Can't Get Driver In the Air

[naj959]

Ok, so I had been playing some very good golf this year and striking it very well. About a month ago, I went out and my swing was just gone. Everything felt foreign, especially my grip. I think the low point was shanking my driver a few times off the tee. I've taken multiple online lesson in the past and took 2 in the past month or so. I seem to be back on track now and have started to find the center of my clubs again with everything except driver. The thing that seemed to help the most was going back to the Gankas style posture (Used to be a site member). I know my pivot is poor but the tucked rear end seems to allow me to get away with it. I think my poor hip turn in the backswing caused me to stand up in the downswing and hit everything off the toe. With the posture change, I suspect that I have some space fore my arms to swing through without moving out towards the ball. It's worked for every club except the Driver which I'm hitting low off the heel. I used to be a very good driver of the ball but now its frustrating. Any thoughts? I think the more I work on the posture the more my body will start to move properly again. Hit 2 good drives yesterday but the rest were 200 yard worm burners. Very straight though haha. Apologies in advance for the poor camera work.

Today

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Older vid when I was hitting driver decent

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[PorscheFan]

Man, that’s frustrating. Been there.

 

So hard to tell in the light, but it looks like you keep that Gankas posture, but then never really extend at any point... Almost like you stay in that squat forever.

 

I’m a serial driver heel hitter, and I have more success - whatever the rights and wrongs of it - when I feel more upright with the driver and feel like I’m swinging ‘under’ vs. excessively around.

 

I’m sure it’s heresy, but I’ve had my most success when allowing myself to completely decouple my driver swing from every other swing and follow slightly different rules.

[andrue]

I had this problem a couple of months ago. In my case I wasn't rotating my forearms enough on the back swing. It's a bit of a contentious point because instructors say to keep the face parallel to the swing path but actually that seems to be wrong. Or at least it's not natural. The natural swing is to let the club face be toe vertical when the club is horizontal that means you're open to the swing path.

 

Anyway the pro told me to get my thumbs pointing up on the back swing and follow through. He referred to it as the 'thumb ups drill'.

 

I found a video online saying the same thing:

and

 

Don't know if it'll work for you but it's worked really well for me. I'm still having some timing related issues resulting in occasional pulls, pushes and fades but it's a marked improvement. I'm always launching well and am hitting some stonking drives. At the range I'm actually hitting balls off the back now which means some are rolling out to 270 yards. A month ago I nearly got a GIR on a 441 yard par 4 with driver then 3h. Ball came to rest on the fringe but man that felt good :)

[naj959]

Thanks for the tips guys. My head used to move off the ball quite a bit and I used to be able to really swing up one the ball. I've been trying to get it to stay more centered as suggested by Dan C. Perhaps My head is moving forward in transition and my angle of attack has become negative? I don't feel like I'm able to swing up on the ball like I used to. I'll have to get some FO video and see if my theory is correct.

[naj959]

Man, that’s frustrating. Been there.

 

So hard to tell in the light, but it looks like you keep that Gankas posture, but then never really extend at any point... Almost like you stay in that squat forever.

 

I’m a serial driver heel hitter, and I have more success - whatever the rights and wrongs of it - when I feel more upright with the driver and feel like I’m swinging ‘under’ vs. excessively around.

 

I’m sure it’s heresy, but I’ve had my most success when allowing myself to completely decouple my driver swing from every other swing and follow slightly different rules.

I did an online lesson with Josh Koch, a protege of Dana Dahlquist not too long ago and he mentioned that I don't get the extension piece as well. You have a good eye.

[platgof]

I had a tough time casting the club and felt the same way, just horrible. I wanted to quit and go home. Eventually it went away, so it was just temporary. I blame some of it on being tired, and stress.

[andrue]

I had a tough time casting the club and felt the same way, just horrible. I wanted to quit and go home. Eventually it went away, so it was just temporary. I blame some of it on being tired, and stress.

Heh. When I'm fatigued I start duck hooking :-/

 

Did it on two holes today. Managed to pull back to a half way decent swing eventually though which is an improvement. Usually my duck hooks are a sign of the end times :)

[MonteScheinblum]

Need some serious left tilt at the top.

[naj959]

Need some serious left tilt at the top.

 

Thanks for taking a look Monte. I hope to do an online lesson with you in the near future. You and Dan C. have a wonderful ability to communicate with your students. When you say left tilt, do you mean secondary tilt or more tilting of the shoulders in the backswing? I've always had a flat shoulder turn that I'm trying to get rid of. I used to be able to time the head movement forward in the downswing pretty well but wiser men then me have told me that it's got to go.

[naj959]

I had a tough time casting the club and felt the same way, just horrible. I wanted to quit and go home. Eventually it went away, so it was just temporary. I blame some of it on being tired, and stress.

Heh. When I'm fatigued I start duck hooking :-/

 

Did it on two holes today. Managed to pull back to a half way decent swing eventually though which is an improvement. Usually my duck hooks are a sign of the end times :)

Man there's nothing worse than a duck hook. One of the worst feelings in golf. Mine seem to occur when I bend over too much at address, don't make a good pivot, and get the club stuck behind me in the downswing, I can't stop the club from flipping from there.

[andrue]

I had a tough time casting the club and felt the same way, just horrible. I wanted to quit and go home. Eventually it went away, so it was just temporary. I blame some of it on being tired, and stress.

Heh. When I'm fatigued I start duck hooking :-/

 

Did it on two holes today. Managed to pull back to a half way decent swing eventually though which is an improvement. Usually my duck hooks are a sign of the end times :)

Man there's nothing worse than a duck hook. One of the worst feelings in golf. Mine seem to occur when I bend over too much at address, don't make a good pivot, and get the club stuck behind me in the downswing, I can't stop the club from flipping from there.

I think mine are the result of my body not turning through because I have a definite feeling of the club sweeping around my body. I think my path is probably slightly out to in but my hands have closed the face even more. I think that because the ball barely gets airborne and the only saving grace is that they usually end up fifty yards away in the light rough.

 

I think mine starts with a truncated back swing. I used to have a short and flat back swing and maybe fatigue causes me to drop back into old habits and I end up with everything out of sequence. The best my brain can do is stall the body turn so that at least I hit the ball. Stupid body :)

[MonteScheinblum]

Need some serious left tilt at the top.

 

Thanks for taking a look Monte. I hope to do an online lesson with you in the near future. You and Dan C. have a wonderful ability to communicate with your students. When you say left tilt, do you mean secondary tilt or more tilting of the shoulders in the backswing? I've always had a flat shoulder turn that I'm trying to get rid of. I used to be able to time the head movement forward in the downswing pretty well but wiser men then me have told me that it's got to go.

 

Left shoulder closer to the ball at the top

[naj959]

After a lot of trial and error, I finally got it going today. It was a really simple fix but it had so many ramifications for the rest of the swing. My takeaway was garbage and was going way outside the target line. Today I just focused on moving the hands in while keeping the club head out or down the target line for the first foot or so. The swing feels so much better. the club feels more in front of my body. I don't feel stuck anymore and like I'm fighting the club. I take it to the top and I feel like I can just turn through the ball without being steep or coming over the top. The swing feels smooth and effortless plus i get really good extension through the ball with my arms as opposed to flipping at the ball. I'm getting my distance back and hitting a very straight ball or slight fade if my timing is a smidge off. Definitely putting this move in my golf notes so I don't forget about it again. Now I can work on getting that left tilt since my body feels freed up.

 

[jkbroker]

Take a look at rose at the top of the backswing with the driver, especially the shoulder angle (pointed more toward the ball). Getting the correct and proper angle will allow you to get in to left tilt and also limit the backswing turn, get everything more in sync, and allow you to wind up the core correctly.

[naj959]

Take a look at rose at the top of the backswing with the driver, especially the shoulder angle (pointed more toward the ball). Getting the correct and proper angle will allow you to get in to left tilt and also limit the backswing turn, get everything more in sync, and allow you to wind up the core correctly.

I need to put in the reps. Tilting the shoulders is a very unnatural move for me. I've had a flat shoulder turn all of my golfing life; causes me to dip in the backswing. Golf is hard.

[llewol007]

Seems as if your hands are way about the ball on impact almost like you are prepped to the the half of the ball furthest from you which means a top or an extreme low banana slice

[OakLawnGolfPro]

Where's the contact point? Low heel? Low center?

[naj959]

After the takeaway change I started hitting the center again and hitting respectable drives. Prior to, it was sporadic but all low on the face. Nasty toe hooks stand out the most in my mind.

[platgof]

Think about shortening your driver, it would really help your swing out. Your having a hard time finding the "slot." This is why your shorter clubs came back sooner. Start with a 1/2" first, If your grip can be blown off, it won't cost much. If you still have a problem, I would cut more off and add weight back in. Some pros play a 44" driver.

[naj959]

I was in a funk and bought a 915 D2 just to look at something different. Stock diamana plays at 45 inches and I like it so far. Could kick the g30 out because it is laser beam straight.

 

I looked at some old lessons I took from Dan Carraher and went back to the very first thing we worked on which was curing an outside steep takeaway. I'm feeling like my takeaway goes to the inside and the game feels so easy now. The swing is effortless with all my clubs. Driver is no longer an issue. I think I was off plane before and couldn't recover from that steep position. Was hitting way down on the ball. Now im hitting up again.