Differences Between Driver Swing and Iron Swing (Driver Swing vs. Iron Swing Master Thread)

[westcyderydin]

iron swing- stright spine, body above ball.
driver swing- spine tilting slightly back ( i keep a little more weight on the inside of my back foot), so im a bit more behind the ball.

[delav]

Too steep and angle of attack with the driver can also induce high backspin, resulting in a high ball flight. Attack angle is only part of the puzzle to ball flight.

[Phil McGleno]

iron swing- stright spine, body above ball.

You probably look at the ball out of the bottom of your eyes, too. Let me guess - chin up, too, huh?

[saevel25]

Ooooh, i have that issue. I looked at video of my swing and my head was arched back... really got to get video or pictures of your set up to really get a feeling of what your doing. your mind really plays tricks on you with out a reference point.

[westcyderydin]

You probably look at the ball out of the bottom of your eyes, too. Let me guess - chin up, too, huh?

no, not at all. for my driver swing i just started to put my weight a bit more to the right than i do with my iron swing and tilt my spine to the right just a bit, too.

its worked very well short term so far, but its only been two rounds. is this bad? whats the right way to do it?

[saevel25]

Don't mess with your alignment just for the club. The club it self will dictate the alignment because its longer and you play the ball more up in your stance.

i would never tilt your spine away from the ball, i always play every shot with 50% weight distribution, except for short game shots. I find that its easier to be consistant with one set up than trying to figure out two.

[very handicap]

Since i first started golf 2 years ago, i have been battling iron swing versus driver swing. When i drive well, my iron game will go haywire and vice versa.

It is until recently that i realize the reason. This is what i discovered......For driver, in order to hit it straight and far (at least for me), the shaft of the club needs to be perpendicular to the ball and the direction of the flight at impact.... meaning that there should not be any forward lean on the shaft. On the other hand, when i play iron, the shaft is always leaning forward. Now my question is, should this be the case??

When i practise my iron shot in the driving range with mat, the way to really hit the sweat spot is to forward lean the shaft and the clubhead compresses the ball perfectly against the mat. However, the downside is when i forward lean, the direction can be mildly to wildly inaccurate depending on how much i forward lean, and how fast my body turning, etc.

I have recently played with a single-digit-handicapper both on course and driving range. I notice that in the driving range, his iron shot does not sound that sweet, but during the course, his direction and distance is always accurate and that's why he is getting all the birdies.

My question is, should i change my iron swing to match my driver swing, so that both are hitting the ball with a neutral clubface without forward lean shaft?

I notice lately i have been getting 90% fairway hit (average around 220-250 yds), but 10-20% GIR.

Please help. Many thanks.

[saevel25]

I think to many people exagerate there forward press with there hands... I play all my shots with my hands near my left thigh, maybe just inside it. That means shorter wedges will have a bit more forward lean and longer clubs like the driver will have less.

I also play the ball from center of my stance to inside my right foot.

[ghalfaire]

I play my wedges in the middle of my stance and move the ball forward as club length increases. With the driver I have the ball off my left foot's arch. I also keep the hands near the inside of my left thigh for all my clubs. I begin the swing with a little (maybe 1/2 inch) forward press.

[Chris223]

maybe I should start playing my driver a bit further back in my stand. I'm usually much more forward than what you're both describing and lately I've been hitting my driver awful. Pop flies, hardly ever solid contact, rarely straight.

[golfro]

i play my ball right around the heel of my left foot (im right handed). I usually play my wedge shots at the heel of my right foot.

[Frito]

Recently I've been really on with my irons and off with my driver. Have afew questions
1. Relative to a 7 iron adress of the ball how should i be adressing the ball with my driver.
2. relative to a 7 iron swing what are the differences if any ?
3. what are the major differences that you yourself feel in your driver swing compared with your 7 ironshot.
any input at all would be helpful
thx

[JohnQVegas]

1. A driver ball setup should be more forward in your stance, because you're wanting to hit the ball on the upswing.

2. An iron swing you want to hit down on the ball , where a driver/fairway wood is more of a sweeping swing.

3. Driver is more of a flat planed swing. you want to sweep closer to the ground and get the ball into the air by contacting it when you are on your upswing. A 7iron shot is made so you hit the ball before you hit the ground which helps get spin on the ball to launch it in the air.

[DaSportsGuy]

1. Relative to a 7 iron adress of the ball how should i be adressing the ball with my driver.
My setup is pretty standard. 7 Iron in middle of stance, Driver just behind front foot.

2. Relative to a 7 iron swing what are the differences if any ?
I try and get more compression with my irons and really pinch the ball against the turf. As mentioned above, with the driver it's more of a smooth sweep.

3. What are the major differences that you yourself feel in your driver swing compared with your 7 ironshot.
With my driver I try and stay on the shot and really stay on the line. When I come off too quickly or too late is when I start pulling and pushing.

[JML22]

i thought driver should still be hit on the downswing

[JohnQVegas]

i thought driver should still be hit on the downswing

Whereas the clubface on a driver has so little loft, you need to help it into the air more by hitting it on the upswing. With irons, you're creating spin by pinching the ball against the ground and getting it up into the air via the higher lofted clubface and the backspin. Drivers are hit off of a tee and have no grooves on the clubface. To get the ball into the air, you'd need to hit it on the upswing. If you hit a driver on the downswing, it'd hit the turf 10 feet in front of you and die.

[saevel25]

A driver ball setup should be more forward in your stance, because you're wanting to hit the ball on the upswing.

I'll be nice in the response here, you are wrong, the driver does not hit the ball on the upswing. the angle of attack is negative for the driver like all other clubs.

Relative to a 7 iron adress of the ball how should i be adressing the ball with my driver.

Depends on the type of set up you use. Do you keep the same stance width and move the ball in your stance, or do you keep the ball relatively the same and shorten your stance. I like the ball to be forward in my stance, if i had to guess, its a club head distance inside my left foot. My stance is probably were the middle of my feet are inline with my shoulders.

Relative to a 7 iron swing what are the differences if any

Really i don't make a conscious effort to shallow my swing out. I just make a swing. I don't like to think about modifying it. The reason is because i don't try to hit the ball on the upswing with my driver. Its not as an aggressive of an attack angle because the ball is forward in my stance and the club is longer which naturally changes the radius of the swing to a shallower one.

[JohnQVegas]

[QUOTE=saevel25;534822]I'll be nice in the response here, you are wrong, the driver does not hit the ball on the upswing. the angle of attack is negative for the driver like all other clubs.

Way to make your response "nice"...

If you're so sure of yourself, where's the scientific evidence? Its easy to say someones wrong without backing it up.