Great drives on one hole and poor on the next.

[slim]

A mate of mine every so often will hit maybe four drives on one hole if playing by himself and there is no-one behind him. They will all be good drives. He will then pick them up and hit four drives from the next tee.
They will be poor. Most of them will be hooks.
I have watched him play.
Everything is identical.
Why does he go from a good driver to a hacker in ten minutes.
Any thoughts guys.

[3Puttpete]

Thinking everything is identical is the first thing you need to address.

[Dotty]

Did he used to play ice hockey, have a coach with only one arm and a grandma in a nursing home?

[slim]

We've checked everything.
Grip
Stance
Posture
Alignment
Distance from ball
Position of ball
Tee height
Position of club at top of swing
Takeaway
Both tee boxes are flat
No wind

[3Puttpete]

Did he used to play ice hockey, have a coach with only one arm and a grandma in a nursing home?

He needs to find his happy place

[Yossarian]

Physics doesn't lie.

[slim]

Thanx for your help guys.
If I want comedy I watch Seinfeld.

[AndyP]

Position/movement of club at impact will be different.

[slim]

Position/movement of club at impact will be different.

Thanx for an intelligent response.
I will probably have to video his swing at both holes.

[backintheswing]

What does he play off?

[slim]

10

[NewyMitch]

What shape/start line are the good drives?
How strong is your friends grip?

From experience, when I had a excessively strong grip I would occasionally duck hook the hell out of it. Mostly because would rotate and the grip would force a closed face, the only option was a sharp pull.

I also recently have been fighting a sharp pull with a neutral grip. My takeaway was getting outside the line and if I closed the face at impact I was on the left side of the fairway 1 over to the left.

I'm not an expert by any means, just some observations from my own struggles.

[benno_r]

I do the same.

Off 6.

It happens, we are a long way off scratch players or pros.

[slim]

What shape/start line are the good drives?
How strong is your friends grip?

From experience, when I had a excessively strong grip I would occasionally duck hook the hell out of it. Mostly because would rotate and the grip would force a closed face, the only option was a sharp pull.

I also recently have been fighting a sharp pull with a neutral grip. My takeaway was getting outside the line and if I closed the face at impact I was on the left side of the fairway 1 over to the left.

I'm not an expert by any means, just some observations from my own struggles.

His good drives are either pretty straight, or with a slight draw.
I would classify his grip as neutral. Both vee's point about to his chin.
We're just intrigued that all this happens on consecutive holes.

[Dotty]

Get him on a launch monitor to check the club face and swing path angles at impact.

At impact, the ball doesn't know about any of the details that happened beforehand, like grip, stance, takeaway and position of club at top of the swing.

[Stuart]

I wonder if we are mis-interpreting what you are asking - are you mentioning two specific consecutive holes, or any two consecutive holes? I’m going to give you a different answer, and focus on the mental, rather than physical side of what he doing wrong.

I know that I am mentally affected by the look of a hole and I will struggle if I try to hit a shot that doesn’t match my ‘feel’. What I mean by this is that I normally hit a draw, but on one hole I will (try to) hit a gentle cut as it dog-legs slightly to the right. If I try to hit my normal draw, I will either block it right into the trees or duck-hook it left. On the next hole, it dog-legs slightly left, and I cannot hit the fairway with a fade, but am very confident to go back to my draw. In both cases, there is HEAPS of room to move it either way, but psychologically I just struggle for some reason.

So, with your mate, get him to describe what shot he is seeing before he tees off on the second hole and then he needs to try to replicate that. If he can’t describe the shot, get him to do so!

[slim]

I wonder if we are mis-interpreting what you are asking - are you mentioning two specific consecutive holes, or any two consecutive holes? I’m going to give you a different answer, and focus on the mental, rather than physical side of what he doing wrong.

I know that I am mentally affected by the look of a hole and I will struggle if I try to hit a shot that doesn’t match my ‘feel’. What I mean by this is that I normally hit a draw, but on one hole I will (try to) hit a gentle cut as it dog-legs slightly to the right. If I try to hit my normal draw, I will either block it right into the trees or duck-hook it left. On the next hole, it dog-legs slightly left, and I cannot hit the fairway with a fade, but am very confident to go back to my draw. In both cases, there is HEAPS of room to move it either way, but psychologically I just struggle for some reason.

So, with your mate, get him to describe what shot he is seeing before he tees off on the second hole and then he needs to try to replicate that. If he can’t describe the shot, get him to do so!

You are correct. Two specific holes.
It is only on these two holes that he has noticed the difference.
On the 1st hole, a par 4 dogleg to the left he aims at a large gum tree on the right hand corner of the dogleg and draws
the ball around the dogleg...no problems there.
On the next hole, a straight par 4 he aims his drive down the right side of the fairway and tries to play the same little draw.
The result on the second hole is hooks into the trees.
This is not on just one shot.
As I said in the OP, he plays several balls on each hole.
Other holes where he uses the driver are fine.
It is only on these two consecutive holes (Coolangatta/Tweed 15th and 16th River Course)

[PeteyD]

On a specific hole, not related to the previous hole I would guess. Does he always tee up on the same part of the tee? Maybe he should try hitting a fade up the left side?

[slim]

On a specific hole, not related to the previous hole I would guess. Does he always tee up on the same part of the tee? Maybe he should try hitting a fade up the left side?

Excellent suggestion.
Simple, but excellent.
I'll pass that on to him.

[Johnny Canuck]

Check where the tee block actually points.

We have a couple holes that the tee blocks point a little diagonally to the hole direction.

Can even cause havoc for the scratch markers. You think you are setting up straight, but you aren’t.

[slim]

Always a trap.
Both tee boxes are not suss.

[WBennett]

I do the same.Off 6.It happens, we are a long way off scratch players or pros.

How are you off 6?And when can I play you again?

[backintheswing]

How are you off 6?And when can I play you again?

He's a pro shop worker so lives on the course.

[benno_r]

How are you off 6?And when can I play you again?

Play a lot of golf at home. Which is quite forgiving 1-2 fairways over.

[Ferrins]

Ben shoots in the seventies😎