Easiest Golf Driver To Hit, What Should I Be Looking For? (Video) - by Pete Styles
Easiest Golf Driver To Hit, What Should I Be Looking For? (Video) - by Pete Styles

Now this is a great question. Question I get asked an awful lot in my day-to-day work teaching golfers. How can I find an easy to hit driver? And my answer is always the same. Go and buy a 3-Wood. No I’m joking. But most people would find that their 3-Wood is relatively easy to hit and their driver is so much more difficult. So we need to think well; “Why is that, and can I build some of that technology into my driver?”

So a 3-Wood is easier to hit because it’s a shorter shaft. And a 3-Wood is easier to hit because it has more loft on the head sometimes 15, 16 decrees of loft on a 3-Wood. Now if you’re looking at a driver that’s got a four to five inch shaft and 8 degrees of loft on the bottom there’s your answer. That’s why it’s difficult to hit. The shaft is long it feels cumbersome and it’s out here somewhere. There’s not enough loft on the club head. Not enough loft to create not enough back spin. Not enough back spin allows too much room for curving spin. What we would sometimes called side spin, where the ball doesn’t spin backwards so much, but it kind of tilts the access and spins around corners too much. You increase the back spin it will start to fly straighter, that’s why your 3-Wood fly straight from your driver. That’s why your pitching never slices, because it’s just got so much back spin, it flies straighter. So how do we look for an easy to hit driver. Start with plenty of loft, start with a slightly shorter shaft, and then make sure there’s plenty of flexibility in the shaft. So as we have a macho thing that oh I’ve got stiff, well I’ve got extra stiff. We’ll I’ve got 8 and ½ degrees; well I’ve got 7 degrees. And then you end up with two guys beating it out, they’re slicing it into the sunny roof on the right side because they just can’t keep the thing on the fairway. If you’re struggling with a driver, my recommendation would be a regular or even a slightly softer than regular, like a mid flex shaft or even a senior’s flex shaft and more than 12 degrees of loft. Now you might have to look hard for drivers that’s got more than 12 degrees loft, not many manufacturers do that. But you get more than 12 degrees of loft with a nice soft shaft. You pop the ball straight up in the air, and it will fly down the middle. Now it might not quite fly as long as the extra stiff 8 degree, but it will definitely fly a lot straighter you’ll be hitting more fairways and if you’re struggling to hit a driver, that’s my recommendation. More loft, slightly shorter shaft, slightly softer shaft. Try that out next time you’re out having a club fitting and I’m sure you’ll improve your driving.
2014-11-04

Now this is a great question. Question I get asked an awful lot in my day-to-day work teaching golfers. How can I find an easy to hit driver? And my answer is always the same. Go and buy a 3-Wood. No I’m joking. But most people would find that their 3-Wood is relatively easy to hit and their driver is so much more difficult. So we need to think well; “Why is that, and can I build some of that technology into my driver?”

So a 3-Wood is easier to hit because it’s a shorter shaft. And a 3-Wood is easier to hit because it has more loft on the head sometimes 15, 16 decrees of loft on a 3-Wood. Now if you’re looking at a driver that’s got a four to five inch shaft and 8 degrees of loft on the bottom there’s your answer. That’s why it’s difficult to hit. The shaft is long it feels cumbersome and it’s out here somewhere. There’s not enough loft on the club head. Not enough loft to create not enough back spin.

Not enough back spin allows too much room for curving spin. What we would sometimes called side spin, where the ball doesn’t spin backwards so much, but it kind of tilts the access and spins around corners too much. You increase the back spin it will start to fly straighter, that’s why your 3-Wood fly straight from your driver. That’s why your pitching never slices, because it’s just got so much back spin, it flies straighter.

So how do we look for an easy to hit driver. Start with plenty of loft, start with a slightly shorter shaft, and then make sure there’s plenty of flexibility in the shaft. So as we have a macho thing that oh I’ve got stiff, well I’ve got extra stiff. We’ll I’ve got 8 and ½ degrees; well I’ve got 7 degrees. And then you end up with two guys beating it out, they’re slicing it into the sunny roof on the right side because they just can’t keep the thing on the fairway.

If you’re struggling with a driver, my recommendation would be a regular or even a slightly softer than regular, like a mid flex shaft or even a senior’s flex shaft and more than 12 degrees of loft. Now you might have to look hard for drivers that’s got more than 12 degrees loft, not many manufacturers do that. But you get more than 12 degrees of loft with a nice soft shaft.

You pop the ball straight up in the air, and it will fly down the middle. Now it might not quite fly as long as the extra stiff 8 degree, but it will definitely fly a lot straighter you’ll be hitting more fairways and if you’re struggling to hit a driver, that’s my recommendation. More loft, slightly shorter shaft, slightly softer shaft. Try that out next time you’re out having a club fitting and I’m sure you’ll improve your driving.