Please God help me hit the driver...

[BlackjackNY]

I feel like I'm going out of my mind. I took a lesson with Ted the other day, and my irons are definitely better, just by swiveling and RFP-ing, then swinging "out to right field." As a result, I'm hitting draws, which is new for me (I suck, shoot in the 90s, and have anemic distance, like a 140yd carry with my 7 iron). Anyway, I can see improvement there, but as for the driver, it's screaming-pull-left city, or ripping push-slice-right city, with the occasional down the middle drive, followed by an empire-state-building pop-up. Oh, and I'm hitting the ground a lot, as well. I'm losing it, I tell ya. Does anyone have any plain-english, non-TGM-y, basic driver advice, as far as "dos" and "don'ts"?

Look, we all want to run before we walk, but shouldn't you be doing thousands of basic motion(chip) shots, then moving on to acquired motion(punch) shots, before you worry about hitting a soft 220 yard draw with your driver? Implement what Ted has taught you, and eventually the rest will come.

[lagster]

Look, we all want to walk before we run, but shouldn't you be doing thousands of basic motion(chip) shots, then moving on to acquired motion(punch) shots, before you worry about hitting a soft 220 yard draw with your driver? Implement what Ted has taught you, and eventually the rest will come.

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I agree that you should be patient, and try to learn your basic shots well. Ted will help you get this.

However, I have found that with people that are having all kinds of problems with the driver... go to the range, and strike some smooth little shots with the driver(about 120 yard shots), being very aware of the pressure points in your HANDS. At first just take about 1/2 backswings and go to the BOTH ARMS STRAIGHT POSITION on the followthrough. This is just to let you see that you can strike the ball solidly with this club.

When the shots are mostly going straight, with solid contact... lengthen the backswing, and go to the Finish. Still be aware of the HANDS. The PIVOT is in there and is important, but train those hands to do NOTHING BUT HOLD ON. No extra flapping around. The ball should be going further now. Figure out how to stay SMOOTH, but still strike the ball LONG.