Hitting your driver off the fairway is not normally a shot most of us would try. It is a challenging shot and requires a slightly different set up routine. Additionally, I find that the course conditions need to be drier than normal in order to allow the driver head to bounce off the ground. Given my normal swing plane, hitting a driver off the fairway is not a normal shot, however it something I tried last Men’s night with great success.
Hitting the driver off the fairway takes a bit of adjusting to our stance. If I was to set up like a normal driver, I would top the ball 99 times out of 100. Therefore, it was important to move the ball back in my stance to allow the club head to hit the ball first. Then, it was important to take a small divot after the ball knowing that I made contact with the ball first. Lastly, I needed to shift my weight forward like an iron, thus ensuring my follow through would be towards my target. The result is a low stinger that runs a country mile. Here is a great description of how I hit my driver of the deck:
As I set up for my shot on Men’s night, I was cognizant of the hard conditions. This was perfect for my opportunity to hit the ball clean. I set up as described above and focused on not overswinging. I was 260 yards out from the green and I was hoping to have a short chip shot after my rare shot attempt.
I hit the ball clean and crisp. I made a small divot after the ball as hoped. My ball did not rise anymore that 15 feet off the ground as it rocketed towards the flat surface. From where we were standing, I could not tell exactly where it came to rest, but I knew it was right at the green. As we drove up collecting the other players golf balls, we noticed my ball came to rest 3 yards short of the green. It was a fantastic shot that exceeded my expectations. After an easy up and down, we walked off with another birdie for the day.
Hitting my driver off the deck is not something I do often or practice. It is rare shot that worked out this time. Keeping in mind what happened the last time, I think I might try it again in similar situations. Have you ever hit a driver off the fairway? How did it turn out?
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 
There was a time when the group I played with hit dod as our 2nd shot on a par 5 at least once per round. So I’m not terrible at it but it’s not a shot that comes up very often.
But your timing asking the question is pretty good. I did face a shot that I thought would benefit from the attempt just last month. I’d pushed right off the tee and had to get back in play but had a small tree I had to fly the ball under to get back to the fairway. So hitting driver off the deck seemed a reasonable option.
Unfortunately I got more rise than expected and just nicked one of the lower branches which caused my ball to veer left a bit and of course slowed it down quite a bit and left me a lot longer shot in to the par 5 than I was hoping. The third shot got me close enough to get up and down and I saved par so the attempt didn’t really cause me much pain, but it did remind me why I leave that shot in the bag unless I really have no other choice.
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Kevin,
Some players would not even think of shaping a driver off the deck to avoid a tree. Talk about a tough shot. Great par for the sounds of things, well done!
Cheers Jim
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