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Difference between iron swing and driver swing

post #1 of 26
7/6/07 at 1:32pm
Thread Starter 
Should the driver and iron swings be the same, or is the driver swing a bit more flat?
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post #2 of 26
7/6/07 at 2:17pm

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

The swing itself isn't any different, it's all in the setup. Because of the longer length, your address will be a bit farther from the ball, which will flatten out the swing plane. Also, you want the ball farther toward the target, so the club makes contact on the upward stroke, vs. putting the ball farther back with an iron so your impact is a downward strike. Last note is, because of the wider arc, balance is even more important with a driver, so make sure your stance is solid, balanced and comfortable.

So, the short is, make adjustments in your setup, not your swing, and trust your same swing.
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post #3 of 26
7/6/07 at 2:28pm

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

When you swing a golf club you create an arc, because of the difference in the length of clubs from driver to wedge that arc will differ. The swing plane will change because the length and lie angle is "flatter" in comparison to the rest of your clubs.
You shouldn't do anything other than put a nice smooth swing on it, and let the physical properties of the club do what they're designed to do. I see a lot of people try to do something "different" in their drive swing. You will need to change your ball position to some degree with different clubs and that again will have an effect on swing plane aspects however, my advice is, if you have a decent, repeatable swing with for example, one of your your mid-irons, use the same repeatable swing with your driver.
I am sure others will give you more information and advice but keeping the swing side of my golf simple has treated me well over many years.
Happy golfing.
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post #4 of 26
11/22/08 at 5:32pm

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

When you swing a golf club you create an arc, because of the difference in the length of clubs from driver to wedge that arc will differ. The swing plane will change because the length and lie angle is "flatter" in comparison to the rest of your clubs.
You shouldn't do anything other than put a nice smooth swing on it, and let the physical properties of the club do what they're designed to do. I see a lot of people try to do something "different" in their drive swing. You will need to change your ball position to some degree with different clubs and that again will have an effect on swing plane aspects however, my advice is, if you have a decent, repeatable swing with for example, one of your your mid-irons, use the same repeatable swing with your driver.
I am sure others will give you more information and advice but keeping the swing side of my golf simple has treated me well over many years.
Happy golfing.
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post #5 of 26
11/24/08 at 7:43pm

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

My iron and driver swings are actually a lot different. With my driver I focus on taking the club back low and extending as much as possible and therefore my arc is a lot bigger than with my irons. My iron swing is much shorter for accuracy and my lower body is way more quiet- with my irons at impact both feet are flat on the ground, but my left heel is off the ground at impact with my driver.
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post #6 of 26
11/24/08 at 10:58pm

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

Think about it... a well struck iron shot compresses the ball and imparts a lot of back spin. You don't want back spin with a driver and you hope to not take a divot, so the swing-plane has to be different.

With your irons you want to shift your weight forward and hit down on the back of the ball. With the driver you finish with your weight over the left leg, but slightly less forward and your head hangs back slightly.

If the driver is a longer club and the impact is slightly upward through the ball, then you have to swing it differently than an iron. Your iron swing would be too steep. If you swing the driver like a seven iron, you'll be hitting low flat drives that won't be going very far.

SubPar
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post #7 of 26
11/25/08 at 3:24am

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

The driver swing is flatter, but this is only due to the length of the club. Short irons will swing on a steeper plane, woods and driver will be on a shallower plane. This does NOT mean that you swing differently. It's the same basic swing.

This image is helpful:



Note: be the guy on the right, who swings the same with each club, not the guy on the left.
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post #8 of 26
11/25/08 at 11:03am

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

with the driver hit the back of the ball on the upswing.

with irons hit down on the ball compressing it into the turf.

too many slicers hit down on their drives putting side spin on the ball.
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post #9 of 26
11/25/08 at 2:51pm

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

My driver swing and iron swings are the same for me. The ball position will be different but my swings are the same.
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post #10 of 26
11/25/08 at 8:49pm

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

It's the same but different.
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post #11 of 26
12/13/08 at 6:30am

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

Hard to believe some of these comments. The best way to assess your swing plane is with a mirror. Because of the length of the driver shaft, you are further from the ball at address and the angle of the club is less upright than the angle that would be made by a short iron. To stay on the plane requires a flatter swing--which is not guaranteed by your set-up. Use the mirror to get a sense of how to take the club back to keep that same flatter angle. Plenty of golfers have a swing which is too upright and which encourages slicing. Too flat a swing plane encourages hooking. The best thing about a perfect swing plane is that it inevitably produces greater distance because the clubhead is traversing the most efficient swing path.
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post #12 of 26
12/13/08 at 7:24am

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

Originally Posted by ks8829 View Post
My driver swing and iron swings are the same for me. The ball position will be different but my swings are the same.
I'm with you on this one,i don't feel like i change bar from ball position.
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post #13 of 26
12/18/08 at 10:26am

Re: What you are stating makes sense. The bigger shoulder turn works better with woo

What you are stating makes sense. The bigger shoulder turn works better with woods off the tee because it comforms to the sweeping motion well. However, when you make a big shoulder turn with the irons, it takes more timing to hit the irons on the descending blow after such a turn, making timing a lot harder.
Irons are better hit with a shorter backswing anyway. Unless youa re hitting 3 or 2 irons, what you should be watching more is your wrist cock on the backswing and downswing. Remember, wrist cock and lag is the #1 power source in golf. It doesnt matter how much you turn your shoulders if you dont bend those wrists as much as possible. However in a catch-22, it is easier to bend the wrists properly when you do have a decent shoulder turn because it gives you more room.
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post #14 of 26
12/18/08 at 12:37pm

Re: What you are stating makes sense. The bigger shoulder turn works better with woo

Originally Posted by Energy Jobs View Post
What you are stating makes sense. The bigger shoulder turn works better with woods off the tee because it comforms to the sweeping motion well. However, when you make a big shoulder turn with the irons, it takes more timing to hit the irons on the descending blow after such a turn, making timing a lot harder.
Irons are better hit with a shorter backswing anyway. Unless youa re hitting 3 or 2 irons, what you should be watching more is your wrist cock on the backswing and downswing. Remember, wrist cock and lag is the #1 power source in golf. It doesnt matter how much you turn your shoulders if you dont bend those wrists as much as possible. However in a catch-22, it is easier to bend the wrists properly when you do have a decent shoulder turn because it gives you more room.
Hi, I'm afraid I can't agree with that "Remember, wrist cock and lag is the #1 power source in golf" at all ! Why you think wrist cock is a power source ? In a micro segment/detail of the 1 plane swing could be important. But no school of golf teaches nothing about wrist cock-uncock in relation to the power (or anything else) It's happens naturally from weight/momentum of the golf club. There are 2 bases for the power : body domination and/or arms domination swing.

Generally It's one swing ( it's hard to learn one swing )! However some golfers use 2 different swings for driver/irons. For example Tiger woods : 1 plane for driver and 2 planes for irons.

Regards,
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post #15 of 26
12/18/08 at 1:22pm

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

Originally Posted by ebough View Post
Hard to believe some of these comments. The best way to assess your swing plane is with a mirror. Because of the length of the driver shaft, you are further from the ball at address and the angle of the club is less upright than the angle that would be made by a short iron. To stay on the plane requires a flatter swing--which is not guaranteed by your set-up. Use the mirror to get a sense of how to take the club back to keep that same flatter angle. Plenty of golfers have a swing which is too upright and which encourages slicing. Too flat a swing plane encourages hooking. The best thing about a perfect swing plane is that it inevitably produces greater distance because the clubhead is traversing the most efficient swing path.

This entire quote is right on. I bolded the one bit because it is really important with the woods especially the driver. A steep swing plane with a driver causes all kinds of problems from slicing to skying. Keep the same basic body geometry but stand more upright with the driver which flattens out the plane.
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post #16 of 26
12/18/08 at 1:25pm

Re: Difference between iron swing and driver swing

Attachment 1554

I Hope you can see this image. It pretty much explains what I was trying to say.
LL
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post #17 of 26
12/18/08 at 1:39pm

Re: What you are stating makes sense. The bigger shoulder turn works better with woo

Originally Posted by mm6840 View Post
Hi, I'm afraid I can't agree with that "Remember, wrist cock and lag is the #1 power source in golf" at all ! Why you think wrist cock is a power source ? In a micro segment/detail of the 1 plane swing could be important. But no school of golf teaches nothing about wrist cock-uncock in relation to the power (or anything else) It's happens naturally from weight/momentum of the golf club. There are 2 bases for the power : body domination and/or arms domination swing.

Generally It's one swing ( it's hard to learn one swing )! However some golfers use 2 different swings for driver/irons. For example Tiger woods : 1 plane for driver and 2 planes for irons.

Regards,
Upsss ... For example Tiger woods : 2 plane for driver and 1 plane for irons.
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post #18 of 26
12/18/08 at 3:18pm

Re: What you are stating makes sense. The bigger shoulder turn works better with woo

Originally Posted by mm6840 View Post
Hi, I'm afraid I can't agree with that "Remember, wrist cock and lag is the #1 power source in golf" at all ! Why you think wrist cock is a power source ? In a micro segment/detail of the 1 plane swing could be important. But no school of golf teaches nothing about wrist cock-uncock in relation to the power (or anything else) It's happens naturally from weight/momentum of the golf club. There are 2 bases for the power : body domination and/or arms domination swing.

Generally It's one swing ( it's hard to learn one swing )! However some golfers use 2 different swings for driver/irons. For example Tiger woods : 1 plane for driver and 2 planes for irons.

Regards,

Well I would have to disagree with both of you. I don't know what you mean by the wrist cock but essentially when you take your backswing the wrist of the bottom hand (right for righties) should be cupped at the top while the left wrist of the left hand should be near flat. Holding the bend in the right wrist as one comes down in the downswing as long as possible creates lag. Most people don't like to call that a cock. They like to call the up and down motion of the wrist as a cock. Well the two wrists work together and the resulting position at the top should be what I describe.

But, this is not the No. 1 generator of power in the swing. What it does is add that extra 10 to 25 yards to your distance that can set you apart from your playing partners. You can have little or no wrist cock or wrist action and still hit the ball over 200 yards proving that the "wrist cock" is by no means the No. 1 generator of power. That would be body core and arm levers. All of it adds up to give you distance.
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