Ok I'm a bit lost.

[saltman241]

First post so a proper introduction is probably in order. I'm in the Coast Guard half way through my 12th year. I picked up golf in the summer of 03. I was a classic bannana ball slicer who over swung outside in. Over the course of the next 3 years I really got bit by the bug and worked that huge slice into a nice little power fade. Started hitting some decent iron shots and graduated to hacker status. My next duty station I worked a 4 on 4 off schedule and played alot of golf, 2-3 rounds a week, with 1 or 2 hour practice sessions. I never had anyone "teach" me anything and just experimented with what worked for me. So I had a pretty decent game tee to green but absolutely no short game. So my average scores were low 90's very consistently. I still hit the baby fade and just played it with decent results. Now comes the mistake. I wanted to be able to move the ball left so I sought out instruction. This section of my golf history could be a post all in it's own but let's just say things got a little "weird". I ended up with a super strong grip, and open stance, and when everything was timed perfectly I could occasionaly hit a little draw, mostly dead pulls. Score stayed the same but only due to my practice moving more towards the short game as I found myslef in trouble much more often.

Fast forward. The birth of my son brought and a change of duty station brought about a break from golf for about 18 months. I got back into the game 18 months to 2 years ago and found myself in a whole new situation. I still had the super strong grip but now the fade is back but it's a weak high fade and the driver is bannana ball slicing. So I made a decision this time I'm going to teach myself a proper golf swing but with some education so I immersed myself reading everything and anything I could find. Taking what I agreed with and throwing out anything that just didn't feel right or make sense. I also only made changes that I was SURE weren't band aids. Ditched the super strong grip, got a nice ben hogan, brian manzella neutral slightly strong grip. Found the swing plane, started hitting the ball from the inside and all the sudden it all felt right.

Now I have arrived at a strange place and I'm not sure what to do or where to go. I am hitting my irons better then I ever have in my entire life. They sizzle off the club face, I can move them either way, and distance control is spot on. Now the problem. I can't hit anything other then them. My last trip to the range I actually had some gawkers as I hit my 5 iron 185 baby draw, straight, fade, repeat. I have been hitting the ball so well that I even grabbed my 3 iron from the closet and thought I should give this thing a try. So the show continued 3 iron to 210-215, not sure the exact carry as they only had a flag at 200 and I was hitting it over the back every time. The range suddenly got a little quiet as more folks took notice.

Well having proved to myself that this swing is exactly what I want and now since I had some on lookers I thought well they're going to really be disappointed now and laughed to myself. Grabbed my 5 wood, low hook, low snap hook, mid flight draw, low draw, they shook there heads and walked away. I can't blame them. So I really need some help I don't know where to go here. I love my ball striking with my irons, LOVE IT. However I can't hit anything but irons. The less loft the lower and lefter it goes, even with me trying with all my might to hit one high I can't. The best I can get is a low to mid flight baby draw, a good shot in a stiff breeze for sure but my carry distance is junk. Maybe 210 with my driver. Is it my equipment? Is it my swing, too steep? Will I have to go find myself a 1 iron so I can have something to hit off the tee?

All my clubs are currently regular flex. I have noticed that my irons are going considerably higher but distances have stayed the same or close gained 5 yds or so. My Driver is a R flex G-15 10.5 draw biased. The harder I swing it, I used to do that when I wanted to guarantee a fade the lower and lefter it goes now. I'm lost.

Sorry for the long post but since it's the first one I figure I'd make it proper.

 

[greenfree]

Can you post a video, it would be helpful.

 

[saltman241]

Can you post a video, it would be helpful.

It may take a while but yes I will try. I'm thinking my stance is a bit narrow,need to widen it some, and I need more spine angle tilt away from target. My hunch is that my weight is getting way to much on my front foot pre-impact and creating a decending blow with a de-lofted club face. The draw bias of my driver is not helping either.

 

[savydan]

If you can draw attention for your 3-iron play, that's certainly a good sign.

All those wood's misses point to a too in-to-out path. If your driver swing was too steep, some of your misses would curve right.

Perhaps it's the equipment. But anyone who can turn heads with a long iron should be able to get any stick airborne and fade it if they want to. Ever try to put fade spin on a driver at all costs?

Kind of a strange "case". Video of your driver swing is basically a must.

 

[saltman241]

If you can draw attention for your 3-iron play, that's certainly a good sign.

All those wood's misses point to a too in-to-out path. If your driver swing was too steep, some of your misses would curve right.

Perhaps it's the equipment. But anyone who can turn heads with a long iron should be able to get any stick airborne and fade it if they want to. Ever try to put fade spin on a driver at all costs?

Kind of a strange "case". Video of your driver swing is basically a must.

No I didn't make an all out attempt to fade it. That scares me. I've played so many second shots from the adjacent fairway that I'm scared to death to come outside in with the driver. Afraid it will creep back into my swing in general.

 

[savydan]

Sounds like your feel vs. real has shifted you towards in-to-out with the driver.

All your current driver misses are curving left, diving low left, correct?

You may very well have a hard time actually going too far out to in even if you tried.

Basically, I guess I'm trying first to diagnose before fixing, so to speak.

 

[saltman241]

Ok update in case anyone is interested. Took my driver to the local chain store and borrowed thier launch monitor. The Serrano R flex shaft in the G-15 has to be closer to senior flex then what I would consider regular. I demoed the same exact club with the TFC stiff and it was night and day. 5 shots almost identical ball flight and carry roll distance. A normal swing for me trying to just hit it dead straight resulted in a 8 yard fade. Carry of 258. Exactly what I'm looking for. Looks like I'll be paying for re-shafting. My advice to any one getting serious about the game DO NOT buy equipment until you start to get repeatable and consistent results. I made a pretty big mistake and the wife is NOT going to be happy.

 

[self-mastery]

Watch Brian's D plane video, it might give you some ideas for your Driver and woods. I use to be a guy that would beat down my 3 iron and fly it 240 yards with crazy compression, but I couldn't hit driver worth ****. The whole idea that there's one swing throughout the bag is BS. I could pure an iron, but couldn't hit the big stick. I took time off and rebuilt a reliable driver swing. The same swing that you use to beat down irons won't work with a driver. My problem now has more to do with style. After so many swing changes I can pop my driver well, but my iron game isn't as boom pop as it use to be. I miss beating irons down I miss making TGC/Golf Mag reading chumps feel wimpy when I blast a long iron/hybrid pass their 240 yard sliced drives...

I guess we can't have it all.

 

[saltman241]

Watch Brian's D plane video, it might give you some ideas for your Driver and woods. I use to be a guy that would beat down my 3 iron and fly it 240 yards with crazy compression, but I couldn't hit driver worth ****. The whole idea that there's one swing throughout the bag is BS. I could pure an iron, but couldn't hit the big stick. I took time off and rebuilt a reliable driver swing. The same swing that you use to beat down irons won't work with a driver. My problem now has more to do with style. After so many swing changes I can pop my driver well, but my iron game isn't as boom pop as it use to be. I miss beating irons down I miss making TGC/Golf Mag reading chumps feel wimpy when I blast a long iron/hybrid pass their 240 yard sliced drives...

I guess we can't have it all.

So, so, true. I am most definitely hitting down and delofting the driver. The weak shaft just added to the frustration. Got the driver back and went ahead and re-shafted my 3 wood too. I'll work out something with the driver but I can smack the day lights outta the 3 wood so I'll atleast be able to stay in play.