still slicing

[Redneck Golfer]

First of all, thank you guys for having me read "Ben Hogans 5 rules". It is an awesome book! I cant believe that a book that was written 52 years ago is still the fundamental rules. So, now to the meat and potatoes:
I changed my grip, feels wierd but starting to get used to it. Changed my stance and posture, elbows pointed at hips, etc. Upswing and Downswing...having a bit of a time with that one. I went out twice this week. My buddy said I wasn't keeping my left arm straight. Started concentrating on that. Huge improvement! I was shanking all my irons except my wedges. Now I hit pretty straight, atleast fairway, with all my irons. I tried the same with my driver, 3 wood and 5 wood. I'm slicing them worse than ever! When I play irons off the tee, I par or bogie every hole. Which makes me extremely happy! When I pull out the driver (Taylor Made Burner Draw) I blow up horribly!!! Now, I know some of you guys don't pull out the driver till its 400 yards or better, and thats cool. My mentality is that if I can hit the driver 250-275 and straight, which i do not, then why tee off with an iron that only goes 180-200? BTW cant afford hybrids right now. In rebuttle to that, staying in the fairway is most important, I understand that. But I want to learn the game the way it is supposed to be played, FUNDAMENTALY. I don't want to make adjustments to compensate for bad habits. I am adamit that I want to play correctly.

Now, two questions.
1. Why is it that I am so relaxed with my wedges that I can play my wedges like I've been playing for 20 years? I mean, I'm really good with the wedge from 100 yards in, minus an occasional miss on a 20 yard flop shot. I have used the 7iron bump and run often. Works pretty nice. Im not talkin crazy backspin or anything, but its pretty damn decent.

2. Using the driver stated above, which has a pretty heavy offset being a draw driver, I cant get it even remotely straight unless I'm fortunate enough to mess up and hit the ground first which seems to straighten the swing out enough to be in the fairway. Brings me back to swing plane. I bring the driver back and try my hardest to bring it back on the same plane. Tried hitting it to "right field". Made sure my hips turned first as I'm coming down. All to no avail. How do I make sure that my downswing is the same as my upswing? A drill I can do at home or on the range. You all have been great and helpful. I can't thank you enough for your help. So bring it on boys and girls!

[N.V.M.]

try experimenting with this next time you're at the range. assuming you're a righty, on your down swing, concentrate on pulling with your left hand. almost like the opposite of hitting with a baseball bat where you tend to use your right hand more.

a slice also comes from a stance too open, or the ball way too ahead in your stance. i had a wicked slice when i started, and pulling more with my left hand did wonders.

[stllefty]

If your dealing with the driver as you said but not with the wedges, your not letting the club swing. the shorter shaft will let you get away with that on the wedges, but youll never get away with it on the longer clubs ( 4-driver) If you dont fell the club pulling you at the bottom of the down swing your not swinging the but hitting the ball. You start swinging the club youll be alright.

[phatheadaf]

I'm always concerned about offering swing advice, however here is my two cents:

It sounds like you made a several swing changes in a very short time, so many that I'm sure on some level you are having 6 or 7 swing thoughts at a time. I think that may be part of the answer as to why your hitting your weges w/ ease: your not thinking of "how" to hit it, and just being instinctive. Secondly, in regard to the wedges, they are the shortest length club in our bag so it is easier to get comfortable w/ them.

So noting the above, I think the length of the woods is what is causing you troubles, which has you thinking of the 6 or 7 swing thoughts instead of just being instinctive.

So my one offer is this. When you are standing over the ball, try to focus on one swing thought. For myself, I don't even have a swing thought. I focus on a picture of my target. For example before I setup, I pick out a target I'm attempting to aim at. Then when I'm standing over my ball, thru impact, I'm focusing on the target and not my swing.

I'm sure you have plenty of instruction in Hogan's book, just don't get too caught up in trying to get it all done at once.

One thing is plenty to have on your mind when you swing...

A.