Iron vs. driver - a few questions

[timwat]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and this is my first post - I'm a 12.3 in the NorCal Bay Area and am in the middle of lessons with a local pro.  I've been a long-time "weak, high slice" kind of guy, ball flight with irons and driver balloons.  My pro told me essentially I was casting and thus adding loft.  I was also too wide on backswing and really dodgy with contact.

With a few key changes to my swing he has me hitting through the ball with much more authority.  I hesitate to use the term "hitting down" for all the incorrect implications of that nomenclature, nevertheless forward lean and more compression, more boring ball flight, greater distance, a repeatable draw are all now part of my iron and hybrid play.  I'm hitting 400+ balls a week on the range now that I know how to practice and what to look for.  So I'm excited about the progress with my irons and hybrids.

However, driver is still somewhat of a mystery.  At my last lesson I just asked him about it briefly, and he remarked about "hitting through" and letting the clubhead naturally release.  Also had me use a stronger right hand position.  As you might expect, that worked perfectly when he's right there, but the very next range session alone - high and right.

Haven't been able to schedule a lesson since due to the Bay Area rain, but what I've figured out so far is 1) concentrating on pronating my left forearm to set the clubface on plane in the backswing and 2) working on releasing the club to full extension after contact while clubhead is still below hands, are helpful in keeping the ball lower and straight or draw.

What's confusing is in many ways it "feels" so far that the iron/hybrid swing and the driver swing are such two different beasts.  I realize there will be some differences (due to ball on turf vs. ball on tee, hitting ball with iron behind lowest point of swing vs. driver at lowest point or on upswing, etc.), but am I feeling this correctly?

If it matters, at present I'm using AP1 irons (1st gen) with S300 shafts, Adams Pro Gold hybrids (matrix ozik shafts) and 09 Burner driver (stock R shaft).

Thanks for any insight you can lend.

Tim

[TourSpoon]

Welcome to the forum...basically you are having some timing and blocking issues with the driver.  I recommend the following:

Using driver or 3 wood tee up three balls and use a half swing to hit some 100 yard draws.  You should be hitting these using a slower motion concentrating on really feeling the release and timing.  Once you get that feeling and can do this, try to keep it while increasing your swing and speed until you are up to 90%.  This is where you want to be.  This issue is pretty common due to the length of the driver.  Good luck.

I also play the Pro Gold hybrids with the Matrix shaft.  They are awesome.