This driver is driving me crazy!!!

[pma531]

I have practiced religiously with my driver. ABSOLUTELY can not hit it no matter how hard I try. Every other club I can work out kinks and come up with some type of consistency, but this thing is being one stubborn SOB. 

Now that I think of it, not being able to hit it is a kind of consistent. Lol I don’t remember last time I hit it during an actual round.

Anyone have any advice? 

Driver: Taylormade M4 stiff shaft

Setup: Feet just wider then shoulder length, left shoulder slightly closed, right shoulder lower, ball on the inside of left ankle. 
 

Ball is right (off toe), left, topped, bombed (sometimes). I just wanna play the club I’m supposed to. Any advice, tips, drills, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

[GolfSpy_APH]

2 minutes ago, pma531 said:

I have practiced religiously with my driver. ABSOLUTELY can not hit it no matter how hard I try. Every other club I can work out kinks and come up with some type of consistency, but this thing is being one stubborn SOB. 

Now that I think of it, not being able to hit it is a kind of consistent. Lol I don’t remember last time I hit it during an actual round.

Anyone have any advice? 

Driver: Taylormade M4 stiff shaft

Setup: Feet just wider then shoulder length, left shoulder slightly closed, right shoulder lower, ball on the inside of left ankle. 
 

Ball is right (off toe), left, topped, bombed (sometimes). I just wanna play the club I’m supposed to. Any advice, tips, drills, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Able up post a swing video? 

Really tough to say one way or another... When in doubt buy a new one? That's my philosophy.

[Javs]

35 minutes ago, pma531 said:

I have practiced religiously with my driver. ABSOLUTELY can not hit it no matter how hard I try. Every other club I can work out kinks and come up with some type of consistency, but this thing is being one stubborn SOB. 

Now that I think of it, not being able to hit it is a kind of consistent. Lol I don’t remember last time I hit it during an actual round.

Anyone have any advice? 

Driver: Taylormade M4 stiff shaft

Setup: Feet just wider then shoulder length, left shoulder slightly closed, right shoulder lower, ball on the inside of left ankle. 
 

Ball is right (off toe), left, topped, bombed (sometimes). I just wanna play the club I’m supposed to. Any advice, tips, drills, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

What is your miss? Post a video if you can

[pma531]

I’ll try. I thought about that. What I need to do is just post 5 consecutive swings and not just the good ones lol haha

i think I’m on to something though. 

[pma531]

18 minutes ago, Javs said:

What is your miss? Post a video if you can

That’s it. My miss is all over the place. I started to make sure both my arms are straight at impact which I feel made it more consistent 

[drepark78]

I sympathize. It sucks when you can't get the driver going no matter what. Best help I got was to just slow it down and make contact w your feet together. Most times you're just getting ahead of yourself just a bit . Sequence is everything. Or do what I did. I threw that driver out and got a new one! Lol.

[RickyBobby_PR]

The driver will show more of the swing faults than irons. The longer the club and the less loft the more prevalent ones swings issue will be and the results will be much worse. It’s easy to compensate for them with a short iron.

1 hour ago, pma531 said:

Ball is right (off toe), left, topped, bombed (sometimes). I just wanna play the club I’m supposed to. Any advice, tips, drills, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

These are evident of a bad swing. Could be bad swing is made worse by the equipment such as the shaft is causing your swing to be even more out of sequence than with your irons, could be the weight and balance of the club causing it. Could be ball position, could be all of them combined

 No way to say what the issue is without a swing video from face on and down the line, based on your profile and handicap it’s more than likely improper sequencing of the swing early in the takeaway and backswing 

[Javs]

28 minutes ago, pma531 said:

That’s it. My miss is all over the place. I started to make sure both my arms are straight at impact which I feel made it more consistent 

What shaft are you using?

[drepark78]

Maybe taking a breather for a couple days. Relax have a few beers. Don't even look at a club.

[drrlramsey]

1 hour ago, pma531 said:

I have practiced religiously with my driver. ABSOLUTELY can not hit it no matter how hard I try. Every other club I can work out kinks and come up with some type of consistency, but this thing is being one stubborn SOB. 

Now that I think of it, not being able to hit it is a kind of consistent. Lol I don’t remember last time I hit it during an actual round.

Anyone have any advice? 

Driver: Taylormade M4 stiff shaft

Setup: Feet just wider then shoulder length, left shoulder slightly closed, right shoulder lower, ball on the inside of left ankle. 
 

Ball is right (off toe), left, topped, bombed (sometimes). I just wanna play the club I’m supposed to. Any advice, tips, drills, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

I actually adjusted my ball position a little further back toward the center of my stance and paid close attention to maintaining my head position as much as possible through impact and it helped tremendously.

[pma531]

29 minutes ago, Javs said:

What shaft are you using?

Fujikura Armos S-Flex

18 minutes ago, drepark78 said:

Maybe taking a breather for a couple days. Relax have a few beers. Don't even look at a club.

That I’m good at. Unfortunately, work is me tied up all weekend.

38 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

The driver will show more of the swing faults than irons. The longer the club and the less loft the more prevalent ones swings issue will be and the results will be much worse. It’s easy to compensate for them with a short iron.

These are evident of a bad swing. Could be bad swing is made worse by the equipment such as the shaft is causing your swing to be even more out of sequence than with your irons, could be the weight and balance of the club causing it. Could be ball position, could be all of them combined

 No way to say what the issue is without a swing video from face on and down the line, based on your profile and handicap it’s more than likely improper sequencing of the swing early in the takeaway and backswing 

I have worked a lot on sequencing with my irons. Have actually made a heck of a difference with them. Is the sequencing essentially the same with the driver? I feel like I swing the driver totally different than my irons.

[Javs]

46 minutes ago, pma531 said:

Fujikura Armos S-Flex

That I’m good at. Unfortunately, work is me tied up all weekend.

I have worked a lot on sequencing with my irons. Have actually made a heck of a difference with them. Is the sequencing essentially the same with the driver? I feel like I swing the driver totally different than my irons.

The shaft might be wrong. Were you fitted?

[RickyBobby_PR]

2 hours ago, pma531 said:

Fujikura Armos S-Flex

That I’m good at. Unfortunately, work is me tied up all weekend.

I have worked a lot on sequencing with my irons. Have actually made a heck of a difference with them. Is the sequencing essentially the same with the driver? I feel like I swing the driver totally different than my irons.

Yes the difference is the plane the club moves on

[Javs]

2 hours ago, pma531 said:

Fujikura Armos S-Flex

That I’m good at. Unfortunately, work is me tied up all weekend.

I have worked a lot on sequencing with my irons. Have actually made a heck of a difference with them. Is the sequencing essentially the same with the driver? I feel like I swing the driver totally different than my irons.

I think you will find that you actually hit down on the irons. The driver is more sweeping and catching upward. This is established by ball position and where you strike the shot through the swing. There are similar fundamentals with grip and alignment, but the ball position and desired strike are different. You wouldn’t want to hit down on a drive like you would an iron. Additionally, while hitting down and through on an iron it is still ball first contact. Lastly, if your misses are both ways then I would recommend you getting lessons to work on the fundamentals and proper setup, alignment and swing path. 

[Fred Mitchell]

20 hours ago, pma531 said:

I have practiced religiously with my driver. ABSOLUTELY can not hit it no matter how hard I try. Every other club I can work out kinks and come up with some type of consistency, but this thing is being one stubborn SOB. 

Now that I think of it, not being able to hit it is a kind of consistent. Lol I don’t remember last time I hit it during an actual round.

Anyone have any advice? 

Driver: Taylormade M4 stiff shaft

Setup: Feet just wider then shoulder length, left shoulder slightly closed, right shoulder lower, ball on the inside of left ankle. 
 

Ball is right (off toe), left, topped, bombed (sometimes). I just wanna play the club I’m supposed to. Any advice, tips, drills, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

If all else fails maybe try and find a buddy with a 44.5 or 45 inch shaft with the TM hosel and take a few swings. VS what was probably a 45.5 or 45 3/4 stock shaft im guessing. It might be not only a cheap but frustration free fix.

 

 

[Blueberry_Squishie]

Sounds like professional help is needed. I would recommend finding a coach that uses a launch monitor to be able to show you the deficiencies in your club delivery so that you can have greater understanding of why the ball is behaving the way it is. It has been refreshing having a new pro at our club who is younger and has almost "grown up" with launch monitors being part of his teaching. He has really helped me.

Also - time. The best players in the world take years to implement swing improvements. Stick with it.

[ballhawk]

 Any advice, tips, drills, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

First, tie your left shoe string in a double knot. Then take all your change and put it in your right pocket. Take 2 tees and stick them behind your right ear and lastly, take your driver and put it in the trunk and just use your 3 wood.............. 

[Weekend_Warrior]

If you don’t want to, or can’t, go to a local pro for some lessons, you could try the Skillest app. It’s online coaching, and the entry cost can be much more affordable. You just have to be able to video your swing. 
 

This is a face control issue. If I was trying to fix this for myself I would start with making sure my setup (alignment, ball position, grip, etc) are staying consistent. Then work on face control. Spray the face with foot powder and purposely hit the toe, then heal, then center. The goal being to get a feeling for the difference and eventually getting the whole pattern smaller and closer to the center. With some improved face control hopefully you can get to a one way miss which is much better on the course. 
 

[Stuka44]

On 3/10/2023 at 2:31 PM, pma531 said:

I just wanna play the club I’m supposed to

First I would tell you this, IMO there is no such thing as "supposed to" in the game of golf! The driver is the hardest club to become less inconsistent with, and there is no "entity" that is going to take away your playing privileges  for using a 4 iron off the tee on a 290 yard par 4, and having 110 in,  instead of lashing driver, and going OB.    My point is make sure your expectations for driver consistency are commensurate with your level of play, number of rounds you play, and actual results when you use it in play.

Now maybe lessons, and concentrating on other technical aspects of your swing, is just what you need, become more consistent, as others have suggested.  Or maybe, as I would concur, as others have suggested, you don't have to hit driver on every hole that is not a par 3, and make sure your actual  results  are as bad as you think they are when you do use driver.  Just be careful of the lessons, and trackman numbers route.  It may help, but it can lead to the belief that two bad drives means, something is broken and has to be fixed.  This forum has at least a few examples of people playing "golf swing", and seeking what a golf swing should be, and not "golf".

 

[Javs]

2 minutes ago, stuka44 said:

First I would tell you this, IMO there is no such thing as "supposed to" in the game of golf! The driver is the hardest club to become less inconsistent with, and there is no "entity" that is going to take away your playing privileges  for using a 4 iron off the tee on a 290 yard par 4, and having 110 in,  instead of lashing driver, and going OB.    My point is make sure your expectations for driver consistency are commensurate with your level of play, number of rounds you play, and actual results when you use it in play.

Now maybe lessons, and concentrating on other technical aspects of your swing, is just what you need, become more consistent, as others have suggested.  Or maybe, as I would concur, as others have suggested, you don't have to hit driver on every hole that is not a par 3, and make sure your actual  results  are as bad as you think they are when you do use driver.  Just be careful of the lessons, and trackman numbers route.  It may help, but it can lead to the belief that two bad drives means, something is broken and has to be fixed.  This forum has at least a few examples of people playing "golf swing", and seeking what a golf swing should be, and not "golf".

 

I agree with much of your comment. I would add that finding or grooving a solid repeatable “golf swing” is executed in the dirt on the range. Dedicated practice with a goal and good fundamentals are key. When playing “golf” the key is scoring. On the course you can’t score if you are playing “golf swing”. You’ll end up with paralysis by over analysis. However, you need to have a stock fix you can rely on when your swing is broken during a round. Example resorting to half or knock downs to hit solid shots and get it around when things are off. Again this is golfing not golf swing. End note: golf swing is practice and golf is in the arena playing for a score. My two cents.

[Dweed]

On 3/10/2023 at 3:39 PM, drepark78 said:

I sympathize. It sucks when you can't get the driver going no matter what. Best help I got was to just slow it down and make contact w your feet together. Most times you're just getting ahead of yourself just a bit . Sequence is everything. Or do what I did. I threw that driver out and got a new one! Lol.

100% concur. Slow and easy shots, no longer than 100yardsor so. As you start to hit the center more increase speed, feet still together and you'll be out to 150. Then after that confidence builder, start to widen your stance a little at a time and slowly increase your swing speed. That will help get you into a confidence level to look at things like  shaft type and length and such variables. Good luck and smiling.

[pma531]

All good suggestions for sure. I’m gonna keep at it. I’m entertaining lessons for sure just haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

I’ll look into the shaft. Have to do some research though about specific needs. Thanks to everyone for their responses. I’ll report back when I get it all squared away.

[IndyBonzo]

I have had the same struggles, believe me.  I don't know if I am turning the corner, but a few things that have helped me recently hit more fairways (all of which I learned on this site):  1.  Get to know the swing weight that works for you.  My driver was too light and I would lose the feel of the club head.  Increasing weight to D4-D5 has helped my accuracy significantly.  2.  As another poster said, a shorter shaft can help with accuracy.  Be very mindful of swing weight again.  A shorter shaft will decrease the swing weight, so you have to balance that with length.  3.  I have a tendency to try to hit the ball rather than swing through it.  This manifests in me not turning my hips all the way and creating an open face "block" that results in a push-fade.  The best tip I read here which has helped a lot is to focus my eyes on a spot behind the ball in my swing plane, and not at the ball.  It sounds counterintuitive to not look at the ball.  But my swing was stopping too much at the ball, so by focusing behind the ball and not having a target to hit I tend to complete the swing better.  It also helps with hitting up on the ball with the driver.

Good luck!  And share any secrets you find, please.  Lord knows I need the driver help! 

[tony@CIC]

On 3/10/2023 at 2:31 PM, pma531 said:

I have practiced religiously with my driver. ABSOLUTELY can not hit it no matter how hard I try. Every other club I can work out kinks and come up with some type of consistency, but this thing is being one stubborn SOB. 

Now that I think of it, not being able to hit it is a kind of consistent. Lol I don’t remember last time I hit it during an actual round.

Anyone have any advice? 

Driver: Taylormade M4 stiff shaft

Setup: Feet just wider then shoulder length, left shoulder slightly closed, right shoulder lower, ball on the inside of left ankle. 
 

Ball is right (off toe), left, topped, bombed (sometimes). I just wanna play the club I’m supposed to. Any advice, tips, drills, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Holy cow - there's lots of advice here. My .02 go take a lesson with someone that you're really confident in or you've heard from others* . Otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy taking and implementing lots of advice; changing positions, changing tee height, new equipment, etc. not to mention time wasted My driver use to be the worst club in my bag  - heck my hybrids use to go longer than my driver. A half hour lesson and the instructor pointed out 3 things and from that (after lots of practice implementing his instructions) it turned into my best club. I since upgraded my driver (fitted for) and that gave me even more distance. But the new driver by itself would not have given me the kinds of improvements I got from my instructor.  

*note finding the 'right' instructor is crucial. I've had worst to best when it comes to instruction. Ask around - do some research, etc.  Spending <$100 for a lesson or 2 is a lot cheaper than $600 for a new driver which may not fix the issue.

[pma531]

I’ve been kicking around the idea of getting formal lessons. I have a guy I went to one time (a friend of a friend). Helped me tremendously and set me off into the right direction for sure. I’m very happy with my iron/hybrid swing. He is just over an hour away. And with two kids, a wife, and a full time job it ain’t easy getting there. Sure you guys know that.

I’m in southern Ocean County, NJ. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. If you can’t or don’t want to post instructors publicly in this thread, send me a P.M. I’m not afraid of putting in the work to square it away, for me it’s the best part.

[cksurfdude]

On 3/10/2023 at 2:31 PM, pma531 said:

I have practiced religiously with my driver. ABSOLUTELY can not hit it no matter how hard I try.

Hey I literally feel your frustration!!

Also struggled with driver to the point where I just didn't carry one in the bag .. and didn't even practice with it, either... (..was using on old deep-faced 3W to tee off)

I can suggest a few things to try out that seem to be helping me:

#1. Reverse your mental block and convince yourself that 'this is the season I'm gonna hit that suckah'

2. Not to be trite, but .. lessons with a good pro who can see exactly what you are doing (not YouTube) and then practice. Essential. 

.. practice a little bit and more frequently can be more effective vs too much practice one day a week

3. Try a Ladies driver (second hand; thrift shop; etc) .. with a very light and flexible shaft .. to practice with. The head may feel light but you can always add lead tape to suit your swing weight preference. You may find this can be easier to swing, and again this is practice.

4. Mentioned by someone in an earlier post - go to the range (..leave the driver in the bag when you play!) - and do *not* full swing!

.. start out gripped all the way down on the grip, feet close together (but not so the way together) .. do not stress tee height or ball position yet, close enough is good enough to start .. and work on HALF SWINGS AT HALF SPEED!

.. first goal is to make the ball go straight (not far)

.. focus is center face contact

.. when that starts happening now start thinking about your swing technique, eg takeaway, body positions, pressure shifts, whatever whatever your instructor gave you to work on...

** again .. you're still practicing half swings at half speed to get the feel of the proper technique / movements

But heck yeah once in a while let one rip to see where you're at

(..sheesh I almost sound like I might know what I'm talking about )

Good luck!

[GolfSpy SAM]

Mostly echoing what others have said - I was in a nearly identical position as you. I had bought a Lag Shot driver as a training aid, and could hit that significantly better than my "real" driver. Not *further*, per se, but straighter and WAY more consistently, so much so that I started using it in rounds. I posted about it here on the forum, like, what am I doing wrong that I can hit this rubber-shafted driver but not my Cobra??? 

For me, it came down to the fact that I couldn't feel the head loading in the same way as I could with the Lag Shot. Which got me thinking about a whippy shaft, or at least something that allowed me to feel the head a little better. Ultimately, I ended up in an Otto-Phlex-type shaft, with a PXG head (I love) and I've gone from hating driver to really loving it. I don't (this feels obvious, but I'll say it anyway) always have perfect driving days, but my consistency has improved so much. Now if I'm off, I know it's more timing than anything else, and that I can work on - smoothing it out. 

This, combined with some lessons I gifted to myself last year, have been literal game-changers. 

Good luck!!

[CaptStang]

Sometimes this drill will help out-on the range tee up 5 balls like you are on a par 3 and 5 balls with normal driver tee height.

Take a 7 iron and hit the 1st five balls (which are teed low) , then take your driver and hit the next 5 shots...this is designed to be a speedy drill-no practice swings and hit move forward, hit move forward....

rinse and repeat 10 sets and see how things look...

[ChuckZ]

I have to ask, were you fitted by a certified fitter for this driver?  If you were then you really need to see a teaching pro to get these quirks worked out.  If you were not fitted, then there is where you problem started.  You may have the wrong equipment.  Someone needs to actually see your swing that is qualified (a pro) to break down your issues and steps to correct them.    

[billybogey]

Have to ask "The Question??" Are you trying to Kill IT??

Also read all the Replies here. Some really good ones that I know have/will help me. & I'm am old guy & have a Listening problem,

Thanks to MGS & Readers & HRH, I am playing better & making some Coin!!