Ditch Driver and get a Utility Iron? Or overcome my Fear

[KnutHenry]

Long story short; I've played Golf back and forth for 5 years and have had the same clubs since I started a 5-P iron set, a 58 wedge and a driver. Ever since starting out I've been hitting my Irons consistently well in terms of distance control and direction. My Driver on the other hand has been completely unpredictable with Slice-misses, Hooks.. You name it. 

So recently I've started playing only with Irons which has improved my Scores but I'm lacking distance on par 5s and par 4s. I want your thoughts on this, would you:

1. Ditch Driver and get a 2 or 3 iron
Or
2. Try to overcome my fear of using my driver and work on improving my consistence?

[GolfSpy_APH]

1 hour ago, KnutHenry said:

Long story short; I've played Golf back and forth for 5 years and have had the same clubs since I started a 5-P iron set, a 58 wedge and a driver. Ever since starting out I've been hitting my Irons consistently well in terms of distance control and direction. My Driver on the other hand has been completely unpredictable with Slice-misses, Hooks.. You name it. 

So recently I've started playing only with Irons which has improved my Scores but I'm lacking distance on par 5s and par 4s. I want your thoughts on this, would you:

1. Ditch Driver and get a 2 or 3 iron
Or
2. Try to overcome my fear of using my driver and work on improving my consistence?

Maybe some of it depends on your course that you play. However being able to play driver can give such a good advantage over a long iron in terms of distance. I would say try to overcome your fears of using driver. Get a good fit and see what works well for you and hopefully it will help improve your overall game! Will be curious to find out what route you take and how things go with your game moving forward!

[KnutHenry]

42 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Maybe some of it depends on your course that you play. However being able to play driver can give such a good advantage over a long iron in terms of distance. I would say try to overcome your fears of using driver. Get a good fit and see what works well for you and hopefully it will help improve your overall game! Will be curious to find out what route you take and how things go with your game moving forward!

Yeah I totally agree I mean going under or on par on par 4s and 5s is very hard to do for me at my home course without playing driver, so I'm all in for trying to get it dialed. The tricky thing at my home course is that it plays pretty narrow of the tee so a slice will most likely end up in the woods / OOB  I'll try to play it this weekend and report back on how it went.

[Golf2Much]

For too many years I carried a driver just so I could have a place to hold my towel when I walked.  I could not hit it consistently (good or bad).  I literally gave up on it would tee off on all the par 4 and 5's with my 3 wood.   Even hitting a fairway wood off the tee, I found myself in a pretty big disadvantage.  Eventually, I got to the point where I had to fight through my driver issue.  With a lesson or two (sought professional help) and persistence, I finally trusted my driver enough to keep it in play off the tees.  Fast forward about 20 years, now it's my most reliable club in my bag.  My home course is very tight with penalizing rough.  There is water, OB and/or mangroves on every hole.  Even with that, I'm hitting 75% of the fairways (about 27% better than other golfers in my handicap range).   

You may want to consider getting a fairway wood and getting comfortable hitting a wood off the tee first.  Plus, when faced with long par 4s or par 5s, it should help you with longer second shots.  

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

Could you carry both? I know I’m days where something is off and I’m not hitting driver we’ll I play my 3 wood or hybrid (recently purchased a 17* driving iron) and that will be being used often as well in place of the hybrid off the tee.

while you’re working out the driver can play the driving iron.

[vandyland]

9 hours ago, KnutHenry said:

Ditch Driver and get a 2 or 3 iron

Everyone is different but in my experience I have always struggled with the top end of my bag. I wrestled with driver quite a bit the last few years and I have a setup that mostly works but in the interim I tried: Mini Driver, 3 wood, 4 wood, 5 wood, 2 iron, super hybrid, 3 hybrid and nothing has ever really stuck. 

The issue I had with 2 iron is when I wasn't striking it well it was low and left all day. I flirt with getting a utility 2 iron almost every year and then I test it out and have too many shots that underwhelm me. But, you have to play what you feel comfortable with. No one HAS TO play a driver though it can be quite difficult to play good golf without having a semi-reliable driver. But if you driver is terrible then yeah you have to strategize around that and use something else. 

7 hours ago, KnutHenry said:

The tricky thing at my home course is that it plays pretty narrow of the tee so a slice will most likely end up in the woods

This is a very important point. The course I typically play only has OB on about 1/3 of the holes and the landing areas are generous 50-60 yds wide. So my idea of "accurate driving" is fairly relaxed since you have to hit a terrible shot most of the time to lose a ball. If you are playing in a heavily wooded area with tight landing zones, that makes driver much more difficult to put into play. I feel like even Tour players have lateral dispersion ranges with their driver of 35-45 yds. 

[ChitownM2]

I agree with the other posts that you need to work through the driver issues.  Get lessons and put the practice in.  Being able to hit driver is a huge advantage because even some bad shots might still put you out close to what you could reach with a driving iron.  Good shots could be leaving you with wedges into greens instead of 5 irons.

Depending on what you particularly struggle with, adding a fairway wood might not help much either.  For a lot of people, hitting a fairway wood consistently well is just as hard as hitting a driver.  At least with a driver  you have 460cc to miss with, the margin of error with a FWY isn't as high.  I think MGS or Arccos, can't remember which, posted an article that basically showed for high handicappers a 3 wood isn't any straighter than a driver so that old adage of grabbing a 3 wood when things tighten up doesn't always hold true.  I almost never tee off with my 3 wood unless hitting driver would result in putting me into trouble, ie. hit it through the fairway or into a creek/lake, etc that I need to lay up from.

[Bossfan]

I carry both and a 4w. I’ll use all 3 during the course of a round off the tee. It also helped when I got a properly fitted driver. I went from hitting just under 50 percent of fairways to 63 percent. 

[gman8966]

You definitely need to persevere through it. It's a very large disadvantage to lose distance just because you are afraid of it. Like anything in life, to be successful you must put in the time and work. I was in the same boat, I had a very bad slice and would often top or chunk my drives. I took many lessons, recorded myself swinging and slowly reeled it in. Now I am very comfortable standing on the tee knowing that I'll hit more fairways then I miss. It is the best feeling in the world piping one right down the middle, especially coming from where I was. You can do it!

[vandyland]

As noted above I flirt with driving irons and utilities every year but I hit the Srixon ZX this weekend on a whim, on GCQuad and....wow. That thing is nuclear. For reference, I swing about 104-107 mph with a driver and I was hitting the 23* ZX about 210 in the air and rolling out to 220. That doesn't really solve any yardage gaps for me but man it felt good to hit that thing in the middle. Even mishits were still getting out there about 200-205 yds. The only thing that scared me a bit was my miss was a low spin left miss which is pretty scary on a hole with OB on both sides. But numbers below:

Avg Ball Speed: 139 mph
Launch Angle: 13.7*
Push/Pull: 0,2*
Spin: 4250 rpm
Sidespin: 400 rpm Left
Carry: 209 yds
Total: 225 yds
Offline: 13.0 yds Left
 

As good as it felt, I will NOT buy a utility without testing Tour Edge C722 Ti (based on MGS forgiveness recommendation) and would love to try the Haywood Signature driving iron New Level Driving iron as well just don't know if I will get around to trying to demo it or not. Had to remove the Haywood as they only make it in 18* which serves no purpose for me at the moment. 

Edited October 31, 2022 by vandyland

[MacTourney]

On 10/24/2022 at 8:26 AM, Golf2Much said:

For too many years I carried a driver just so I could have a place to hold my towel when I walked. 

On 10/24/2022 at 4:48 AM, KnutHenry said:

Try to overcome my fear of using my driver and work on improving my consistence?

Playing the game without driver is like drinking fine wine from a Dixie cup, it's just plain wrong.   Work it out, keep it simple.    

[Kenny B]

Always play the driver unless you will reach trouble with your distance off the tee.  If that's OB, then you have a serious issue(s) with your swing, and likely it's also in your iron swing as well, just that you've learned to compensate for it.  Not addressing the issue will ultimately limit your improvement potential.  If you are just out for fun on the links, then play whatever you are comfortable.  If you are looking to make improvements, you have to be able to hit driver.  Take the time and learn what's causing your issue... and practice!!

Good luck!

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

On 10/24/2022 at 1:48 AM, KnutHenry said:

Long story short; I've played Golf back and forth for 5 years and have had the same clubs since I started a 5-P iron set, a 58 wedge and a driver. Ever since starting out I've been hitting my Irons consistently well in terms of distance control and direction. My Driver on the other hand has been completely unpredictable with Slice-misses, Hooks.. You name it. 

So recently I've started playing only with Irons which has improved my Scores but I'm lacking distance on par 5s and par 4s. I want your thoughts on this, would you:

1. Ditch Driver and get a 2 or 3 iron
Or
2. Try to overcome my fear of using my driver and work on improving my consistence?

I was in your situation two years ago. I really worked on driver. I had a 2 iron for 3 months. Kind of kept the ball in play more, but also had some terrible shanks/mishits with it and even my best strikes really left me long irons or hybrids/woods as 2nd shots on par 4s, which is not fun. The driver in theory should be your most forgiving club. Take the time to learn how to hit it and it can be a real weapon.

[Kenny B]

1 hour ago, Vegan_Golfer_PNW said:

I was in your situation two years ago. I really worked on driver. I had a 2 iron for 3 months. Kind of kept the ball in play more, but also had some terrible shanks/mishits with it and even my best strikes really left me long irons or hybrids/woods as 2nd shots on par 4s, which is not fun. The driver in theory should be your most forgiving club. Take the time to learn how to hit it and it can be a real weapon.

Randy's right!!  I saw his driver 2 years ago.  Somehow he still got it around the course!   His posts this year have shown marked improvement.  

Give Jon Sherman's book, "The Four Fundamentals of Golf" a read.  He supports Mark Broadie's results in "Every Shot Counts" that Strokes Gained improves with the driver.  

Years ago, I had a horrible slice; tried to fix it myself and wasted 5 years.  It really only took a few lessons to straighten it out... IF you work on the drills to get setup, backswing and transition correct.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

10 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

Randy's right!!  I saw his driver 2 years ago.  Somehow he still got it around the course!   His posts this year have shown marked improvement.  

Give Jon Sherman's book, "The Four Fundamentals of Golf" a read.  He supports Mark Broadie's results in "Every Shot Counts" that Strokes Gained improves with the driver.  

Years ago, I had a horrible slice; tried to fix it myself and wasted 5 years.  It really only took a few lessons to straighten it out... IF you work on the drills to get setup, backswing and transition correct.

Very true. Lets say I really get to know the course from unique angles on every hole. Now with my lessons and speed work, I can hit my driver in play most of the time and have short irons or wedges (sometimes putter) as my second shot on par 4s.

[vandyland]

I was trying to shorten my list of long irons/utilities to try but it seems to be getting longer. I had a strange idea that I might like a Cobra T-Rail (super super super game improvement) long iron. It is basically a iron/hybrid mix (similar to the Taylormade DHY). I think I would get my same shaft in it (KBS Tour 120) and one of the best things about Cobra is that it is super easy to order single clubs from them. I just don't know how I could test it because there is no way I find that combination available to test. Currently my wish list of clubs to hit is:

Taylormade Sim/Stealth DHY + UDI (22*-24* range)
Tour Edge C722 Ti Utility (21*-24* range)
Cobra Utility (22.5* with loft sleeve) 
Srixon ZX (23*)
Cobra T-Rail 5 iron (23*) or Cobra Rad Speed 5 iron (23*) 

I am on the fence with what I want this iron to be. Do I want it to hit the exact gap I need 185-195 yd carry? Do I want it to be a club I use for flighted down fairway finders? Do I end up getting two clubs (one Game Improvement iron that hits it high and hits that carry number I need and then a lower lofted (19-20*) utility iron for off the tee? Again, I currently only carry 12 clubs so I have room. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

18 hours ago, vandyland said:

I was trying to shorten my list of long irons/utilities to try but it seems to be getting longer. I had a strange idea that I might like a Cobra T-Rail (super super super game improvement) long iron. It is basically a iron/hybrid mix (similar to the Taylormade DHY). I think I would get my same shaft in it (KBS Tour 120) and one of the best things about Cobra is that it is super easy to order single clubs from them. I just don't know how I could test it because there is no way I find that combination available to test. Currently my wish list of clubs to hit is:

Taylormade Sim/Stealth DHY + UDI (22*-24* range)
Tour Edge C722 Ti Utility (21*-24* range)
Cobra Utility (22.5* with loft sleeve) 
Srixon ZX (23*)
Cobra T-Rail 5 iron (23*) or Cobra Rad Speed 5 iron (23*) 

I am on the fence with what I want this iron to be. Do I want it to hit the exact gap I need 185-195 yd carry? Do I want it to be a club I use for flighted down fairway finders? Do I end up getting two clubs (one Game Improvement iron that hits it high and hits that carry number I need and then a lower lofted (19-20*) utility iron for off the tee? Again, I currently only carry 12 clubs so I have room. 

Can I add the Ping iCrossover to your list? 

I have a friend who went through his most recent round avoiding driver. He hits his irons well and during the warm up driver was not working so he tried using 3 wood, 5 wood or 2 iron off the tee. It really didn't go well. After about 10 holes i just mentioned to grab the driver and what's the worst that can happen? 

He was trying to play smart golf, but 3 wood and 2 iron are often harder to hit than driver. Of course not for everyone, but given headsize and how they are constructed they do offer what should be an easier to hit club certainly than a 2 iron. 

Maybe mini driver is an option? For the OP.

[chisag]

... Much more often than not, hitting your driver poorly is a mental issue, not a physical issue. Especially if you hit your irons well. The issue for most is the thought that they can hit their driver as far as possible, where your irons are going a specific distance. Over swinging is the likely culprit. After all the driver is the most forgiving club in your bag and by a wide margin. Playing a Utility/DI won't help you if you try to hit it like Dechambeau. If you can hit a DI accurately you can certainly do so with a driver too.

... One of the drills that usually clicked with some of my students trying to hit their driver much harder than all their other clubs is hit a 7 iron and then hit a driver trying to use the exact same swing as your 7 iron. Keep going back and forth with each until you feel like you aren't over swinging with your driver and swinging it like your 7 iron. Many found they actually hit the ball not only straighter, but farther because they were making contact with the center of the face. Of course there are players that can dial up their driver and swing faster than with their other clubs and they are usually elite players or just really good drivers of the ball but most will have better results with the same swing through out their bag. 

... All that said I like the old saying that golf is 80% mental and the other 20% is mental. So if the driver is producing horrible results, playing a DI isn't a bad idea. Just keep practicing with the driver, maybe hitting it once per round and hopefully you can get past the mental issues and start playing it during your rounds. 

[vandyland]

On 11/5/2022 at 5:13 AM, GolfSpy_APH said:

Can I add the Ping iCrossover to your list? 

Funny you say that! When I went into Golf Galaxy to ask about simulator rental they only had TWO Utility clubs in stock in stiff shafts, Stealth UDI and Ping Crossover. It looks good (the blacked out one) and the only thing that gives me pause is I had a ping utility iron a decade ago that I hated. Not really a great reason, eh? Looks like I will be hitting the Ping Crossover. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Just now, vandyland said:

Funny you say that! When I went into Golf Galaxy to ask about simulator rental they only had TWO Utility clubs in stock in stiff shafts, Stealth UDI and Ping Crossover. It looks good (the blacked out one) and the only thing that gives me pause is I had a ping utility iron a decade ago that I hated. Not really a great reason, eh? Looks like I will be hitting the Ping Crossover. 

I have a 2 and 4 in the G410 and they are great clubs. I have evenflow black shafts in both. A couple things that intrigued me about the new ones is they made them a bit shorter than previous versions for more control and can say that this could be something that would be good to do with mine. The 4 in particular feels a shade long. Anyway they seem to be underrated or lesser reviewed and seemingly good value with the new adjustability and so on. 

[KnutHenry]

On 11/5/2022 at 7:41 PM, chisag said:

... Much more often than not, hitting your driver poorly is a mental issue, not a physical issue. Especially if you hit your irons well. The issue for most is the thought that they can hit their driver as far as possible, where your irons are going a specific distance. Over swinging is the likely culprit. After all the driver is the most forgiving club in your bag and by a wide margin. Playing a Utility/DI won't help you if you try to hit it like Dechambeau. If you can hit a DI accurately you can certainly do so with a driver too.

... One of the drills that usually clicked with some of my students trying to hit their driver much harder than all their other clubs is hit a 7 iron and then hit a driver trying to use the exact same swing as your 7 iron. Keep going back and forth with each until you feel like you aren't over swinging with your driver and swinging it like your 7 iron. Many found they actually hit the ball not only straighter, but farther because they were making contact with the center of the face. Of course there are players that can dial up their driver and swing faster than with their other clubs and they are usually elite players or just really good drivers of the ball but most will have better results with the same swing through out their bag. 

... All that said I like the old saying that golf is 80% mental and the other 20% is mental. So if the driver is producing horrible results, playing a DI isn't a bad idea. Just keep practicing with the driver, maybe hitting it once per round and hopefully you can get past the mental issues and start playing it during your rounds. 

This! Been working since december on mentally hitting my Driver the same way I hit my 4 Irons. Similar setup etc. Works like a charm. Analysed my iron swings compared to my driver swing to pin-point differences and realised that my take-off and downswing was pretty over-the-top and that i sped up my tempo. That probably caused my Slice and Pull/Hook. So mentally swinging my driver like an iron has 100% helped straightening out my shots.

[G56788]

On 10/24/2022 at 3:48 AM, KnutHenry said:

1. Ditch Driver and get a 2 or 3 iron
Or
2. Try to overcome my fear of using my driver and work on improving my consistence?

 

On 10/24/2022 at 7:26 AM, Golf2Much said:

You may want to consider getting a fairway wood and getting comfortable hitting a wood off the tee first.  Plus, when faced with long par 4s or par 5s, it should help you with longer second shots.

Ultimately, you are going to have to learn to hit driver if you want to drop your handicap into the single digits, but you don’t need to get there all at once. I had a 13* TM Burner Bubble fairway driver (essentially a strong 3W) that I grew up playing off the tee. Once I got comfortable with it, I started hitting more drivers. I’d start the round hitting the 3W. If I was hitting it well, I’d switch to the driver on the holes with no trouble. I eventually transitioned to hitting it on all par 4s and 5s unless I absolutely had to hit a fairway, then I used the trusty 3W. It doesn’t have to be a 3W. Shorter fairway woods would work just as well.