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Driver struggles - where's the middle

keithfmuir

31 December 2022|Golfing with gratitude

Driving used to be my superpower. I was never the longest but I was always pretty consistent and reliable. While I've been working on my grip and swing changes I've seen good improvements in my iron play but my driving has rather gone to pot. As explained in earlier lesson posts, some of that has been due to setup issues, which I have now resolved with an improved pre-shot routine to ensure the ball position is correct. That has eliminated the topping habit that had crept in over the season. But the issue now is more strike location and how to improve it.

From using foot spray on the face I've been able to establish that I've been consistently hitting the ball low and towards the toe. This has created a very inconsistent shot pattern. The bad shot has been a massive push to the right and with the stronger left-hand grip I've been working on it can also lead to some pretty nasty hooks. In reality, standing on the tee, I don't know what I'm going to get when I pull the trigger.

The same strike pattern showed up at the SGGT fitting. All the shaft/head combinations I tried showed the same strike in the low toe. The agreement at the end of that session was that I should work on improving my strike and swing speed and come back in the spring when new products have been released.

How to find the centre?

Given the improved iron strike and given the fact I used to be able to hit the driver really well, this has to be either a setup issue or a swing delivery issue. Simplistically it feels like I should be standing closer and using a higher tee. So I tried that and got myself into all sorts of bother! So maybe it's a swing path/delivery issue, a bit of casting and delivering the head on an out-to-in path. But why am I only doing that with the driver when I'm not doing it with my irons? Or is it just more obvious with the longer club? Improved strike location is going to go a long way to hitting the targets that Trackman suggests I'm capable of. So the quest for the centre has begun.

I'm not due to see Sandy again until early Jan so I resorted to the internet to see if I could find answers for low toe strike and how to resolve it.

Coach Lockey

I noticed a video from Coach Lockey where he was off for a lesson on his driver. Strangely, he's been struggling with much the same thing as me - trying to find more speed but hitting the ball low in the toe so not getting any benefit. I've linked the video here: https://youtu.be/ZowR_QekrZg or search Coach Lockey - Golf Driver Swing Changes.

This video really resonated with me. While I'm nowhere close to his swing speed, I've had a few of the same habits and similar results. I took the advice to the range with me today; tried standing taller and closer and keeping the left grip strong (which I'm working on for everything anyway). The results were tremendous and I started to consistently find the middle of the club and just above the middle. Ball speed jumped 7mph from the last time I was at the range too. Unfortunately, this is a TopTracer range so I can't get any data on swing speed or spin but I was delighted with the results.


Not perfect - but much improved


Do I actually need a driver fitting if I can find the centre with the driver I've got?

That's an interesting question as the results today demonstrate that my carry distance with the driver is now the same as the total distance with my 3W, so the gapping looks like it works. My concern ahead of going to SGGT was that I just wasn't getting enough from my driver and that's maybe been premature. It looks like it has been a swing issue rather than a club issue. That is so often the case! The irons were easier - the shafts were too heavy and my launch and spin were too low. I could see that I was struggling to stop my long irons on greens and I had poor gapping at the short end. So changing them makes a lot of sense. My next port of call is either going to be a trip to St Andrews Indoor Golf to get an hour on Trackman, or wait until I have my next lesson with Sandy. Probably the latter so I can get some input on my swing. The range session suggests I'm getting close to resolving the issue, but I'd like to understand more about why it developed in the first place, how I can cement the improvement and what to do if I start slipping back again.

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