Straightening Drives

Hey Jay!

I can tell you from experience that changing my grip, keeping my head down, and making sure that I address the ball the same way everytime helps alot. It straightned my drives out considerably, I had a horrible slice, (still do when I get tired) but I rotated my top hand over just a little which allowed my club face to close where I needed it too.  I also made sure that I put the ball on the inside of my front foot.  Last but not least, hit, hit, hit....Wal Mart has the foam balls they sell, tee them up just like a regular golf ball and hit away, they come off the tee just like a regular ball, but only go 30-40 yards, so if that is something your able to do that helped me a bunch when it came to drives.  It gave me a chance to play with grip, stance and addressing the ball correctly without the fear of losing a ball.  I am sure that here will be a ton of folks wtih better advice than me, but I went through the same thing with my drives!

Hope this helps, and good luck!!!

Scott

Jay...

Sounds like the heel is going thru the hitting area first. You're probably holding on to your right side instead of clearing the hips and turing so your hands can follow. While doing some practice swings, when you finish your swing step thru it and you'll be able to tell if you're clearing your hips and hands. And that should help you straighten out those drives.

I agree with Logan. If they are coming out low and fading, it sounds like you are blocking with your right hip.

Another thing you can try is to drop your right foot back (assuming you are right handed) where the right toe lines up with the heel of your left foot which will give you a closed stance. Just swing along your toe line and this will help you to straighten out that fade and you should even see a little draw assuming that when you grip the club you can see at least the first two knuckles on your left hand at address.

I'm certainly no instructor, but another possibility is that you're allowing your upper body, and consequently your head, to drift forward during your down swing causing you to get ahead of the ball and the club face has no chance to catch up, and also causes a bit of a steeper angle of attack which would result in a lower trajectory.  I've had problems with tee shots drifting to the right, and usually it's because I'm not staying behind the ball at impact.  When this happens, I start concentrating on keeping my weight, and pushing down, on the inside of my right foot on the way back (right handed golfer), and keeping my head still on the down swing to stay behind the ball at impact.  This gives your hands a chance to get the club face square at impact.  If you allow your chest and head to drift forward in the down swing, it's hard for your hands to get the club face square.  If you watch a lot of golf on TV, you'll see in the slow motion shots of the players driver swings that their head actually moves slightly backwards just prior to impact keeping them behind the ball.

Good luck!

Take a lesson.  Seriously, a PGA instructor will help you the most.  

If you're a DIY guy and you don't want to do that, there's a good drill that might help you find your plane and groove a decent swing.  Take a shaft (or a shorter driveway stick) and stick it in the ground 4 inches in front of the ball and 6 inches to your right (assuming you're a righty).  Stick the shaft in the ground at the same angle you hold the club at address.  I attached a picture.

I would start with a mid iron and make some easy swings.  Once you're comfortable with a 7-6ish iron, try taking some full swings.  After that, work your way up to your driver.  Be careful not to hit the stick/shaft because you could hurt yourself.  But this drill was prescribed by my pro and has worked wonders for me.  If my slice/push starts to rear it's ugly head, I revert to this drill on the range and it works great.