Fix Your Driver... Or Your Swing?

Driver issue or swing issue?

A lot of golfers blame the driver too quickly.

But before changing the club, changing the shaft, or changing the loft, first check the pattern.

Hit 5 to 10 shots with a 7 iron and compare that to the driver dispersion.

If the 7 iron pattern is already wide, the driver will usually magnify that miss. That is a swing issue.

If the 7 iron is controlled but the driver becomes much wider than expected, that is where it may be a driver issue, setup issue, or a driver specific swing pattern.

A simple rule:

If you cannot control a 7 iron, the driver probably is not the real problem.

The driver often exposes what the swing is already doing.

That said, sometimes the club does matter. Loft, shaft, face bias, length, and total build can all make the driver much harder to control than it should be.

So before the next driver lesson, benchmark the swing properly and compare the patterns.

The pattern tells the story.