Driver set-up

Experimenting with my Driver at the range last night I was trying to get my swing with that club rhythm and tempo to be more consistent with how I swing my irons.

So I would take 5 swings with my PW hitting a slight draw, then switch to the driver and make 5 swings trying to repeat my swing motion. I have an alignment stick set up for stance.

Setup for PW ball centered in stance, hands centered in stance.

Setup for driver ball off left heel, hands at left thigh. (This position often feels a bit awkward/unnatural)

So I started to hit some shots with my driver setup modified such that the ball was at my left heal but my hands and club were centered in my stance. So at address my club head was ~10" behind the ball. With this setup I was hitting the draw I wanted with the driver with a nice easy swing and based on ball flight and tee height I would say I was hitting up on the ball fairly well.

The catch is I believe that I should be set up with the club near the ball with the driver and I am not sure why. I think why the experiment was working for me is mostly mental and that when I set my hands forward I think of that as the bottom of the swing instead of past the bottom of the swing.

Specifically my question is Why do you want to set up with hands and club at the left thigh? Is it a preview of impact? Is it to pre-set spine angle? Is there consistency issues with setting the club well behind the ball at address?

Thanks,
-E

sure you can do it that way if it works for you.

Generally about 60% of driver problems are usually from address. Most people have problem addressing the ball because it feels awkward. Also try different grips.

Couple of common address problems
- Stance is open
- Narrow stance
- Not dropping the right shoulder enough
- Stance closed, shoulder is open.
- Arms are straight with club

Check it out. Take a picture from side view and back view and compare with a pro.

hands at left thigh seems a bit too forward for me. from what ive learned, the more forward your hands are at address the more open the face wants to be naturally, but a lot of people correct that by twisting the club square.

with a driver my advice is to just set up squarely with your hands slightly in front of the ball and feet slightly wider than shoulder width. you can set up a club along your feet to make sure they are square to your target. have loose natural hanging arms. its important to be loose with a driver; a lot of people get tighter with a driver and try and crush it which makes it very hard to maintain control of a club that long when you are tight.

i just try and swing down the feet line with a driver and keep it simple and smooth. thats my advice for a driver.