Improve your driver swing = improvement in all other clubs?

**PingGKEN** · December 23, 2009

Would you guys agree that if you (properly) work on your driver swing to a point where you have good tempo, ball flight, repeatability, balance, etc... that those things learned will automatically help with all other clubs in the bag?

Is that the best club to use to gauge swing mechanics and changes?

**flatom** · December 23, 2009

Not necessarily, driver swing has one hitting up with an ascending blow at impact whereas irons are the opposite.

**O.B. Right** · December 23, 2009

I have wondered about this as well because, for me, it is not the case. Although I do nothing different (intentionally) when swinging a driver vs an iron - sometimes working exclusively for a long time on one seems to adversely effect the other. I feel like I need to practice with all my clubs on a regular basis. Maybe this is different depending on one's ability level - I am a beginner.

**Leftygolfer** · December 23, 2009

I think the best club to work with is a 5 or 6 iron. I actually think the driver is probably the easiest club to hit because you are hitting the ball off a tee and you can drive the ball well with an ascending, very slightly decending, or level swing. The decending would be the worst but you can get away with it.

**snowman0157** · December 23, 2009

Seems like I once read that Nicklaus practiced most with 6 Iron and recommended that amateurs do the same..I think the rationale was that Good 6I swing would transalte to other clubs.. Agree with the previous posts on Tempo. Good Tempo will produce reasonable shots many times, even if the swing is 'off' somewhat. To me, the Driver Swing is unique as are all the other elements (Driver, FW clubs, Short Game, Putting); so you gotta practice them all. That's the 'problem' (and the appeal) with golf; it is really multiple games withing a Game and it is hard to be sharp in all areas.

**Keep It Simple** · December 23, 2009

I believe you should find the club you swing best and then carry this swing over to your other clubs. I do this. The club I swing best is my 3-iron. If my driver starts to misbehave, I choke down on the handle until it is closer in length to my 3-iron and then imagine swinging my 3-iron. This little trick works well for me.

Fred Couples recently talked about this on the golf channel. I believe it was a special presentation of the Golf Fix in Las Vegas (Butch Harmon and Natalie Gulbis were also on the show). Fred gears his swing around his 8-iron. He imagines he is swinging his 8-iron (or was it his 7-iron??) with every club in the bag.

**Fastrack** · December 23, 2009

I believe you should find the club you swing best and then carry this swing over to your other clubs. I do this. The club I swing best is my 3-iron. If my driver starts to misbehave, I choke down on the handle until it is closer in length to my 3-iron and then imagine swinging my 3-iron. This little trick works well for me.

This is very interesting point from Fred....I like Fred's S&T; swing as well.

This is helpful for mental....still need to practice with driver and pretty much every iron and wedge in your bag. I think that's the joy of golf though

**WUTiger** · December 23, 2009

Not necessarily, driver swing has one hitting up with an ascending blow at impact whereas irons are the opposite.

And

lefty

I think the best club to work with is a 5 or 6 iron. ...

Lots of top golfers talk about basing your swing around the 5 or 6 iron. That's the

center of the universe for club length, weight, swing difficulty, etc. Driver is a specialty swing, almost. In fact, I urge beginners to avoid the driver until they start shooting in the mid-90s. You need to work up and down the irons - and woods - to get comfortable with all the clubs. Then, for mastery, I hit 3-iron shots off the turf. When the 3i clicks fairly well, I'm having a good swing week. (Didn't have many of these beyond June)

**senorchipotle** · December 23, 2009

Would you guys agree that if you (properly) work on your driver swing to a point where you have good tempo, ball flight, repeatability, balance, etc... that those things learned will automatically help with all other clubs in the bag?

imho, and this is just me. i find the best way to gauge swing mechanics is to take 3 wood, place a ball into a fairly thin divot made by an iron. not a huge divot, but something substantial. your object here is to hit a low stinger with a right to left movement, but not a hook. to hit this shot, your club must be descending upon the ball for good compression, coming from the inside, with a slightly bowed wrist and square clubface. this is the hardest shot, in my opinion, that there is. if you can hit this, then take that approach for all your clubs, driver included, you will become a great ballstriker.

**zenchili** · December 24, 2009

I agree that the driver is a different animal, but I think a lot of that is mental. It's the longerst club in the bag so that adds some challenges.

Actually I've heard that it's best to work on your swing with a short iron, preferably a lob wedge with 3/4 swing. Once you get to a point where you are hitting virtually every ball solid and can hit all the different shots with it, high floaters, low spinners, etc, then you have achieved some solid ball striking that will translate to the other clubs. The differences with the other club come to setup. Alignment, spine angle, ball position and weight, and possibly stance width.

You can strike a golf ball on the upswing with the driver not because it's a different swing, but because of your setup, where you put and keep your weight and where and how high the ball is teed.

**wedge player** · December 24, 2009

imho, and this is just me. i find the best way to gauge swing mechanics is to take 3 wood, place a ball into a fairly thin divot made by an iron. not a huge divot, but something substantial. your object here is to hit a low stinger with a right to left movement, but not a hook. to hit this shot, your club must be descending upon the ball for good compression, coming from the inside, with a slightly bowed wrist and square clubface. this is the hardest shot, in my opinion, that there is. if you can hit this, then take that approach for all your clubs, driver included, you will become a great ballstriker.

or my approach practice with a blade 2 iron.

**Nickynoodles** · December 24, 2009

It works in a complete opposite with me. When im Driving great im hitting my irons o.k and just when i start hitting my irons perfect and everything seems to be coming together, my Driving gets spotty. On the rare occasions that everything is working in sync is when i put up great numbers but thats few and far between. If everything worked perfectly for all of us we would all be on tour. Thats what seperates us from pros. We have trouble puting everything together. I have been Driving like a pro lately, but my iron game is spotty. As soon as i get my sticks working great again i'll see my Driving go off again. Its like a rollercoaster ride for me. The only thing that stays consistantly great in my game is my Putting and short game around the green.

**ks8829** · December 25, 2009

I usually start with my PW to improve my golf swing. I can tell if I am hitting my PW solid or not by feel and sound. I focus on my backswing mainly and once I make solid contact I work on distance and direction.

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