed me to break 100 on my 16th game and break 90 on my 45th. All that less than a year after I started playing.


ML

[shootin4par]

Re: release point with Driver....

Had a lesson today. I am shootin' right at 100. Everyone tells me the way to break 100 is the short game. My short game is decent and putting is pretty good. What is killing me right now is the DRIVER.

I am out of bounds, in the woods, water, etc.... more times than not. Of shots taht aren't previously mentioned, I am not leaving myself many great opps for the green in two.

I spent the entire hour on the driver swing. My instructor says I'm right on the edge of breakin' through but....I can't keep from releasing too late. I am moving my hands past the ball...holding on to the club. The go past my navel. This is causing the face to remain open. The flight of the ball starts out good and then slices hard right.

Any ideas for getting the release to take place sooner and where is the proper place for the hands to be when the release starts????

at the top of the swing, when you start down rotate the left forearm, dont wait untill near impact. That is how you get the release you are asking for. And, if you cant hit the driver long, what is the fun in playing

[jamesh]

Re: release point with Driver....

at the top of the swing, when you start down rotate the left forearm, dont wait untill near impact. That is how you get the release you are asking for. And, if you cant hit the driver long, what is the fun in playing

I know it is a general question... but what is considered "long" or a respectable drive..... I wonder how far the "average" amature male drives the ball.


James

[pnearn]

Re: release point with Driver....

You are probably just swinging a little outside in and holding on a with your hands

Have a look at the drill I posted in the pulling mid irons thread and in slow motion learn how it feels to swing inside to inside through impact with loose hands and wrists. This will probably feel (to you) that you are going to swing way left but this is possibly the feeling you should have to stop from holding on and having the club go outside the line through impact with an open face

You then have to learn to trust this feeling on the course. I like to feel my right shoulder pointing at the target at the end of a full swing. The only way to do this is to 'fee'l as if you are swinging left of the target after impact (i.e. much more around yourself in a circle)

[shootin4par]

Re: release point with Driver....

I know it is a general question... but what is considered "long" or a respectable drive..... I wonder how far the "average" amature male drives the ball.


James

I have helped out quite a few people with their swing and I believe that 90%-95% of all male golfers HAVE the physical ability for a 250 yard drive to be as short as they should hit it. For me, 300 and above is what I consider long, a few months ago I was playing with a guy who was 63 and swung his club to a 9:00 position and put the ball 270-280 off the tee all day, he was pretty long

[shadowjack]

Re: release point with Driver....

I have helped out quite a few people with their swing and I believe that 90%-95% of all male golfers HAVE the physical ability for a 250 yard drive to be as short as they should hit it. For me, 300 and above is what I consider long, a few months ago I was playing with a guy who was 63 and swung his club to a 9:00 position and put the ball 270-280 off the tee all day, he was pretty long

What was his stance like? Did it look anything like Mo Norman? I'm still a little intrigued with the "Natural Golf" swing.

[shootin4par]

Re: release point with Driver....

What was his stance like? Did it look anything like Mo Norman? I'm still a little intrigued with the "Natural Golf" swing.

actually his swing looked a lot like garcia but with limited turn

[jamesh]

Re: release point with Driver....

actually his swing looked a lot like garcia but with limited turn

Thanks for your replie.

Today (at the driving range) and after I got "settled' by hitting a few baskets full of balls, I switched my stance to that of someone swinging a baseball bat. I had the ball oppoiste my leading foot and I was able to hit the ball longer with a smaller degree of deviation off of 12' o'clock.

I found I could take the club back further and there was less stress on my lower back.

It was a fun exercise, and when I went back to hitting the ball from the proper stance - It went further than when I was hitting it from the "normal stance." previously.

The problem is it takes me too many balls to "warm" up and you do not have that luxury on the course. I sometimes start on the bottom 9 with my 3 wood, and on the back 9 with my driver....

James

[Martin Levac]

Re: release point with Driver....

Jamesh, I have an idea for you.

Perhaps you don't really need to warm up your body as much as you need to warm up your confidence. Obviously, warming up and stretching is a good thing and it has its benefits, as it should. Warming up the mind is another story.

The idea is this, find out what exactly gives you this confidence to strike the ball without fear. Once you know, you can instantly recall this thing at will to use it on the very first tee and on every other shot as well.

Mine is: Find the slot, swing.

I know where it comes from, I know why it works, I know its purpose is to give me confidence. I also know that I can still make a mistake but since I'm confident, I can recover very quickly by simply recalling this simple thought. Everything else is practiced so I trust it to work. As soon as I put this thought into my mind, everything else just flows like butter.

I think that's where the term "swing thought" comes from.


ML

[GreeBoman]

Re: release point with Driver....

I am shootin' right at 100. .........What is killing me right now is the DRIVER.

In my opinion if you are shooting 100 then you have no business trying to be on the greens on 2.
You are basically trying to eagle half the holes on your course!
If you saw me hit a driver and then try and hit another driver off the fairway everytime and then listened to me complain that I cant birdie every hole what would you advise?


I wonder how often you find the fairway from the tee and then go for the green only to make a balls of it and OB or stick it behind a tree and walk of with a double or worse?
Play sensible golf, and get sensible scores.
Course management is about more than hitting an iron off the tee or not trying to play through that "gap" in the trees.
Its about playing the percentage shot everytime.

[Simon Woo]

Re: release point with Driver....

Hi 30yearlayoff,

I wonder if you are hitting well with the 3 wood? If so, can someone comment in general why someone who hits the 3 wood well would be hitting the driver high and to the left? Should the ball be teed in the same position, just higher up?

[shootin4par]

Re: release point with Driver....

[quote=Simon Woo] can someone comment in general why someone who hits the 3 wood well would be hitting the driver high and to the left? quote]
some people can hit the ball decent with all clubs except for the driver because they swing out of their shoes with the driver which magnifies swing flaws and has little margin for error. Example, someone has a slightly out to in path/over the top swing, and when they hit driver they swing harder and that swing flaw becomes magnified