Golf is Hard TV
The golf show for the rest of us
www.golfishardtv.com
Episode 53 Driver Lessons
Marc: Welcome to Golf is Hard TV the golf show for the rest of us and home of
the Nike straight fit, gigantic, head cover.
Dave: A Dymo.
Marc: Dymo.
Dave: You know what Dymo stands for?
Marc: Dymo dozen.
Dave: I know what it stands for you know why?
Marc: Why?
Dave: I have read the club on the last episode. Dynamic Moment of Inertia so
they put a couple of letters from—
Marc: And moment of inertia is a show that we’re going to do, we’re going to
make fun of it because it’s one of those terms that you probably as a real
golfer you should know what it means but it’s just it feels like one of those
things like their going to sell me something with more MOI and I’m going
to pay them more.
Dave: I bought more MOI.
Marc: That’s right. Now let’s talk driver. I got this bad boy. I’ve been hitting it
for a couple of days. By the way it’s a week of golf for me. I played 2 days
in a row. I got a tea time for tomorrow. I got one for Thursday. I’m
playing with a buddy on Friday, Saturday is tee ready to go and then after
that my wife is going to make me stay home for a while.
Dave: You’ll be golfed out. You’ll be ready.
Marc: I’ll be golfed out. Let’s talk driver because and let me just practically just
by saying, I was playing with also Nike driver that had a little bit shorter
shaft. I was crushing it in the fairway like crazy. I won this I hadn’t had a
fairway yet. I hit a couple.
Dave: We had a couple.
Marc: We had a couple today but this is a longer shot but I know that has
something to do with things but I might be able to hit the driver well and I
know everybody does. I know the average golfer, you know you spend a
bunch of money or you win a great trip.
Dave: Where did you win that again?
Marc: Oobgolf baby.
Dave: Oobgolf.
Marc: My body is in Oob golf check it out great keep track of your scores I mean
it’s awesome but I want to hit this thing you know really far because it’s
big it’s sweet.
Dave: They all do.
Marc: So tell me what I’m doing wrong, help me Dave?
Dave: The driver is the lightest club in the bag did you know that?
Marc: I didn’t actually know that. I know my heavy putter.
Dave: Oh yeah.
Marc: But I didn’t know that this is actually the lightest.
Dave: The traditional putter is the heavier putter in the bag. The heavy putter is
by far the heaviest putter in the world.
Marc: Yeah.
Dave: The mid weight is even in between but anyway this is the lightest club in
the bag folks. However, it’s the one we swing the most violently.
Marc: Yeah.
Dave: We grip it as tightly as we can. We get up there and we want to kill it.
Marc: Yeah.
Dave: And you know we’re on the range here attachment holes, we have got
quite a few people and I would guess that if we stayed here for a couple of
hours and watch people come and go you would see about half called the
drive first club. Just got up here and warm up loosen up some practicing
techniques but so the driver.
Marc: On the show that we did, I guess what I can do is set up and maybe take a
couple of swings and talk about what I’m doing wrong.
Dave: How do you know you’re doing something wrong?
Marc: It ain’t going in the fairway.
Dave: That is the attitude in golf. People hit a shot you know great golf what did
I do wrong, I don’t know you did a lot right. Golf is a game of failure.
Marc: Yes.
Dave: What do people say if you have a 40 foot putter whatever the put is you
missed the putt what do you say?
Marc: Nice try.
Dave: Nice try. Exactly, nice try means, nice try is a negative, negative
connotation to it.
Marc: Alright. I want to hit more.
Dave: How about great putt?
Marc: I want to hit more fairways. To me is that right am I wrong there?
Dave: No you’re right; you do want to hit more fairways.
Marc: Because I score better when I hit fairways. You know it’s an obvious
statement.
Dave: There are a whole bunch of statistics out there that PGA Tour players and
PGA as far as fairways hit.
Marc: Yeah.
Dave: It’s a very important stat because you go to get it in a short grass
especially for playing like US or whatever.
Marc: And of course it’s like attached to a normal probable course should be hit
50%.
Dave: You can head half the fairways that’s pretty good.
Marc: Okay. Good so 50% is maybe the target.
Dave: I think the leaders out there that play for a living that might be 60/70/80%
in that range.
Marc: Yeah.
Dave: No one hits about 100% at a time and I consider myself if I’m in rump I
call it up there but they own it up there so if I can find it.
Marc: Oh that’s a fairway.
Dave: Yeah.
Marc: Nice alright.
Dave: Okay folks, so let me tell you about ball positioning with the driver and
why it’s way out front on the front foot because the ball is off the ground.
Marc: Yeah.
Dave: So in a normal shot we’re hitting it on a down slope because the divot as
we know comes in front of the ball but the driver you can actually the ball
is off the ground so you actually want to hit it on the up swing and ball
position pretty much takes care of that. The ball is way out by the left foot
or the front foot and we’re hitting— you actually want to feel like your
hitting up into the ball and actually when you hit up into the ball it goes
lower and you swing and we’ve all hit the shots where it hit down on it on
the tee shot and the ball usually pops straight up in the air or you see a
mark on the top, on the club face.
Marc: Yes.
Dave: But that doesn’t happen when you’re sweeping it and hitting up into the
ball.
Marc: Yeah.
Dave: And a lot of times you’ll even see the tee doesn’t move. Usually it will so
and the reason I asked you for kind of informed everyone that drivers the
lightest club in the bag is simply means you got to keep the drip pressure
on it once.
Marc: Got it.
Dave: On a scale of 1 to 10. It has got to be 1 to 2.
Marc: Light grip pressure, ball up in the stance.
Dave: Exactly. Wait even to actually even about 60% back on the right side that
helps insure hitting it on the upswing and the hands just another shot
where we don’t need to think about pressing hands in front of the ball, we
just want to let it him hang nice and relaxed behind the ball. Go to your
head position up and behind it right there and now everything here. The
setup is really promoting swinging up into the shot.
Marc: Is that the part where you lean back?
Dave: Yeah. I mean you want to think about your head staying in this general
area through the shot here.
Marc: Alright.
Dave: Just take it back to the top back up on an inch or 2. You really have to get
upright move a little bit more. Yeah right there. Just take it to the top and
cast it and let it rip. Good. Try it again.
Marc: It made a cool sound.
Dave: Yeah it did. That was a bullet though. How does the set up feel compared
to the where you’ve been.
Marc: I’m further back but you know it doesn’t feel weird.
Dave: Let the hands stay behind the ball.
Marc: Yeah.
Dave: Good.
Marc: I just feel more leaned over.
Dave: Put your chin up a little. Just take it back and smoke it. Yeah, you got
think and turnover.
Marc: It got.
Dave: You couldn’t see that but trust me you have drill a little bit. You didn’t
drill one today.
Marc: Not a single one, one more.
Dave: Seriously?
Marc: Yeah one more.
Dave: That ball isn’t going to go anywhere. By the way when you come to the
rains and have of your balls are all beat up like this you hit these with the
wedges because it doesn’t matter you save the good ones for the driver.
That’s a free tip from Golf is Hard TV.
Marc: More free goodness. Alright, I feel—
Dave: Not back on the heels too much keep it right in the balls of your feet.
Marc: Yeah I’m in the balls of my feet but I feel like I’m further away than I was
all day.
Dave: That’s good, yeah you were too close. A little less in the flex a little more
back from the hips and get your chin up a little.
Marc: That’s light a little bit.
Dave: That’s a little bit more fade. Not to make it but take it to a couple of
practice and rotate the hips.
Marc: Rotate the hips. That’s what I told me today I wasn’t rotating my hips
right.
Dave: Get the hands down and bend more from the hips and get the hands right
down there and then square up the shoulders, there we go. And bring back
the arm there. You have your shoulders going left.
Marc: Left.
Dave: And your arms going off.
Marc: You have think about it.
Dave: It’s all set up though.
Marc: It’s a lot to think about.
Dave: You remember seeing like— and just kind of doing this.
Marc: Yes.
Dave: You just thinking about.
Marc: Maybe I should do some reps.
Dave: Square off your shoulders.
Marc: Alright.
Dave: And I’m going to show you a little trick.
Marc: I’m going to try to. That’s it that’s need to fit but I can’t. I need you to
stand there during a rep.
Dave: Just think about this.
Marc: Okay it really makes you bring your elbow down.
Dave: Yes, you want to have it. I mean worse case when your arms are parallel
but even when kind of even wind like that. But shoulders kind of take care
of that.
Marc: Alright.
Dave: Just feel like your getting yarny, you’re getting down inside the shot like
this. You’re getting under it. You’re getting under here through the shot
versus over like this.
Marc: Yeah. It over causes that slice right.
Dave: Right.
Marc: Alright here we go.
Dave: Bend your shoulders more to the right there you go.
Marc: Now you’re saying trying to rotate my hips a little more.
Dave: Put that arm under there you go. Point that elbow right hip and you’re in
good shape you got to maintain that grip position that’s good.
Nice take off.
Marc: Yeah, I hit that one. I want to think about it but the main thing, the main
thing in terms of this episode right is continue on the ball position upfront.
Dave: Up front, swing up and through the ball.
Marc: Up and through the ball so that I’m actually coming and hitting the ball up
and place the wedge coming down.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services