I feel like I generate too much power/distance, but don't golf enough to control it well

[Guest]

I feel like I'm in limbo here. I've been golfing since I was a kid, and was on my golf team in highschool. My dad got my swing pretty technical and I learned to create quite a lot of lag and quite a lot of power. Through my 20s I didn't really golf more than 5 or 6 rounds a year until the last couple years I started to golf closer to 15-20 rounds a season (Im Canadian so I cant golf year round). I'm 28 now and pretty athletic and can really crush balls. I don't keep a handicap but I shoot between 85-90 at my local courses. I would shoot a lot better but I am losing 8 to 10 balls a round mostly off the tee box or long 4 hybrid/wood shots. I can hit my 5 iron about 215 yards , driver carry 265, pretty much everything is hit high and far (relative to my golf friends), but I just struggle to keep them consistent. None of my bad shots are topped balls, duffs, etc. They are all hit with a lot of power and feel pure but they can pull, push, slice etc.

 

Do you guys suggest changing my swing to create less power or trying to make changes to control what I have?

[cadoipi]

In the short term:

1) Figure out a "fairway finder" an easy swing with enough club so the ball goes 200+ and in the fairway 90% of the time.

2) Figure out stock easy swings with clubs from 100 and 150 yards, so you can hit the green 75% of the time from the fairway from those two distances.

3) Stop automatically teeing off with a driver on every par 4/5. Instead take a easy swing with enough club to get to the 150 or 100 yard marker. Eg on a 360/310 yard par 4, hit your fairway finder to the 150/100 marker and then hit an easy short iron to the green.

4) Only hit a driver on holes where a) a wayward shot will not penalize you and b) you stand to gain a lot from a well hit drive. Examples are short par 5s (~480) that you could reach in 2 and long par 4s (where your fairway finder will leave you with a long iron into the green).

Long term:

Work on your consistency, will likely need to change some aspect of your swing. See a pro for that.

[Guest]

Thanks for the tips. Especially #2, I have thought of this before and sometimes end up trying some complicated swing from 130 yards to pop the ball up more but can cause mishits.

[GSDriver]

Yes, the old adage, learn to hit hard then control it. I can hit it further, but I can say, I hit at least 12 of 14 fairways a round, simply by swinging about 80-85%. Might cost me few yards, but so much easier playing out of fairway than rough or worse.

[GunGun]

just to throw it out the I have a good friend that plays few rounds per month and he was wild all over the place. Then I was upgrading my three wood and he asked what I was going to do with it. Well I said it was probably hard for him to hit as I play with stiffer shafts. He is a big muscular sporty guy and I let him have it. One year later he has ordered new clubs all fitted with stiffer shafts and he golf has improved a lot.

of course shafts don’t automatically give consistency but they sure help if you have the right ones. Have you gotten fitted ?

[Guest]

I have thought about stiffer shafts as I believe my club speed is pretty high, but I can't afford to change all my clubs to stiff shafts or replace them right now. Just trying to find a grip and swing plane balance right now to hit straight.

[Krt22]

Unless you are totally off balance with each shot, slowing down isn't going to fix the flaws that are causing your directional inconsistency. You will just go from long and crooked to short and crooked

[smashdn]

Choke down on the driver and swing it around 75% and see what you get.

 

Use irons off the tee until you can hit longer clubs without losing strokes.

 

Like someone else suggested, develop a stock shot shape and play to it. It is so much easier to take one side of the course out of play even if it means you may be at a disadvantage on a hole shaped the opposite direction. You are long enough to hit a control shot or two on those holes and be aggressive on the other more open driving holes.

[Pepperturbo]

I suspect you're swinging full-out. A buddy of mine does that too. I've told him more than once, slow it down, but he persists, consequently, his dispersion and distance control is ugly. To make matters worse, he uses lite-weight graphite "R" shafts.

I use graphite too, but my iron shafts are designed for better golfers, heavier and some say kinda stout, hence distance control isn't an issue. My driver and 4wd shafts, though on the lite weight side, are a bit stiff too.

If what I think is true, try to dial your swing back to about 90%, leave 10% in the tank. Even at my age, I can hit the ball further than my averages but I save that for when it's absolutely needed. I like being in the fairway in lieu of the extra 15yrds+ in junk where I need snake gaiters to hunt for the ball.

Having said that, good golfers like an extra 10+yds per club in reserve. Why? Sometimes we have to push a given club further, but don't want the extra yards of the next club. My 3i is 190yd club but I can push it to 200yds and I am 70yrs old.

[cadoipi]

Yes a slow flawed full swing is likely no straighter than a fast flawed full swing. However most people are much straighter/consistent making a backswing to 9-10 o'clock and swinging smoothly while only losing ~10% distance compared to a full swing.

[cadoipi]

Just fyi, for less than $150 you can you can buy a used set of high quality irons (that are 20 years old, $300 will get you a set 10 years old). Likewise 10 year old drivers can be had for less than $100.

[D0ch0l1d4y]

Posting a video of your swing will help with any real tips. As others have said - slowing down isn't a fix. Proper positions and proper sequences are the fix.

I'd also bet a 20-piece McNugget that your swing is way too long.