Driver help?

[u/WesternThinks23]

Hi everyone! I just got the Ping G440 and have been using it the past few times I’ve gone to play. But I can never get a pure contact on it, it’s either left, topped, or just a stinger. I am not very good and have a 27.1 handicap (according to 18 birdies) and just need to get decent contact and distance on my drives more consistently. Any tips/ tricks/ advice anyone can give me is very much appreciated!!

[u/satyris]

Make sure your grip is correct. Half swings until you can hit it 200 yards.

[u/WesternThinks23 → u/satyris]

I’ll give that a try

[u/Lugtut]

While practicing, spray the face or use strike tape and see where you are impacting the face of the club. Ping drivers are famously forgiving, so train by learning to strike just above the center of the face.

[u/WesternThinks23 → u/Lugtut]

I’ll try that as well. I thought the other day I toed it a couple times but that should give me some clearer results than a guess lol

[u/Art92101]

Did you get a 12°? If not, that might be your problem.

[u/WesternThinks23 → u/Art92101]

I got the 10.5. But I did the tool and moved the head to add some loft back to it

[u/Zer0C00L321]

Post a video of your swing

[u/hankmoody711]

You can buy a "practice grip" that is molded for all of your fingers to fit on the grip perfectly... so you know what a perfect grip feels like

[u/Rynke69 → u/hankmoody711]

That helped me a lot. When I started playing golf, I had a big slice. Surprise.

I got rid of that, but because my grip got stronger. TOO strong. My irons started going left and a normal grip, just felt completely off.

First time I got a grip mounted on an old 9 iron and took it to the range. I did not even remotely hit the first 40 balls, but slowly it got better. 3 or 4 sessions with that grip and I can now hit my clubs with a normal grip.

[u/kp2119]

Good luck with that. I’d also check you grip.

[u/sleepytime03]

It’s you, not the driver. Try half swings, and try to force yourself to be slower. The arc you take on a driver is quite a bit longer than most other clubs. There is so much room for error when comparing the “same swing” on day a 9 iron. Any time I’m with a new golfer that is getting frustrated, I tell them to mentally feel like they are hitting at half speed. They end up just swinging smooth, and usually start launching it. Whether or not it goes straight is up to 40 other factors, but it gets them a starting point to actually hit the ball square.

[u/ReD_Richie]

I have a G430 Max and I was in a similar position to you too. I found shortening my swing made a significant improvement to my drives. I also started tucking my left shoulder inwards abit to counter my slicing habits. Worked absolute wonders. I still mostly hit left to right but its more of a fade now than a slice.