Drive 5

Gain feel and confidence for most challenging drive

What to do:
After hitting some shots on the range and getting warm, grab your driver and reflect on the most challenging tee shot you have ever faced... one that you have struggled with in the past.  Draw a fresh image in your mind's eye, seeing the hole stretching out before you in great detail.  Set right and left fairway boundaries by picking out 2 distant trees, flags, or other easily seen items on your range.  The fairway you've created with these points should be very close to the same width as the one you envisioned.  Now you're ready to proceed with the drill.

Going through your full routine first, attempt to hit 5 drives in a row into your fairway.  Before hitting each shot, conjure up the image of your most challenging tee shot faced, go through your routine just as you would on the course, then pull the trigger.  If you complete this drill, gain confidence and know that you can hit the fairway under pressure. 

How I did:
I just thought of this drill today... think I will use #18 at Mission Inn's El Campeon.  Almost every tee shot there presents a challenge, but this one definitively sticks out.  It's a sharp dogleg right with water running along the right all the way up to the green.  There is a bunker and jungle left of and through the fairway, and a tree just right of the tee preventing a corner-cutting high draw.  Adding to the challenge is the fact that the water pinches in 200-240 yards from the tee, pretty much forcing the player to hit driver.  Finally, there is almost always a strong prevailing wind coming from in and from the right.  So, the shot one must hit is a low 260-290 yard fade.  You must miss the tree and its overhanging limb, not hit it too far into the palmetto forest, but not fade it too much into the water.  The fact that it's the last hole of the day adds a bit of pressure as well.  Sound like fun?  That's why I chose it :)

Scaling:
Beginner/Intermediate: Hit 3 in a row into your fairway