Setting up driver 4-6” behind the ball?

[jl923]

Does anyone else do this? It helps me square up the face otherwise it’s a slice. Wondering if I’m masking flaws by doing this. Occasionally I hit massive duck hooks.

[tthomasgolfer605]

It worked for this guy.

 

[Sons_of_Pitches]

I do this which results in either a straight or slight draw. If I don't it gets my shoulders/hands/shaft too far forward; which in turn results in a severe fade/slice.

[SEP1006]

I do it and really don't even know why or how I started it. Whenever someone new plays with us I will get asked about it and really don't have an answer. For whatever reason now the set up just fits my eye and gives me confidence over the ball.

[xkilgorextroutx]

I set up that way as well. Picked it up a few years ago after watching this video a few times when I was fighting a massive banana slice, and it worked very well for me. I've kept it ever since.

[andrue]

I've wondered about this for a while now. I have a nasty habit of popping up my driver and typically hit quite high on the face. I've long suspected it's because I return the club to where it was at address.

[spineshank]

Maurice Allen in WLD does it.

[me05501]

It absolutely can work but it seems like it is probably a band-aid fix.

You're basically presetting the thought of releasing the club early to hit the ball with a square-to-closed face. Your subconscious imagines the ball to be where you set the head down at address and reacts as if that's the case, so you turn your hands over earlier and the ball goes straighter.

This will help people who don't rotate their body enough through the ball, but instead of fixing that issue it will probably cause you to continue that habit. It'll let you play with what you've got, basically. Nothing wrong with that!

Just my two cents, not a swing coach.

[jl923]

That’s what I think as well. That I’m bandaiding and limiting my improvement. If my tempo is good and I swing relaxed setting up 4-6 inches works fine but when I get quick and tempo is off I hit the worst duck hooks and go ob. Issue is when I set up square maybe an inch behind ball like 3 wood I push it 50 yards right.

[juststeve]

Club head in the center of the stance is not a band-aid. It is the only place where balance can be perfect and you can be in balance with the target line.

Steve

[nitram]

Like everything else, it'll work great as long as you set up the same everytime. But the moment you don't, you'll know it. Just remember, we are talking about missing the sweet spot by less than 3 mm's and a face angle +/- 1.5 degrees.

[me05501]

 

That must be why all the best players...don't do it?

[juststeve]

If you are an elite athlete who plans to play and practice all day every day, then by all means model you swing after the "best players". If you don't meet those criteria you might try something else.

 

Steve

[Newgs]

I agree with some of the "band-aid" comments. My guess is if you put the ball further back or the club more forward you would probably be hitting down on it instead of up like you should with a driver. Also IMO, the occasional duck hooks are because you are already in your follow through basically when you make contact. All that being said, do what works for you and you can repeat with high predictability of outcome.

[ShakeyT]

I've played like this for years. It makes perfect sense to me.

[dsmil]

I think it makes total sense if you're hitting the ball better this way or need some help with angle of attack. I'm actually surprised that more people don't do this. We usually sole the driver right behind the ball and have the middle of the ball line up with the top of the driver, which isn't actually where we want to hit the ball. It seems to me that this presets the club bottoming out behind the ball, which is good on the drives.

[jl923]

Why don’t the pros do this? How are the majority of players able to square up the face without setting the driver 4-6 inches behind the ball? If you normally set the driver right behind the ball, would you hook the hell out of the ball if you set up 4-6 inches behind?

[xkilgorextroutx]

Given that I've used this setup for around 4 years and it's continued to work well... I guess that's one heck of a long-lasting "band aid".

"Why don't the pros do this" always give me a chuckle. Listen, when I can practice 8 hours a day 7 days a week, I'll worry about what the pros do. Until then, I'll keep doing what makes my 4-5 rounds per month fun and enjoyable.

[80sFredriksson]

It makes sense to me that this can help with shoulder alignment and angle of attack, I dont put it that far behind but at least 3 inches