Drivers and the Golfer
Choosing the right golf clubs can be quite a challenge, and most golfers have already met with the demands of such a choice at one time or another. However, if there’s one club in the bag that we’re going to be spending a lot of time with, it’s the driver. As the club that you’ll use for your first shot at each and every hole, it’s important that you know how to select the right driver to ensure the best quality results – your score depends on it!
Just why is it that the driver is so important to a golfer? Well, first of all, a quick tutorial on the different types of clubs found in the average golf club. A well-equipped golfer will have three different types of clubs, each with a variety of weights – woods, irons, and putters. The woods are the heaviest of the clubs, and are generally used to drive the ball for long distances down the course. The heaviest of the woods, the one labelled with a number “1” is called the driver.
Any time a golfer tees off at the beginning of a hole, he or she will use a driver. This is because it is the heaviest of the clubs and as such is best suited for sending the ball a long distance. Every initial tee-off you make then determines how successful you will be at that particular hole. Think about it – if you drive into a sand or water trap, you’re obviously going to do worse on that hole than you would with a drive that put you right on the green. If the total profundity of the concept still hasn’t quite hit home, however, think about it this way – every hole in one ever shot has been shot with a driver!
As you can see, the driver is immensely important to a golfer’s game. So how does one choose the best driver? Like most other matters of selecting golf equipment, it has to do with the individual needs of the golfer. While the weight of a good driver is used to drive a ball down the course, it’s ultimately only one of the factors that does so. Also at work is the strength and speed with which the golfer strikes the ball off the tee, the flexibility of the club’s shaft, and even the shape of the club itself.
These matters can greatly affect the performance of a driver. For instance, a hard swing can mean that a heavier driver will have you over-shooting your mark, and you would need to lighten up your club a bit (or adjust your swing). If your swing has the face of your club hitting the ball at too obtuse an angle, you’re going to get too much lift on the ball; this can be compensated by selecting a driver with a flatter angle on the club-head.
Ultimately, the driver you select is going to have a profound impact upon your game, one way or the other. By knowing the properties of a good driver, and how they interact with your particular golfing style, you can select the club that works perfectly with your swing, and puts you right on the green every time.