All out effort with driver??

[ezra76]

For me it's a matter of where I turn it on. If you see my recent swingvid I don't hold a whole lot back but I turn it on after I've dropped in the slot. There is a point where I know I'm going to make solid square contact, when I get to that point I can now just pull with everything I have.

Good posts about the grip too. I'm trying to create speed with my glutes, hips and shoulders. All those little fast twitch muscles and tendons are too unpredictable.

 

[SiberianDVM]

I went to the range last night to try out a few things. My best, as in straightest, drives were when I swung easy. And they were OK: about 250 yards with rollout. But this was with my 9.5* 983K and I thought the trajectory was a little low.

So the pro has the Callaway driver fitting cart with the different heads and shafts. I tried out a X-10 (?) head at 11* with the NVS shaft in regular flex. Moonballs. I don't hit my 9 iron that high. Horrible "PONK!" sound from that head even when hit on the sweetspot. The shaft felt nice though. I'll try a different head and loft next time.

 

[warbirdlover]

Not very good reviews on that driver. Not surprised at your results...

 

[Sean]

I tend to go all out and really get after it. My instructor calls my swing 'very violent'. I really try to knock the life out of that little ball.

The most important thing for me is keeping a relaxed grip, if I do that I keep it straight on the really good hits and manageable even on the bad hits and by that I mean I have a decent shot to recover from the edge of the fairway/just in the trees.

If I screw my grip up I almost always hook it sharply (like a hard left turn) or, and this is pretty rare for me, hit a real long, real pretty slice out of bounds)

When I get up there I think "Hands." fix my grip and then put everything I got into it. I figure if I gotta swing lightly I may as well grab the 5 wood. Nothing glamorous about the fairway woods though. Girls dig the drivers.

 

[BStone]

I can't remember the last time I went all out with the driver. Most of my swings are about 80%
or so. Maybe once a round I will go to 90%, usually when I need to draw the ball since I will get a little flatter and almost sling the club head through impact resulting ina pretty consistent 15 yard draw.

 

[Augster]

To quote Harvey Penick...

I just "swing the bucket". Feel like you are taking back a bucket of water. Then bring it through. If you transition too fast, get quick, the "water" will spill on you. If you take it down too slow, it will also spill.

It really helps to feel this. The best way is to hover your driver head at address. You can have it just on top of the grass, but just don't have it pushed into the ground. You can feel the headweight as you would if you had a bucket on a string.

Time this to a nice 3:1 Tour Tempo timing of your choice and you're all set.

 

[SiberianDVM]

To quote Harvey Penick...

I just "swing the bucket". Feel like you are taking back a bucket of water. Then bring it through. If you transition too fast, get quick, the "water" will spill on you. If you take it down too slow, it will also spill.

It really helps to feel this. The best way is to hover your driver head at address. You can have it just on top of the grass, but just don't have it pushed into the ground. You can feel the headweight as you would if you had a bucket on a string.

Time this to a nice 3:1 Tour Tempo timing of your choice and you're all set.

I had not heard of the "swing the bucket of water" analogy, so I'll keep that in mind. I do have a Tour Tempo player, but I have not used it in a couple of months, as the tones are just a touch quick for me, even the slowest. What I do instead is hum "The Blue Danube Waltz."

 

[EnglishGolfer]

You've got to go for it (mostly). I tend not to hold much back, I probably hit drives at about 90% and they go well. But I can never resist going right up to the limit if I hit 2 or 3 good ones back to back and generally the results aren't worth the extra effort. About 1 in 5 of my "Happy Gilmore" drives hit the fairway, the rest I'm not sure about because I usually end up playing my provisional.:laugh: