Sacrificing length for accuracy

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Olof Karlson

Olof Karlson

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Been a while since I was active here, but now I feel like I have a question I would like to ask that could perhaps yield some good discussion.

I played my home course today. Swing felt decent, most shots were, but my swing wasn't quite on. Some bad shots, many with the driver, led to some nasty stuff. The round ended up being a pretty bad one.

I am a 6"4 tall, big hitting guy. I average something like 280 yards with the driver, and hit one 330 yard beauty today. It's a lot of fun to do that, and it tends to make people jealous. However, I can't help but feel that almost hitting tour lengths is completely unnecessary when playing the men's tees on a normal course. I feel overpowered. And the problem is that I have to practice a lot for my game to be on, and when it's not it feels like the length hurts me. Because instead of just missing the fairway, the ball is in some really nasty lie, or gone.

So... I feel like I would be willing to sacrifice some of that length, to hit it maybe 250 yards instead, but a bit straighter, and not as far offline when my game is not on when I haven't practiced tons. I feel like hitting it a bit shorter would be easier to maintain, and it wouldn't hurt me a lot scoring-wise.

So, the question is, any good advice on building a shorter, but straighter hitting swing? Which moves are good, what's bad? I have a pretty big lagging clubhead takeaway in my swing. I have started to feel like that move is hurting me by making clubhead control worse. It feels a bit whimsy. This takeaway also takes me pretty far "underplane" in the backswing. I am starting to think it takes me to far underplane and that it would be more consistent to have an a bit steeper backswing without the LCT.

I also swing quite far. Many people would say I overswing. Would it be a good idea to shorten my swing a bit to around parallel with the driver instead of going past that? I remember BM once saying a backswing shouldn't be shortened for shortening's sake if it works. I however feel it doesn't quite work and that I could probably be more consistent with a swing that is a bit shorter.

I have all the instructional films from Bmanz if there's anything in there someone would like to point towards. I feel like going NHA lite could perhaps be a good idea.

So... any advice on how to build a swing with nothing more than decent length, but straight shots, that would probably be more easily maintainable than a long hitting swing? And... are my thoughts any good or am I 100% crazy?
 
Dariusz J.

Dariusz J.

New member
Olof Karlson said:
Been a while since I was active here, but now I feel like I have a question I would like to ask that could perhaps yield some good discussion.

I played my home course today. Swing felt decent, most shots were, but my swing wasn't quite on. Some bad shots, many with the driver, led to some nasty stuff. The round ended up being a pretty bad one.

I am a 6"4 tall, big hitting guy. I average something like 280 yards with the driver, and hit one 330 yard beauty today. It's a lot of fun to do that, and it tends to make people jealous. However, I can't help but feel that almost hitting tour lengths is completely unnecessary when playing the men's tees on a normal course. I feel overpowered. And the problem is that I have to practice a lot for my game to be on, and when it's not it feels like the length hurts me. Because instead of just missing the fairway, the ball is in some really nasty lie, or gone.

So... I feel like I would be willing to sacrifice some of that length, to hit it maybe 250 yards instead, but a bit straighter, and not as far offline when my game is not on when I haven't practiced tons. I feel like hitting it a bit shorter would be easier to maintain, and it wouldn't hurt me a lot scoring-wise.

So, the question is, any good advice on building a shorter, but straighter hitting swing? Which moves are good, what's bad? I have a pretty big lagging clubhead takeaway in my swing. I have started to feel like that move is hurting me by making clubhead control worse. It feels a bit whimsy. This takeaway also takes me pretty far "underplane" in the backswing. I am starting to think it takes me to far underplane and that it would be more consistent to have an a bit steeper backswing without the LCT.

I also swing quite far. Many people would say I overswing. Would it be a good idea to shorten my swing a bit to around parallel with the driver instead of going past that? I remember BM once saying a backswing shouldn't be shortened for shortening's sake if it works. I however feel it doesn't quite work and that I could probably be more consistent with a swing that is a bit shorter.

I have all the instructional films from Bmanz if there's anything in there someone would like to point towards. I feel like going NHA lite could perhaps be a good idea.

So... any advice on how to build a swing with nothing more than decent length, but straight shots, that would probably be more easily maintainable than a long hitting swing? And... are my thoughts any good or am I 100% crazy?
Click to expand...

I do not know what Brian & Co. answers you but I'll chime in as I am 100% accuracy guy and actually made what you consider now, i.e. sacrificed a lot of my length in favour of accuracy. My home course yielded for it seriously and I cannot be a happier guy now. What did I do ? I never ever made any attempts to change my swing nor I tried to change my tempo (that is rather fast and powerful in my case). I simply changed my equipment, specifically, MOI and overall weight of my clubs and installed heavy steel shafts to my driver, wood and hybrid. Lost 10-15 % of distances but my already not bad accuracy improved drastically.
I'd toy with lead tape first, however, put on the head as well as under the grip so that flex does not change. If you have a possibility build a steel-shafted driver or wood. Hope that can be of a little help.

Cheers
 
C

cwdlaw223

New
Reduce spin and you'll hit the ball longer and straighter shots most of the time (absent some low launch angle). Impeded shots off the tee is what you want to avoid most of the time (excluding US Open rough). Otherwise, bomb away. The more times you can get wedge in your hand for your second shot the better you'll score.
 
Dariusz J.

Dariusz J.

New member
magicmarker said:
Can you be more specific about what you did, aside from switching to steel in the woods?
Click to expand...

Irons & wedges: added weight to hosels together with shortening shafts (sort of primitive hardstepping) plus used heavier grips with more layers of tape (I love non-tapered grips so it served me well). Hybrid, wood and driver: heavy steel shafts did the job without any additional weighting (I tried but it felt too heavy).

Cheers
 
Erik_K

Erik_K

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Why not just tee off with a 3W or 5W? If you can drive the ball upwards of 250 yards, that's good for just about any golf course in the US. It's possible to fix any swing fault. If you aren't accurate with your driver, there is a solution through better mechanics and perhaps better equipment for your swing.
 
trashpar

trashpar

New
Tiger. 18th hole at Memorial on Sunday. 440 & change uphill. 3 iron in fairway. 9 iron to 10ft. Birdie.

Nuff said....
 
Olof Karlson

Olof Karlson

New
I play from the yellow tees. The whites are only out for competitions on my home course. My home course is also a very penalizing course.

The thing is that I'm starting to feel that a powerful swing is harder to maintain. And I don't always have loads of time to practice. However, when I do, I can play really well.

At the moment I don't have any clubs between my 4 iron and driver. I intend to fix that though. Maybe that'll be enough, but I kinda feel like there is a more accurate swing, a bit shorter hitting swing, that is easier to maintain.

Any opinions on the LCT? Haven't seen Bmanz talk a lot about that lately. Maybe it's obsolete.

Erik_K said:
Why not just tee off with a 3W or 5W? If you can drive the ball upwards of 250 yards, that's good for just about any golf course in the US. It's possible to fix any swing fault. If you aren't accurate with your driver, there is a solution through better mechanics and perhaps better equipment for your swing.
Click to expand...

250 yards is a short drive for me. That's what I said I thought would be enough instead of 280 yards like I'd say I average now.
 
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B

BIGBALL

New
Olof Karlson said:
I play from the yellow tees. The whites are only out for competitions on my home course. My home course is also a very penalizing course.

The thing is that I'm starting to feel that a powerful swing is harder to maintain. And I don't always have loads of time to practice. However, when I do, I can play really well.

At the moment I don't have any clubs between my 4 iron and driver. I intend to fix that though. Maybe that'll be enough, but I kinda feel like there is a more accurate swing, a bit shorter hitting swing, that is easier to maintain.

Any opinions on the LCT? Haven't seen Bmanz talk a lot about that lately. Maybe it's obsolete.



250 yards is a short drive for me. That's what I said I thought would be enough instead of 280 yards like I'd say I average now.
Click to expand...

Can I borrow the 30 yards you leave behind :eek:
 
trashpar

trashpar

New
jenhaoyen said:
come on, his 9 iron was 185 LOL
Click to expand...

All relative. If say O is on a 360 hole and hits 3 iron or 5w to the fairway and has a 9 or Pw left. Power is an asset not a liability. Just needs to hit shorter tee clubs on shorter holes. Course management 101.
 
magicmarker

magicmarker

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The problem as I see it is primarily the giant gap in your bag. If you hit your four iron nowadays and start driving it 30 yards less then the gap will get exposed again, if you don't hit your four iron that much and don't want to buy a bunch of new clubs to fill those gaps then you may want to think about just getting a driver with a lot more loft. Or you could develop a go-to shot that finds the fairway more often than not. Learn to hit a baby fade that you can repeat time after time. It will give you less distance, which you seem to want, and more predictability.
 
johnnymarlboro

johnnymarlboro

New
I agree with magicmarker. If you're a big hitter and have nothing between 4 iron and driver, then there's your problem right there. Even something like a 17° degree hybrid or 4 or 5 wood or something would be a huge help. Do you not have 14 clubs, or just carry like 6 wedges or something?
 
Olof Karlson

Olof Karlson

New
I have 12 clubs (four wedges). I have a hybrid and a five wood, but I hate them both because they feel like spaghetti when I swing them. I usually hit bad shots with them so I don't take those when I go out on a round.

Maybe you're right and I should just work on hitting it straighter. And get a nice hybrid as a go-to club off the tee that goes further than my four iron that goes something like 200 yards. Maybe a hybrid that goes around 230. Because I usually hit irons pretty straight.

BIGBALL: Only if you pay shipping and handling.
 
drewyallop

drewyallop

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I remember Paul Woods of Ping saying that tour pros have a tight dispersion of impact errors (face/path) from club to club. But the distance the ball goes offline will naturally depend on how far the ball is hit. I interpret this to mean that a small impact error may not be a disaster for a 250 yard drive but can you leave you in the schmenge at 280 yards. Simple geometry really. So the question you have to ask is if I consistently strike a 250 yarder 10 yards offline how likely is it that I can reduce that impact error to ensure that a 280 yarder stays in the fairway and with a faster swing?

Drew
 
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mgranato

mgranato

New
Don't do it, Olof, don't do it.

Being tall has very few advantages, don't be so willing to give up one of them. Wish for better looks, more talented, etc, etc, but never wish to be shorter. That's what fairways, hybrids, and long irons are for, which brings up the next suggestion...

Get a dadgum full bag of clubs. :)

I swing it much faster than I am good. Top level tour speed with just okay amateur level control occasionally lets me see areas of the course that don't get much sunlight. I can usually avoid that problem if I don't forget the latter part of that equation (amateur level control). As long as I remember what I will probably do 70%-80% of the time, and play and club accordingly, the distance can be a nice advantage. When I start playing off that 20%-30%, I can safely play without sunscreen.

And the last thing... SHORT GAME, SHORT GAME, SHORT GAME.
 
hp12c

hp12c

New
Yup U crazy! spank the sht out of that little ball and practice on short game, learn to get out of jail from everywhere.
 
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