So if I understand it correctly, the main important thing is to keep the path on a straight plane line, and that means I'll be hitting the forwarded tee on the way up and in, while still having some thrust past low point.
But then maybe, the plane line should be a little more towards the right, so that when the clubface is going up and back in, it will be more square to the target than slightly closed to the target. What do you think?
Btw, I've heard that hitting down with the driver is safer, but I've also read that you can lose about 30 yards of distance.
Good idea, though; I should practice hitting down with the driver, so I have more of a safety shot. Staying in the fairway beats a longer drive into the trees.
I've been on Trackman twice in my life and one showed me hitting upward by 1-2* and then another showed me downward by about -1*. It's not something I think about, just move the ball position and take the stroke you normally would with a driver. Now, if I was in a long drive competition then I would really focus on hitting up, but I think in general if you want to hit up, just move the ball position and rotate the plane line a little to the right. I think you can have a ton of right arm and still hit up on the driver. Take a look at Dustin Johnson's swing:
Btw, I've heard that hitting down with the driver is safer, but I've also read that you can lose about 30 yards of distance.
I don't quite agree with that notion. If you hit up on the driver you have to worry about wind since you're launching higher and if you're long enough, many fairways tend to bottleneck. But you can still hit it pretty straight and hit up on the driver. The LPGA tour average is +3* with the driver and I'm assuming that there are some LPGA golfers that are extremely accurate with the driver.
You can gain, easily, 30 yards by hitting up on the driver. I believe JB Holmes and Tiger have the same swing speed, but the difference in Holmes being longer is he hits about 3* up with the driver while Tiger hits about 3* down.
But, you gotta find what you're comfortable and most consistent with, IMO. I think if golfers force themselves into hitting down or up and they can't quite do it, it can lead to some trouble.
So you are saying we should hit down on it then? I think if you need a few yards play it up, if you need to hit the fairway put some spin on it. The draw back here I think is that the sole of modern drivers encourages more of a sweeping action. Agree?
Hit down on an imaginary ball 3-4 inches before the real ball. And assure that you don't run out of right arm before the real ball is gone. Maybe you will se a straighter ball too.
Thanks, I am used to hitting up with the driver with the low point before the ball. I was just wondering if it's recommended that the right elbow straightens out at that low point or not. Thanks for the tip, though.
I guess I'll continue hitting up with the driver, as that's what I'm more comfortable with, but I'll practice hitting down too; I'm sure I can find an instance where that can come in handy.
So you are saying we should hit down on it then? I think if you need a few yards play it up, if you need to hit the fairway put some spin on it. The draw back here I think is that the sole of modern drivers encourages more of a sweeping action. Agree?
I think you should go with whatever you can get the best results with consistently. The average PGA Tour golfer hits -1* down with the driver. I think the Long Driver competition is around +4* up.
The wind is what would concern me about hitting up quite a bit with a driver. Tough to gauge just how much the ball will bend even if you strike a ball flush and the wind takes over.
As far as wind influence goes, I guess it depends on your driver.
I play with a very hot 8* driver. Something that is quite low loft for my moderate swing speed. So I have to hit it close to low point or on the upturn to get a proper carry. Therefore I get very moderate side spin. And because it has so little loft it also has very moderate back spin.
With the driver I never see my drives baloon up in the air and I hardly see the ball being blown sideways by the either either. This is very different from my fairway woods and irons of course, and pretty much due to the low loft.
I probably see slightly less carry in windstill conditions than I would have with a carry-optimised driver, but I think addded roll makes up for it. And besides - it's with the wind in the face that distance becomes a scarce resource. So I like to use a driver that produces max carry with the wind in my face.
I play with a Bangster head. The face is so hard and so smooth I can still use it as a mirror after some 5 years of usage. The only bad thing about this head is that I hardly get any backspin and thus very little carry whenever the clubhead and ball gets wet. Then I have to use a 3 wood instead. So this is not a driver for rainy days, but it is perfect in windy conditions and good conditions.
IMO, finding a driver that really fits the player is extremely immportant both for distance and consistency.
From a clubfitting perspective, what really appeals to me about Trackman is their driver fitting and yardage gapping.
But the driver fitting can measure many things, particularly landing angle. You don't get that with other monitors and I often wonder if my landing angle is too steep.
Back when I was a junior I used to be able to generate more clubhead speed, so I could use a lower lofted driver and still get it a good ways up in the air and have to worry about the wind carrying the ball over into the rough. I'd really like to get a driver fitting soon with Trackman.
I think if you need a few yards play it up, if you need to hit the fairway put some spin on it. The draw back here I think is that the sole of modern drivers encourages more of a sweeping action. Agree?
Hybrid Mode
