Accuracy versus Distance with the Driver

Which is more important for your game off the tee box? Which do you choose; Accuracy or Distance?

Driver A (Accuracy): Hits most fairways and is a very straight hitter just not as long. Usually 10 to 15 yards shorter than Driver B, but not in near as much trouble. Not very workable, but can be coaxed into a slight fade or draw.

Driver B (Distance): Is long but can be wild off the tee. Can hit to places you have never been, but can also put you in some bad spots that make recovery more difficult. Is workable, but at times can get away from you.

Accuracy for me is more important. When you are 10-15 yards further back, are we talking hitting a 9 instead of a wedge or a 6 iron instead of a 8 iron? Have you seen scorendifferences going back and forth?

For me, I’m taking the straighter driver. Problem is I’m a high SS guy so every driver will be more wild if I don’t put a great swing on it. So instead I use a setup that’s gonna be low spin and I know can eliminate a side for a miss, which is a hook in my case.

Well, of course it always an issue of balancing the 2.

But given your parameters, 10-15 less but always in the fairway vs. those 10-15 additional but occasional wild ones and places I've never been I would have to include the occasional OB and water balls as well.

Given those 2 choices I'll hit the extra club to club-and-a-half into all the par 4s,,,,,,,,,

Fortunately I've found the best of both worlds - ideal launch conditions and about as accurate as any driver I've ever hit. LOL

No reason you can't have both with the right driver/shaft combo. Took me a while to find mine but the M5 with the HZRDUS Black is very long and very straight.

Too many variables to accurately answer this question in general... the 18th hole on my course is 430 yards, with a hill peaking at the 200 yard marker. A drive carried about 230 will stop at the 200 marker with little roll out... A driver carried 240 will run out and you will have 160 yards in. I'm much more likely to make par or better from 160 yards than I am from 200 yards... on the 13 hole, rough is death and a 230 yard carry will roll out almost as well as a 240 yard carry... accuracy is at a premium.

Honestly, I think the answer is to try to have BOTH shots in the bag... a driver you can step on and chase extra yards where a miss left or right isn't much different than losing it short and something you can put in the fairway when you need to, even it it is a 90% swing. And the wisdom to know when to hit which swing.

The right driver should allow you to balance chasing distance with hitting fairways... Find something that allows you to maximize distance but does not kill forgiveness... I think working the ball off the tee is also overrated. Have a miss to one direction and aim to the other side... It will keep you in play consistently, even if you end up in the rough.

I would say in general, as long as you can hit in play, longer is better. Keeping it in play means no O.B, no water balls, no balls deep in the woods and having an unobstructed next shot from a reasonable lie.

Steve

You always want what you don't have. I'm short and accurate. I'd sure like to see what golf would be like if I could drive it another 20 yards, even if some were in the trees.

This is a hypothetical question.

It is either Driver A or Driver B, there is not a Driver C that is both long and accurate.

Driver A

So Driver A?

Driver A

Driver B

Driver B

Driver B

For me definitely driver A. I have 118 SS and sure I can try to step on it and carry it over 300 but I also find trouble way too often. If I take a smooth swing and give up 15-20 but still in a fairway I like my chances at hitting the green or being close. My 7 goes 185 so as long as I am 185 in or less I have a pretty short club in my hand.

Driver B

If I had to choose between the two, and laying off Driver B didn't lead to more consistent results, I'd go Driver A. I don't think being able to work a driver is much of an added benefit, and 10-15 yards isn't enough to risk putting a ball out of play.

Accuracy all day

Quite suprised at all the B folk....but thats what keeps the 17 more yards ads coming.Great answer re the Hazrds shaft for acc/distance.

I have Ping i20 and Ping Rapture V1 in regular 10.5,got both earlier this year for our next Summer in October NZ.

Im a believer in the

Putter 54 Wedge 8 Iron 5/4 Wood and Driver Combo that you Love and Trust so thats my

Excellent WITB Basics!

I play a long, straight 3-wood off the tee on most holes and only pull out driver on holes with safe landing areas, or holes that suit my draw.

There are even par 5s where old me would bang driver, but having a good lie and angle for my second shot (to set up an aggressive third shot) has taken precedence over the chance to get home in 2.

I've worked really hard (almost daily) on my wedge game the last 4 years. I trust it. My hybrid, 5-iron and mid-iron game has gotten better, so the extra approach yardage is manageable on most courses I play.

You could argue finding a driver-shaft combo that yields straighter shots would solve the issue more easily, I just haven't zeroed in on the perfect driver lately and the 3-wood is a fairway-finding missile.

When Tiger and Phil were at their simultaneous peaks (and better iron players than most players in history), I often argued that if they both got to play every drive from the middle of the fairway, the two of them would win more tournaments per season than the rest of "the field" combined. Both their iron, short and putting games were insane at the time. Knowing your strengths and how to exploit them can cut strokes fast for most weekend players.

10-15 yards I'll take driver A for accuracy. 30 yards and I'll take my chances of going in the rough and bunkers.

Experimenting with something unorthodox - carrying 2 drivers in the bag. This gives me both option A and option B:

(1) 9.5* TS4 with a Diamana DF 60X. Power fade bomber, and I've hit 330 a few times on dogleg rights where I could rip it. But this can leak right, so I also carry:

(2) 12* 917D2 (turned down to 11.25*) with an Aldila Tour Green 65TS. My default shot is a baby draw with this club. Controlled swings give me 260+ carry. I hit 290 a few times on Sunday with this club.

I don't carry a 5-iron (rarely used it). Depending on the course, I've been leaving either my 18* hybrid or 58* wedge in favor of the 2nd driver. My scoring has gone down as I am more regularly inside 125 with a wedge in my hands on my approach shots.

For 10 yards? Driver A.

IIRC the tour average is ~30 yards for the benefit of being wild compared to be straight. So a gap wadge from 120 in the rough has equivalent distance from hole stats as a fiarway shot from 150. Then you start seeing the major benefits when you hit a fairway or get a first cut lie, the proximity to the hole decreases pretty rapidly. The longer players over a season make more birdies than the shorter hitters, they make more bogeys but the long guys tend to place better, and win more tournaments as well when they can get away with a few bad shots.

I just dont think the 10 yards is enough of an advantage.

10-15 yards I'll take the accuracy. 30-45 and its worth the gamble.

Given your parameters, yes.

Sounds like your thread should've contained a poll.

I remember playing in the South and Midwest when I lived there, and it could just be bombs away all day long. I didn't think much about where I was aiming because there wasn't much trouble to avoid apart from an occasional pond. Mostly everything was straight up, dry, and flat. Made it easy to chuck one down there a long ways and just bunt it onto the green. However, growing up, and where I play now, it is tight fairways, soft turf and undulating fairways. My home course has zero flat lies, and is almost completely tree lined. It doesn't matter how long I am here, because I would have to be a complete idiot to fire driver on every hole. I am always taking fw's, hybrids and irons off the tee and keeping driver for a certain amount of holes where that is a viable option, and my course isn't all that short. (I guess you could say it is better to be long, because I can take advantage of a variety of clubs off the tee?)

Well if you loose a hole every now and then it´s hardly ever worth it. 10 yards is absolutely nothing. If I gain 30 metres I could maybe in theory get GIR on one of my home courses. Particularly since that would mean quite some distance with the irons as well :)

Driver B makes the game more fun ;)

Do we really have a choice? Being long and crooked no problem.... Being short and crooked sucks.

Option is going 3wood and be less crooked perhaps. Short and crooked is often ball in play though. long and crooked is my lost balls :)