Hey… im very new to the game of Golf… i played a few games when i was about 16 (over ten years ago) but never really got much into it at the time because i didnt have the money or the time but according to everyone had a great swing.

In the last month i have been on a course about 7 times and dont have trouble getting distance… i average around 310m on my drive… longest to date has been around the 350m mark but a lot of the time i seem to be hitting well outside of the fairway (2 fairways over).

One person i was playing with says i seem to have an open stance as it looks as if i am aiming with my feet well to the left but hit the ball out to the in a direct line (if that makes sense… i might aim well left but the ball will start straight towards the middle of the fairway)

I looked up online ways to adjust my line by making sure my feet are toward the pin and my hips and shoulders are the same but now seem to slice the ball a bit more often and even more so with my irons?

Its still early days yet, i managed to get a 98 the other day which i was reasonably happy with but it could be greatly improved if i could work out what the hell is going on… maybe it would be easier to explain if i put up a video of my swing?

Averaging 310 with a slice is awesome distance…you will get plenty question it.

Video wouldn’t hurt, but in the meantime look over the articles in the golf school section of this site.

yeah no offence nick but that does seem a bit exaggerated distance. 310 average is longer than nearly all the pros. Paul Casey who is a big hitter averages 300 yards which is 270m. I’m not saying that you couldnt hit that far but how have you measured this especially when you are two fairways over. The only reason i say this is people are unwilling to help a guy who lies and is full of himself. i’ll give you the benefit of the doubt though.

i very much doubt it is your stance. most people aim their feet to far right rather than left. also your feet being misaligned wouldnt cause a slice that would go 2 fairways over. my thinking is that your slice is caused by turning your shoulders first on the downswing. this is a common cause of the slice as a result of an out to in swing. if you arent doing this then look at your backswing. what does your backswing look like. at the top of your swing do

a) your elbows should be at the same height
b) the clubface should match the angle of your left forearm
c) your right forearm should match your spine angle
d) your spine angle should be maintained
e) clubshaft should be parallel to target line
f) shoulders should be at right angles to spine
g) right knee should maintain its flex

if your backswing meets all these requirements i’m going to need to see a video of your swing.

my advice – if you are hitting the ball as far as you say then spend some money on some lessons as you obviously have enormous potential if you harness your ball striking ability.

I agree with doddsy, lessons are a really good way to go here. I also agree with toolish that plenty will question that kind of freakish distance. If you could post a vid I’d love to have a look at your swing :)

I have been through a similar process. I hit around 150 yards with the 7, quite far (no 300+ though) but had problems with accuracy.

What I find is helping a lot is going back to the basics, get the shorter clubs going straight and then work back up to the longer ones.

I have yet to pick up a driver after 6 months of golf and T off with a hybrid 5 iron which gives me around 220 yards and getting straighter.

Good luck.

adz70 if you are having trouble with a driver i would suggest trying a 44inch shaft. tiger has one of these. this will give you alot more control. i know there any people on this site who say that is way too small but is the best player in the world has a 44 inch shaft then why do amateurs think they can hit a 45 or 46 inch shaft.

adz70 if you are having trouble with a driver i would suggest trying a 44inch shaft. tiger has one of these

Not any more…playing a 45 now I think.

But that doesn’t mean this advice is wrong, not many of us are blessed with tigers skills…if you have driver trouble go shorter with more loft and possibly a more flexible shaft….in other words get fitted.

if nik hits it that far maybe he should go on long drive circuit he would only need one in grid and he would have a chance i thought i hit it long at around 270 – 280 m but i also hit 90% of fairways as well

if nik hits it that far maybe he should go on long drive circuit he would only need one in grid and he would have a chance i thought i hit it long at around 270 – 280 m but i also hit 90% of fairways as well

now thats impressive. i hit it out there around 270m but only hit 50-75% of fairways depending on the day.

Tdoddsy, NigelO is gonna luv you. Finally someone else that says that 44inch is all you need.

Without seeing your swing it’s hard to tell exactly what you’re doing wrong. The only thing I can do is educate you and hopefully you can use this info to help diagnose yourself. Let me clear up one misconception; where you aim your feet has nothing to do with where you’re aimed. Open you stance and aim your shoulders at the target. Close your stance and aim your shoulders at the target. Where were you aimed in both instances? At the target because your shoulders determine your aim.

An open stance restricts your backswing but gives you a free follow-through. A closed stance gives you a free backswing but restricts your follow-through. Squaring up your feet, hips and shoulders may have the same effect as closing your stance and restricting your follow-through leading to a block and slice. Than again you may be pushing the ball and compensate by aiming your feet and shoulders to the left. As I said without seeing you swing it’s hard to tell exactly what you’re doing.

Tdoddsy, NigelO is gonna luv you. Finally someone else that says that 44inch is all you need.

I use to use a driver with a 45 inch graphite shaft only because it came with it. I now use a 44 inch metal shaft and have not lost any distance. I can’t remember where I read it but test show that most amateurs play with driver shafts that are too long and would do better with 44” shafts.

Hi guys! Thanks for all the help… i think my mum and dad have got me some lessons for xmas with the local golf pro so hopefully he can sort some things out…

i know it does seem a little extreme, i only really base my distance on the par 5s i manage to hit the fairways in which is very little… in reality i probably only average (as in every time i use a driver) 260-270m and thats mainly because i hit trees, the ones that end up 2 fairways over arent all slices either… its like they come off the tee in that direction in a straight line and is no where near where i thought i was aiming.

I will keep an eye on the things you guys have mentioned and also take some video cameras down the driving range and hit a few balls off and record my swing.

The 340-350ish i hit was on a 495m par 5 from the very back of the tee… the ball landed around 5m in front of (in the direction of the green not the tee) the blue 150 marker and the fairway runs up hill (Hole 8 at the Churchill Park GC in Melbourne).

When i first started last month Adz i went to the driving range to try out the clubs i bought (Nike Slingshot Tours and MacGregor NVG2 drivers) and my 7 iron was going the same distance as my dads 4 iron… was hitting around the 150m+ mark… however when i went onto the course i found that i was all over the shop with my irons (well… everything was, but irons were pretty accurate at the range) so decided to slow my swing down and use a club or two lower (ie. where i would use a 7iron i now use a 5 or 6 depending) and it improved my game a lot… altho because of my drive i tend to end up in the bushes a lot which isnt helping.

Without seeing your swing it’s hard to tell exactly what you’re doing wrong. The only thing I can do is educate you and hopefully you can use this info to help diagnose yourself. Let me clear up one misconception; where you aim your feet has nothing to do with where you’re aimed. Open you stance and aim your shoulders at the target. Close your stance and aim your shoulders at the target. Where were you aimed in both instances? At the target because your shoulders determine your aim.

An open stance restricts your backswing but gives you a free follow-through. A closed stance gives you a free backswing but restricts your follow-through. Squaring up your feet, hips and shoulders may have the same effect as closing your stance and restricting your follow-through leading to a block and slice. Than again you may be pushing the ball and compensate by aiming your feet and shoulders to the left. As I said without seeing you swing it’s hard to tell exactly what you’re doing.

David Laville G.S.E.M.
The Golfing Machine Authorized Instructor

ok.. so i shouldnt be worrying too much about where my feet are aiming and keep more of an eye on where my shoulders are pointing? I’ll keep an eye on that this weekend…

hi tdoddsy i have always been a good driver of the ball i have played with golf pros who have said they wish they could hit a driver like me its the club i can rely on and by the sounds of it you need to hit 90% of fairways as well stuff having that many different snakes on the one course best to be in the short grass as much as possible

Without seeing your swing it’s hard to tell exactly what you’re doing wrong. The only thing I can do is educate you and hopefully you can use this info to help diagnose yourself. Let me clear up one misconception; where you aim your feet has nothing to do with where you’re aimed. Open you stance and aim your shoulders at the target. Close your stance and aim your shoulders at the target. Where were you aimed in both instances? At the target because your shoulders determine your aim.

An open stance restricts your backswing but gives you a free follow-through. A closed stance gives you a free backswing but restricts your follow-through. Squaring up your feet, hips and shoulders may have the same effect as closing your stance and restricting your follow-through leading to a block and slice. Than again you may be pushing the ball and compensate by aiming your feet and shoulders to the left. As I said without seeing you swing it’s hard to tell exactly what you’re doing.

David Laville G.S.E.M.
The Golfing Machine Authorized Instructor

ok.. so i shouldnt be worrying too much about where my feet are aiming and keep more of an eye on where my shoulders are pointing? I’ll keep an eye on that this weekend…

nik1981au,

Laville’s direction is sound. But what controls the ball is the clubface as monitored by the hands and door like closing motion.

You have to get an awareness through feel for the rotation of shoulders and hands through the ball and where the square point is and put the center of the ball there. Only then can you hit it in play. 330 or 230.

Don’t give away the power.

Will the tee position of the ball make a difference? I have been teeing the ball up using a 8cm tee lined up with the middle of my front foot or slightly on the outside (basically lined up with my small toe)

This was based on something i read about using oversize drivers

Dart

This is interesting…...i have always been given the impression that the position of your feet at address should be at a 90deg angle standing side on to the target (exceptions made for some pitch shots etc) and lined up in a fashion so that an imaginary line across the front of both feet would go directly to the target. I see this written in so many books on golf…..I was told recently that the position of the feet don’t really mean squat, and I had a little trouble accepting this. Now of course I’m hearing from people who are in a position to know, like yourself.
Is it simply one of the “myths” that has taken over from so much repetition?

Mick555

DGLaville

Apologies it appears that I was “checking” on your info re feet position.
Not my intention at all, I should have mentioned you along with dart in my post.

Mick555,

The saddest part of golf instruction and books is that they all want to sound and look good and not disagree. Makes sense, they want to sell books.

TGM is different. TGM says you can do what ever you want as long as the impact mechanics for solid contact are learned as soon as possible. He says you should try open and closed stance and swing and see what gives. He wants you to understand your own swing dynamics.

That stuff tdoddsy is talking about would disqualify half the Major winners that ever lived. They are and example of position golf which is cosmetic and does not guarantee anything. I would love him and enthusiastic helpers to discover the wonders of alignment golf instead.

We don’t have to race out and but TGM. If you look carefully at Guru’s teachings, it’s all there.

Will the tee position of the ball make a difference? I have been teeing the ball up using a 8cm tee lined up with the middle of my front foot or slightly on the outside (basically lined up with my small toe)

This was based on something i read about using oversize drivers

Nik1981au,

Yes.

Play with the Hinge Motion ( the turning bit from your left shoulder to your left hand which must all turn through in one piece).

Then find the ball location for the flight you want. An inch or two back for a fade and forward for a draw. Then aim left or right to allow for the gentle movement in the air.

With a little ball control you might pick up a few more yards.

hi tdoddsy i have always been a good driver of the ball i have played with golf pros who have said they wish they could hit a driver like me its the club i can rely on and by the sounds of it you need to hit 90% of fairways as well stuff having that many different snakes on the one course best to be in the short grass as much as possible

aint that the truth lol

ok well i tried to go through all the checks mentioned… not one slice… however… i did start hooking a lot. Not huge hooks, infact on some of the holes they came in handy, but still, not straight.

when i did get it straight though i managed to hit the fairways (only on 3 occasions for the whole 18)... 1st time i hit the fairway it was an uphill hole and was around 280-290m. Next was downhill and ended up 340-350m (only about a 10m roll from where it hit the ground, i think cause i hit it so high) and the third was flat and hit a tree but was between 300-310m.

I got my dad to take a vid on 2 of the holes of my swing… once my new laptop cable gets here i’ll put it up so you can have a look.

nik, sounds like there are some major changes happening. Keep working out ‘if I do this, then that will happen.’ Use the base info that is in the Golf School area and what the chaps above have suggested and you will have a lot of coins drop.

hi nik, when i played early this yr and i was off 19.7, i used to think that the only way i could improve and be a good golfer was to hit 300m + and i was only 15, i was hitting good distances, but i used to just rip it about 150% of what my swing speed could be, hitting distances like yours and only hit about 20% of the fairways, since then(Jan), i have realised i get more control with an easy 75% swing, and i can easily fix problems with an easy swing, i have dropped 7.4 shots with only about 3 lessons, and after i have gained better tempo in my swing my distance have gradually gone back up to a reasonably good distance.
p.s that includes a 5 1/2 month break