Fine Tuning a Driver to a Top Swing

This post is a follow on to my earlier one When Wild Driving May Signify Great Driving which centered around driver length. This is only part of the story as head weight is equally influential. As a rough and ready guide: Adding one inch to driver length will have the same effect on swing weight as say adding five grammes to head weight. In simple terms - both factors offer potential immense benefits but present great challenges, and everyone reaches the point where optimum build is reached. Beyond that point problems prevail.

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Each golfer hopefully eventually reaches the point where, on a good day, their swing is of a great standard. Unfortunately though driving may not still be good. But that's OK, as once the swing is right one can relatively easily resolve the other major culprit namely equipment.

For the serious driver he / she will have learned to attack the ball from a severe inside line, either squaring into the ball extremely late or not quite getting there and literally squaring the driver head through impact. Thus enabling the golfer to fully unleash his / her core power, rather than relying on an essentially powerless 'armsy' technique.

Sounds wonderful, but such an advanced technique may tax our existing equipment insofar as - when attacking from the inside - the player's hands have to become more active in bringing the head into square. This can present problems if the driver head is too heavy or the driver too long or both.

This is the perennial problem I wrestle with when fine tuning my competition drivers each year. Why each year? We get older, we get better (or worse), and our swing may have slightly changed from last year.

Although with experience one reaches the point when you actually feel that your hands are failing, otherwise two symptoms of too tough equipment (too long or too heavy) tends to be blocked right straight balls (hands failing to work fast enough), or duck hooks due to over-compensating.

One's hands should turn over naturally through impact. For a good player if they do not then it's nearly always the equipment which needs working on rather than the technique.

Please be clear that all of the above assumes that one is swinging well. If say one is either slicing or pushing the ball straight left then swing technique should be the first port of call.