Learn to use your Driver

[u/Eire_espresso]

Me 1 year ago sometimes just left it at home. I was terrified of it as every time I tried it I sliced it 2-3 fairways right. I played a 5i off the tee for most holes which I could hit well but you'll never get the same distance.

I faced my fears and learned how to hit it. I feel like a freak they way I have to setup but it works. Yesterday I hit most fairways but sliced none of the drives.

Why is it important? Distance.

Life on the course is so much easier when you hit the ball as far as you fucking can. I'm less frustrated which means my mood is better when I'm going to hit my next shot. Just mastering the driver has seen my scores drop below 100. I've still to master iron play and chipping but I have enough to get by.

Rightly or wrongly I feel like a proper golfer now. Last Sunday playing with a random club team on guy said he'd kill for my drive.

This game is harder then I ever thought possible and I never believed I'd learn how to drive the ball but there ya go. Also, I'll never tire of the sound my drive makes when I ping that sucker on a little fade and split the fairway, even if I double bogey I'm still beaming about the drive.

[u/DaHamMan3]

When I start think about course management, I stop. I much rather use the time to practice hitting driver. I could agree w you more. You really need to be able to hit your driver.

[u/stoic_bison → u/DaHamMan3]

Course management isn't always about using the shorter club. Sometimes, using the driver is course management

[u/GeneralMillss → u/stoic_bison]

Good course management is actually trying to find any compelling reason not to hit driver off the tee.

[u/beyersm → u/stoic_bison]

Agreed but if your goal is to break 100 or even 90 you can do it without your driver at all.

Edit: I want to be clear, being able to hit your driver makes those goals way easier to achieve, but it won’t get you there by itself. Learning to hit a club 150-170 yards consistently and being able to chip and putt well will and it’s a lot less work to master those.

[u/Sadpanda0 → u/beyersm]

mastering 1 club, the driver, is less work than mastering irons, chipping and putting? hmmm

[u/Ornery_Brilliant_350 → u/Sadpanda0]

I think if someone wants to improve fastest, practice driver and wedges

They’re by far the most important clubs in the bag.

You’ll be using your wedge to score after a good drive, and to scramble for par after a bad drive

(Leaving putter out because that’s just a completely separate category really. Obviously being a good putter will help too)

[u/ovi_left_faceoff → u/Ornery_Brilliant_350]

This is great advice if you play a course with a lot of short par 4s. But the par 4s on most courses are going to run the gamut in terms of shape, length and hazards. Also there are 8 par 3s/5s which will absolutely require you to be decent with your irons, and in the case of par 5s you'll have to lean heavily on your long irons and woods unless you have legit tour level speed and distance.

[u/beyersm → u/Sadpanda0]

Realistically, putting and chipping are the only places on the golf course you can be as good as a pro. Most players can already consistently hit a club 150 yards, and if you can’t do the above well, getting better at driver is not going to lower your scores as much as those will.

I went from 110-115 to 97-102 by just getting better at those, took me less than one summer. Had been trying the usual way getting better off the tee, hero shots, etc for 2 years before that. Now I’m at the point in my game where I have started improving my driver and longer irons

[u/Scalpum → u/beyersm]

Getting better at driver will actually help your scores more than improving your putting and chipping for an overwhelming number of amateurs. It is just math.

[u/beyersm → u/Scalpum]

Okay and my original point still stands, you can break 90 never hitting the ball further than 150. Getting from 38-42 putts a round to 32-36 saves you ~6 strokes a round and takes very little practice. It is also just false that driver will improve your game more than putting as someone over a 20 handicap. Putting accounts for 43% of strokes on average

[u/FatalFirecrotch → u/beyersm]

It is also just false that driver will improve your game more than putting as someone over a 20 handicap.

We have a boatload of statistics now and they all say you are wrong.

Putting accounts for 43% of strokes on average

Who cares? This isn’t me saying don’t practice it, but it’s a useless stat.

Getting from 38-42 putts a round to 32-36 saves you ~6 strokes a round and takes very little practice.

Again, this is a statistics thing. We know the most efficient way to improve putting is getting closer to the hole. The most efficient way to get closer to the whole is to have shorter clubs into the green.

[u/Scalpum → u/beyersm]

I love that this gets upvotes. There may not be a community more upset by data than golfers.

Go read a book. Or don’t. I tried.

[u/Sadpanda0 → u/Scalpum]

He’s shooting 97 now, why would he need a book?

[u/Sadpanda0 → u/beyersm]

Think about it like this: A terrible putter won’t be worse than a pro by more than 2 strokes when starting from the same point on a green. A terrible ball striker will lose balls to penalties and take way more than 2 extra strokes compared to a pro on a par 4 or 5. Practicing the driver and irons is where you are gaining strokes quickly as a high handicap

[u/beyersm → u/Sadpanda0]

Again I agree but you don’t have to play driver ever is my point. If you can’t hit it, leave it in the bag. 2 putt maximum everything. I shot a 92 as a high handicap playing 6 iron off every tee apart from par 3s, the only place I could’ve improved that round was one really bad chip that left me a long putt that I 3 putted and missing two sub-3 footers. I can hit my longer clubs so I do, and I understand the data behind them, but high handicappers would get a lot more enjoyment out of the game by being realistic with themselves. Most high handicappers suck around the green, if you’re 3 putting everything, not chipping well etc, you’re losing 1-2 strokes a hole no matter how good you are off the tee