Where do you place your driver before start of backswing?

[Commack350Z]

I always placed my driver head right behind the ball before I start my swing and it tends to produce slices for me and making me release late. But on a whim, I started placing the driver head about 6 inches behind the ball and I get a straight to slight fade. I feel like I am not going to be making contact with the ball but surprisingly the contract improved and better swing path. Does anyone do this with the driver?

[GSDriver]

That's most likely your shoulder tilt

[wkuo3]

Video tape your two positions with the driver. I'd bet you did not shift weight to the left properly, even if a fraction of the second delay would cause hang back which might cause the push and/or ITO swing path.

 

[Commack350Z]

I suffer with OTT with the driver and I never can draw the ball. But I am good with the irons and usually put a draw spin. I don't know why it's different for the driver.

[Golf Scientist]

> @Commack350Z said:

> I always placed my driver head right behind the ball before I start my swing and it tends to produce slices for me and making me release late. But on a whim, I started placing the driver head about 6 inches behind the ball and I get a straight to slight fade.

 

If I were to guess you were probably gripping it differently (and maybe aligned yourself differently too). Did you set the club behind the ball and then take your grip, or take your grip first, and then setup to the ball?

 

> @Commack350Z said:

> I suffer with OTT with the driver and I never can draw the ball. But I am good with the irons and usually put a draw spin. I don't know why it's different for the driver.

 

My guess would be you are setting up significantly different between your driver and irons. Aligning the shoulders too far left when setting up to a forward driver ball position is very common with many golfers. Less common, but still prevalent is for people to grip the two types of clubs differently. Finally there is the common trying to hit the ball as far as possible syndrome where people think they can get extra distance out of their driver then swinging jerky and out of sequence and off balance while they have a better grasp on only being able to hit irons a maximum distance. Without pictures or videos of your setup and swing it's hard to know which (if any) might be your issue.

[wkuo3]

> @Commack350Z said:

> I suffer with OTT with the driver and I never can draw the ball. But I am good with the irons and usually put a draw spin. I don't know why it's different for the driver.

 

Think the difference in shaft length between a driver and a iron, is the issue.

Most likely your rhythm/timing is not dialed in. When you try to swing the driver with the same rhythm as your 6 iron, your brain will tell you half way down that you must "hurry up" to catch the golf ball. Your hands will tend to move faster than the core, caused a simulated OTT path. If you don't have time to practice the driver, try a shorter length in the driver.

One jumbo bucket twice a week, and if you still have major issues after a few weeks, go see your instructor.

[xkilgorextroutx]

This is an all-time favorite uTube vid of mine, did wonders for my driver swing a few years back. Discusses exactly what the OP started to see.

[Fireballer]

I used to pretty much put the driver head in middle if stance and ball forward. It allowed me to keep the bottom of the swing near the middle and catch the ball on the upswing. Also gave me a strong "turn behind the ball " feel. Worked well.

[andrue]

I've thought this for a long time (though not done anything much with it). One other thought not mentioned in that video. If the ball is forward of the low point doesn't that encourage an out to in swing at impact (or at least reduce the in-to-out'ness' of the arc)?

 

It's why I think that the driver swing can't be identical to that of other swings. It has to be different in some way. I tend to think 'same swing, different parameters'. In the same sense in which you hold an egg the same way that you hold a rock. Same grip, different parameters :)

[juststeve]

I place the club head in the center of my stance for all clubs including the driver.

 

Steve

[MaineMariner]

Just this year, I started putting the driver head near the middle of my stance and the ball about middle of my left foot. It's done pretty crazy things for my driver results, which were previously very, very erratic. When I placed my club right behind the ball, my big miss was the big push slice where my whole body shifted forward, especially my upper body. Placing the club in the middle of my stance seems to make the whole arc deal work correctly. I haven't hit a big push slice in months.

 

Edit: Uh, yeah, exactly what that YouTube video says. I wish I had seen that years ago.

[Fireballer]

> @MaineMariner said:

> Just this year, I started putting the driver head near the middle of my stance and the ball about middle of my left foot. It's done pretty crazy things for my driver results, which were previously very, very erratic. When I placed my club right behind the ball, my big miss was the big push slice where my whole body shifted forward, especially my upper body. Placing the club in the middle of my stance seems to make the whole arc deal work correctly.

>

This is pretty much what I was doing...having issues hitting the driver without feeling like I had to get forward to get to the ball. With putting the clubhead in the middle of my stance, I feel like my entire swing happens behind the ball.

 

 

[Commack350Z]

> @Fireballer said:

> > @MaineMariner said:

> > Just this year, I started putting the driver head near the middle of my stance and the ball about middle of my left foot. It's done pretty crazy things for my driver results, which were previously very, very erratic. When I placed my club right behind the ball, my big miss was the big push slice where my whole body shifted forward, especially my upper body. Placing the club in the middle of my stance seems to make the whole arc deal work correctly.

> >

> This is pretty much what I was doing...having issues hitting the driver without feeling like I had to get forward to get to the ball. With putting the clubhead in the middle of my stance, I feel like my entire swing happens behind the ball.

>

>

 

This is exactly how I feel right now. When I put the clubhead behind the ball I sometimes catch myself with my chest facing the ball and late with release. But when I start the swing with the clubhead from the middle of stance, I feel more centered and release properly and catching the ball on the way up. I guess it's a set up issue.

[tbsbama]

Can’t wait to try this. With the ball in the proper forward position and the club right behind it I fight a pull hook.

[FairwaysToHeaven]

i've seen plenty of people set up with ball in front of stance and set driver right behind the ball....which then can lead to the shoulders setting open to the target and encouraging a fade/slice.

[Golf Scientist]

> @andrue said:

> I've thought this for a long time (though not done anything much with it). One other thought not mentioned in that video. If the ball is forward of the low point doesn't that encourage an out to in swing at impact (or at least reduce the in-to-out'ness' of the arc)?

>

Depending on your spine tilt (tilt of your upper center away from target and lower center more toward the target in comparison) it can.

 

Here is a little test for you:

Stand up straight, put your feet together, position the center of your upper body ( shirt buttons or center of your chest) directly over the center of your lower body (zipper, belt buckle, or groin). With no tension in your arms, hands, or shoulders clap your hand together which positions them at the center of your body (if you want take a mock golf grip, but don't twist your hands more on top or underneath from the way they were hanging as that could tilt your shoulders and change where your arms hang). Your arms should be hanging neutral to one another. Now make a small little rotation around your spine until your hands swing just about even with the outside of your right hip, and then back the other direction until even with just about the outside or your left hip (you want to keep your upper arms pretty close and attached to your chest area) .

What you should be noticing is that your hands are tracing an arc like part of a circle around you. They are swing inward compared to where they started on the backswing, swing back outward on the way back, are back to their starting position in the center, and arc inward when they pass your center.

 

Now try this test (looking in a mirror can help you see your positions clearly):

Setup the same as before, but now tilt your spine away from the target so that your upper center points toward your front heel/instep. (If you can take a club shaft, broom, or some other long straight object and hold it on your chest, where your spine should theoretically be then have it point between you legs by bending forward from your hips slightly. Tilt your spine away from the target until the shaft / object hits your front leg. This is the proper amount of spine tilt, and should get your shirt buttons and spine titled toward your front instep).

If you're keeping your arm tension free when you make this tilt you should notice that your shoulders tilt (left up, and right down), your head tilts backward slightly, and your arms swing forward to where now your left hand and right hands are in front of your left leg. They are still in line with where your upper spine points. Now do the same pivot movement you did in the last test. Like last time you should notice the hands swing inward on the way back, and outward on the return trip. However, what you should now be noticing is that they are back to square when they are in front of your left leg, and don't arc inward again until they pass your leg and the spot where your upper spine is pointed.

 

In summary if your upper and lower center are stacked over one another and you have your ball positioned forward in your stance you will be arcing out-to-in as you contact the ball, but if you have your spine tilted with your upper center back of your lower center with your ball positioned forward you won't arc inside until later in the swing.

 

 

 

[bladehunter]

I play mine off my left heel. And the driver head is hovered a bit behind and a bit above the ball. This was the setup change that unlocked my driver last year. When I started from a soled position my aoa was consistently -2.5 to -4. After the change -1 to +1 is the norm. Which is perfect in my opinion. But more importantly it worked wonders for me release of the clubhead. I used to miss high right and now that’s never a worry. For some reason I just get through the ball without a thought.

[Nard_S]

> @Commack350Z said:

> I always placed my driver head right behind the ball before I start my swing and it tends to produce slices for me and making me release late. But on a whim, I started placing the driver head about 6 inches behind the ball and I get a straight to slight fade. I feel like I am not going to be making contact with the ball but surprisingly the contract improved and better swing path. Does anyone do this with the driver?

 

Swung with head several inches behind ball for years, like some one mentioned it's about setup tilt or lack of it. So now, I get into setup with head more centered to body then tilt body back to bring it up to ball which is off left heel. Doing it this way avoids getting lazy and just opening up shoulders to driver tee. One of the biggest reasons for my missed pokes is not getting this initial setup angle correct

[garyt]

> @xkilgorextroutx said:

> This is an all-time favorite uTube vid of mine, did wonders for my driver swing a few years back. Discusses exactly what the OP started to see.

>

 

I was thinking of this exact video while reading the OP. Would've never known where to find it though.

[tbsbama]

Ok say this thread last week and was interested. Driver has going left with the pull hooks. Saturday played the ball in the same as usual off left instep but soled the driver in the middle of my stance. Hit 7 of 8 fairways where driver was used and nothing went left. Just five yard draw bombs. Will continue to work with this.

[Kazfury]

On the course, using this clubhead in the middle setup, where should I focus my eyes? The ball or the area where the decoy would be?

[Commack350Z]

> @Kazfury said:

> On the course, using this clubhead in the middle setup, where should I focus my eyes? The ball or the area where the decoy would be?

 

That's a good question. I tried both and I just can't make a good contact without looking at the ball. So for me, I set up with the clubhead in the middle of stance and look at the ball during the entire swing up until impact or thereabout.

[Millbrook]

There was I sat in the waiting room waiting to have a knee replacement when I got into conversation with another guy. Turned out he was a golfer and pulled out a cutting from a golf magazine recommending exactly what you are talking about. Said he had shown it to loads of people and all of them have improved.

I've not healed enough to try it.

[mcputter]

Moe Norman used to set up with the club several inches behind the ball. He was a pretty good ball striker.

 

 

[DLev45]

> @Kazfury said:

> On the course, using this clubhead in the middle setup, where should I focus my eyes? The ball or the area where the decoy would be?

 

Somewhere inbetween for me. I focus on a spot on the ground on my target line about 2 inches behind the ball, which is still well ahead of my stance-centered clubhead at address. [As someone with a tendency to slide forward on the downswing, this changed by ball-striking completely.](http://www.golflagtips.com/the-aiming-point-concept-from-the-golfing-machine/ "golflagtips.com/the-aiming-point-concept-from-the-golfing-machine/")

[Kazfury]

My driver’s back! I was struggling with push slicing and snap hooks this year. On the course today I used the setup as explained in the YouTube video and it worked. Hit 4 out of 5, slight draw right in the middle of the fairway. Thanks everyone! I’m so glad I found this thread on my lunch break, lol.

[ingster1]

Great thread. I’ve been really struggling with my driving and have tried a number of different things. The combo of placing my driver in the middle of my stance and focusing on a spot well behind the ball (where I think my low point should be) has made a huge difference.

 

Just a minor question - should I be placing my driver in the middle of my stance on a line directly behind the ball or should I be placing it slightly inside the line?

[Commack350Z]

> @ingster1 said:

> Great thread. I’ve been really struggling with my driving and have tried a number of different things. The combo of placing my driver in the middle of my stance and focusing on a spot well behind the ball (where I think my low point should be) has made a huge difference.

>

> Just a minor question - should I be placing my driver in the middle of my stance on a line directly behind the ball or should I be placing it slightly inside the line?

 

Good question. I think this is something you can play around with. I normally put the clubhead in the middle of stance so that clubhead is on top of target line. I noticed that my clubhead is going slightly left at impact and produce fades which I like.

[Kazfury]

> @ingster1 said:

> Great thread. I’ve been really struggling with my driving and have tried a number of different things. The combo of placing my driver in the middle of my stance and focusing on a spot well behind the ball (where I think my low point should be) has made a huge difference.

>

> Just a minor question - should I be placing my driver in the middle of my stance on a line directly behind the ball or should I be placing it slightly inside the line?

 

What I did was when I moved my right leg to the right to setup my stance I let the clubhead naturally move to right as well. So my driver head was in line directly with the ball.

[Sean M]

On 9/22/2019 at 8:08 AM, Nard_S said:

> Swung with head several inches behind ball for years, like some one mentioned it's about setup tilt or lack of it. So now, I get into setup with head more centered to body then tilt body back to bring it up to ball which is off left heel. Doing it this way avoids getting lazy and just opening up shoulders to driver tee. One of the biggest reasons for my missed pokes is not getting this initial setup angle correct.

I have some lower back issues on the right side of my lumbar spine (football and rugby). I used to set up to driver with more 'secondary tilt' away from the target, but doing that now can lead to aggravating the injury. Setting up with driver head in the middle of the stance effectively creates a similar position without manufacturing it. General pattern is straight to 5-10 yard draws. If I want to cut it, I just open the face a couple degrees, take my grip and drop my lead foot back away from the ball a half inch or so.