Anybody use a different swing for their driver?

[plugged]

I have a new swing that I have been working on. I use this exact same swing for LW through 5W and typically get nice, fairly straight mid-launch shots that I am usually very pleased with. Most of all, I have a lot of consistency with my shots and this swing feels very natural to me. As opposed to my old swing where I had to keep ten things in mind, I only concentrate on one thing - keeping my lead arm straight and extended - and everything else seems to fall into place on its own. Better yet, when I hit a bad shot, I usually know exactly what I have done. So far, so good, right?

That is, until I take out my driver and I either get a high-launch slice or a low-launch hook. I have to very deliberately concentrate on just the right amount of weight shift and hip turn. If I get these two in perfect balance, I hit a very slight fade at a mid-launch right in the sweet spot and send it a good long way. I don't have to think about this whole weight shift/hip turn at all in any of my other clubs.

What gives?

[jaragon126]

I'm kinda in the same boat ... I took a lesson a month or so ago at a GolfTec & the guy made a pretty significant swing change with me & my body positions during the swing.

So I went to the range for days & practiced what I was taught ... only now to have the driver completely fall off the deep end. Most of my drives are short snap hooks ... with a few block pushes scattered in between.

I really don't want to have a different swing with the driver, but if I can't get this figured out I'm going back to get a lesson & hopefully they see something that I don't. Do the pro's have different swings for their irons vs driver?

I would think to keep things simple it would be the same (or very very close to the same). But, maybe there does need to be a completely different hand/body position for the driver

[iWALK18]

Yes, when I swing my driver I have an entirely different swing, at least in my mind's eye. If i come from the inside with my driver the way i do with my irons, i hit blocks and snap hooks. So i've figured out that I need to feel like i'm coming more over the top. In reality i'm sure i'm still swinging from the inside and down the line, just not from the inside as much as with my irons. But the swing feels so different...

[uttexas]

the impact zone is different for the driver and other "woods"
I hit down with hybrids and irons, leaving a divot (even off the tee)

The driver swing is more of a sweeping strike. A few pros actually hit the ball on the upswing (JB Holmes) Although, most pros do hit a slightly descending blow with the driver.

I'd say that for most players, the driver swing plane is flatter

[Taylor Shrake]

I use a very wide swing on my driver, so much so that its dangerous to let me try out drivers at an indoor launch monitor. Rest of the set though is pretty standard.

[CalBoomer]

The driver swing should always be different than an iron or fairway wood swing. To stay on plane, the swing needs to be flatter than for any other club because of the shaft length. Unless they are trying to keep the ball low for some reason (ie wind), pros and any good golfer always hits the ball on the upswing with the driver. Virtually every other club should contact the ball on the downswing.

[enduro]

My driver swing is essentially the same. The difference is the club is much longer. this gives it a "sweeping" feel to it. But the way I envision it is if I had a club of infinite length the swing plane would be totally parallel with the ground. If I had a club that was of 0 (infinitesimal) length it would be totally perpendicular with the ground. Obviously this is theoretical and sort of hard to imagine, but it's how I figure it would go.

But, it follows that my irons are much shorter than my driver so the swing is more steep. The driver, being much longer, has a wider plane. And because of this wider plane, small mistake have greater consequence. The infinite club described would produce an enormously bad shot with the smallest swing error and the infinitesimal swing would produce almost no error with the largest swing error.

But you need the same mechanics to make it work. Rotation and squaring the club face require the same body mechanics. It's just harder with a longer club. With a club a mile long it would be insanely difficult to control it, for instance. A slight move on the butt would create a fast and large movement on the head.

Really, it has a lot to do with your butt of the club in your hands moving in relation to the head. A shorter club's head moves more similar to the butts and a longer clubs head moves faster in relation to the butt in terms of speed. It's how circles work. Of course an infinite length club would move at infinite speed with the smallest movement and the infinitesimal length club wouldn't ever move. But I digress!

but don't focus on the club head. Focus on yourself. You are doing the same thing. The butt of the club is doing the exact same thing. The head of the club is moving faster and feels different (there is a different center of gravity on longer and longer clubs of course since the weight is more uneven) but it requires the same mechanic to hit the ball accurately.

Hold a PW out and move your wrists back and forth. Then do the same with a driver. Notice that the driver head moves much faster than the PW with the same wrist speed.

Why wouldn't it?

There's a reason a driver shaft is much longer than a PW. Clubs are designed to exploit loft and shaft length. A PW with a driver shaft would go further than a regular PW with the same swing speed on the grip. Leverage.

Try and focus less on the club head and more on the butt of the club.

[chaprichard]

There should be 2 differences with your driver...

1. A longer backswing with less wrist action.
2. Sweaping action through the ball - you should strike the ball on the upswing - as appossed to the downswing with irons.

[plugged]

All good replies and much appreciated. I thought I was doing something fundamentally wrong, but what is obvious sometimes escapes me in golf, especially when I am focusing intently on making a good swing.

I'll re-think my driver swing today at the range.

[enduro]

There should be 2 differences with your driver...

Do you think there is really a longer back swing? I suppose there could be but there doesn't have to be. If I was hitting a 6 iron from max range I'd probably bring it back just as far. It would just be steeper because the club is shorter. But as far as my hands are concerned it would be the same. But yeah, perhaps. Maybe the back swing is proportional to the shaft length...

Also, I think the "sweeping" effect is something of an illusion. I think because the club is so long and therefore creates less of an angle with the ground (an infinite length club would create 0 angle for instance) and because the bottom is smooth you naturally get a wider, sweeping feel to it. The swing angle and bottom won't come down into the ground like an iron because of these properties. Therefore no divot, etc. I've always found the hardest thing about driver (besides the difficult loft they have) is to stop thinking about what the head is doing and more about where my hands, wrist and arms are. Because the club is head is moving so fast naturally (shaft length) and where the weight of a golf club is (center of gravity, etc) when I found myself thinking about the club head, sweeping it, etc, it was difficult because the using the club head as a timing device is difficult. When I started only focusing on my arms, hands and wrists and how they should be the same I started hitting the club a lot more often. Also, I noticed I swung it harder, trying to kill the ball, which isn't necessary. So I focused on my tempo. The shaft and distance from the energy source (the player) is long enough to create a lot of distance in addition to the loft. What I hate and love most about that club is it magnifies imperfections in the swing. It's a difficult club to use.

[SpringBokVol]

same swing just a little flatter and the ball further forward.

same set up with all clubs:

square shoulders and slight spine tilt to the right.

[flopdarock]

its the only club i dont hit off the ground... or the only club i use a tee with...
its the only club i dont try to compress the ball between the ground and the club...
its the only club in my daggone bag i cant hit far most of the time...
so the answer to the question by the OP is...
ive tried the same swing as all my other clubs and ive tried a completely different swing... playing to the percentages i hit it better with the same swing but i seriously have to figure out a consistent ball placement

[enduro]

its the only club i dont hit off the ground... or the only club i use a tee with...

So when you tee off with a 3 wood, what do you do?

I've found thinking less about the club head and more about the grip simplifies things. Irons go into the ground a bit because they are steep due to a short club length. The exact same swing is going to do that when coupled with the sole of the club. Watch a lot of tour golfers hands and arms and body for that matter. You'll see the same thing from a 6 iron as you do a driver. The angle of attack is different because of shaft length. But the wrists release the same and the take back is the same, at a different angle initially. Even better, watch an LPGA golfer since their swings tend to be more natural and less muscled.

[flopdarock]

So when you tee off with a 3 wood, what do you do?

i dont use a tee with my 3w... i hit it off the deck

[enduro]

i dont use a tee with my 3w... i hit it off the deck

Like a man!

I always use a tee when I can. Even if I tee it up just a very small bit. A tee will always be a better lie than the ground in my opinion. Regardless, a tee shouldn't change a swing, just where the ball is at address.

[wedge player]

i try to keep the same swing.

[flopdarock]

Like a man!

lol... maybe its just all in my head... but i cant hit a ball off a tee to save my life no matter how low/high i tee it up... no matter what club it is...

and a tee doesnt change the swing... but when it comes to driver... youre trying to catch the ball on the ascent so the mentality (to me anyways) is much different than every other club in the bag... and unless the teebox is absolutely chewed up... its usually a pretty good lie

[wedge player]

i try to use same for all just move ball position around a lil bit