Help! Should I Buy A New Driver? Or Just Learn To Hit The Golf Club I Have?

I played a perfectly horrid round of golf last week. Thankfully the other three members of my team were hitting well and pulled our team score within just a few shots of the top of the leader board. We didn’t win anything, but we weren’t humiliated by ending up on the lowest rung.

My problem? My drives. I couldn’t hit the fairway no matter how I tried. And I tried. I hit left, I hit right, I popped it up, skimmed it low… it was a disaster. Finally on the 13th hole I switched to my 3-wood and bombed one right down the center of the fairway. (Why didn’t I put the driver in the bag earlier, you may ask? Ego! The only explanation. I was sure the next drive would fix me— and of course, I was wrong.)

After finally hitting the fairway using my 3-wood, I thought, “Ok, that problem’s solved, and chose my driver to tee off on the next hole. Do I have to tell you how deep into the right rough I went?

Cobra LogoSo the question is: is it me? or is it my #@$%! driver? Let me tell you about this golf club. I bought it at a demo day a couple of years ago. The pro at the event watched me hit and confirmed it was the “club for me!” – A King Cobra 12 degree. A big brute of a thing, with a distinctive “clunk” sound when you hit it right. When I use it at the driving range I always get a few stares. The “clunk” really echoes.

At first I thought the sound was distinctive. Now I find it’s just annoying. I’ve talked with Cobra salespeople about it. Turns out the engineers at Cobra thought the sound would become popular, like the “ping” of a great Ping putter when you hit the ball just right. They were wrong. So they’ve changed the design of the head in newer models and the “clunk” sound is kaput!-gone.

Let me be clear, I don’t hate the club, but I don’t have a lot of confidence when I use it. Is that the club’s fault? Or mine?

If you have a club in your bag that you never use, or think you can’t hit well… isn’t it time to get rid of it? Or is it time to learn to use it?

I need your help and any ideas would be welcome. Add them to the comment box below. And thanks in advance.

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Golf Club 2 GolfEtail.com non-animated

  8 comments for “Help! Should I Buy A New Driver? Or Just Learn To Hit The Golf Club I Have?

  1. Glenna says:

    I believe that you hit that driver quite well. If the odd sound is now bothering you as much as it does your playing partners then I would suggest contacting the manufacturer rather than just tossing the club. If they have corrected the noise factor they should be willing to give you a generous trade in for a new one.

    • Pat says:

      Glenna… never thought of that! The sound is really annoying… and I think although I do hit the driver well once in a while, my confidence in the club is shaky… maybe because I clunk too much. “-)

  2. Susan Gauff says:

    When you buy individual clubs and sometimes even with full sets, one club can be of a different frequency and balance. Usually that’s the one you hate to hit. I’d suggest you take all your clubs to a club fitter/maker and have they weighed and measured. You might be surprised what you learn. This may also tell you whether it’s the driver or you.

    • Pat says:

      Interesting take on the problem. I did get fitted for all my irons… they are Callaway x-22 and work well… The Cobra driver, though, just performs a little differently. I suspect it’s more me than the club however. 🙁

  3. Gail Jones says:

    Maybe a lesson first, then see what the teaching Pro has to say.

  4. Kathy Ekdahl says:

    Unfortunately, I think some of this is just mental. Once you stop having confidence in a club, you create that thought, and thought creates actions. Just like when I say “Oh God I have to stay out of that trap” and then hit right in it”…. my Thoughts created an action. If you think “I have a terrible time with this club, I can’t ise it well”..you’ll create that. If our swing is pure and clean, we theoretically should be able to hit with every club, right? My vote is never throw away a club. Clubs that you had trouble with this year may be your saving grace next year. So, Zen golf. Think positive.

    • Pat says:

      I’m discovering how much confidence counts. Each time I swing I have to believe I can hit the ball. Not always easy to be present to the moment. But that’s what it takes.

  5. Sally L. says:

    I feel the same way about my hybrids. I took a golf class and the instructor was really impressed with them. I don’t use them anymore on the fairway because I have had so many bad shots with them. I am on the verge of selling them. I may give them another try first. I am a 3rd-year golfer, and I have really improved with my irons, which I couldn’t hit with very well last year. Maybe it is just a confidence thing. If so, then I would say practice makes perfect.

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