Driver vs Irons

[daSeth]

So... I am a mid handicapper trying to get lower.  I have been working really hard on improving my swing and focusing strictly on my iron play.  It's been working out really well... but only for my iron play.  My driver (which was great before I started working on irons) has been a complete mess.  It's like they are two primadonnas on the same team.  They hate each other and refuse to be on the court at the same time.  When one is playing well and scoring a bunch of points, the other gets jealous and pouts.  In my ignorant mid-handicap mind, I believe that this is really holding me back.  So I need advice from the low guys out there.

Is there a different swing with the iron vs the driver?

If not, I guess I need to suck it up and just get better BUT...

If so, what are the key differences between the two?

And if so, what drills can I do to be able to effectively transition between the two without skipping a beat in the middle of the round?

One thing I have been trying...  At the range I will go through a normal practice session and always end with a simulated round.  I play 18 holes from the practice range in my head.  Hole 1 is driver, then 8.  Hole 2 is 4 iron, 7 iron, wedge.  Hole 3 is a 7 iron etc...  It's a struggle for me even then.  I think what I need is to get educated on the matter.  Please reply with links, videos, recommended books, etc...

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by daSeth

Is there a different swing with the iron vs the driver?

Yes and no.

Originally Posted by daSeth

If so, what are the key differences between the two?

With an iron, you're trying to compress the ball with a descending swing. With an iron, you need to "sweep" the ball off the tee. You're struggles are most likely due to trying to apply the same swing to a club with a significantly longer shaft.

Originally Posted by daSeth

And if so, what drills can I do to be able to effectively transition between the two without skipping a beat in the middle of the round?

Hard to tell without knowing what kind of results you're getting from your driver. Are you having trouble with a slice, bad contact, pulls, etc?

Originally Posted by daSeth

One thing I have been trying...  At the range I will go through a normal practice session and always end with a simulated round.  I play 18 holes from the practice range in my head.  Hole 1 is driver, then 8.  Hole 2 is 4 iron, 7 iron, wedge.  Hole 3 is a 7 iron etc...  It's a struggle for me even then.  I think what I need is to get educated on the matter.  Please reply with links, videos, recommended books, etc...

I've tried this before, but I always get bored around the 5th or 6th hole. To be fair, I'm a terrible about practicing on the range. I'm definitely a player, not a practicer.

[daSeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

With an iron, you're trying to compress the ball with a descending swing. With an iron, you need to "sweep" the ball off the tee. You're struggles are most likely due to trying to apply the same swing to a club with a significantly longer shaft.

Good point.  I guess I should have stated my current opinion/philosophy...

Irons

Ball in the middle, weight neutral and then forward in the downswing, hands in front at impact, swing down, ball first and take a huge divot after contact.  Again, doing so with great success.

Driver:

With the driver I set up the ball just off the inside of my left foot.  I tilt to my back side to create a different angle.  I try to stay back a little more and even swing a little up, not even so much as sweeping, much less hitting down like the iron.

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

Hard to tell without knowing what kind of results you're getting from your driver. Are you having trouble with a slice, bad contact, pulls, etc?

Dead pulls, dead pushes, hooks that start straight, slices that start straight, pull hooks, push slices... you name it.

[saevel25]

Quote:

With an iron, you're trying to compress the ball with a descending swing. With an iron, you need to "sweep" the ball off the tee. You're struggles are most likely due to trying to apply the same swing to a club with a significantly longer shaft.

Not entirely true, pro's take divots off the tee with an iron

Yes there are two different swings between a driver and an iron. A driver is a flatter, and less aggressive angle of attack than an iron.

Here's the thing, you don't change your swing, your set up will adjust this. This is why you tee the ball forward in your stance for a driver, it causes the driver to bottom out at or before the ball, causing a less steep angle. For irons, your always playing the ball behind the low point, so your hitting with a descending blow. So proper set up helps here.

But if you have a good swing, weight forward, flat left wrist, keeping your head still, you should deliver the clubhead to the ball with the intended results.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

With an iron, you're trying to compress the ball with a descending swing. With an iron, you need to "sweep" the ball off the tee. You're struggles are most likely due to trying to apply the same swing to a club with a significantly longer shaft.

Originally Posted by saevel25

Not entirely true, pro's take divots off the tee with an iron

Pretty sure that was just a typo and he meant to say "with a driver, you need to sweep the ball off the tee."

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Pretty sure that was just a typo and he meant to say "with a driver, you need to sweep the ball off the tee."

Yep. Pre-lunch typo. Problem solved now, though, so no worries. Noe morr typis frum me todae

[daSeth]

Thanks for the input guys... I will work on it today and report back.

[mdl]

You say you play 18 holes to finish practice sessions, but from you par 5 club choice it sounds like you're pretty serious about course management so maybe only play 4-6 driver shots.  Even if you hit driver on every non-par 3, that's still only 14 shots.  That's not much practice, especially if you're working almost exclusively with the irons otherwise and are making swing changes there.

I say this cause I'm in a similar situation.  For the longest time I would have lots of days where I could hit the ball quite well (relative to my handicap) with the scoring irons, but long irons through driver, and sometimes mid irons too, was a crap shoot, with a smooth natural swing pretty much exclusively a push fade or push slice that I refused to just play cause it didn't feel very consistent or in control.  So as part of making my swing changes I've really focused on my long irons and driver.  Past couple rounds I've gone out and played extremely well off the tee with the driver, 2h, and 3i, but sort of blindly applying the same feels that are really working for me with 3i-5i to 7i-SW, the shorter irons and wedges really haven't worked that great, and I've shot a lot of frustrating bogeys where I feel really in control off the tee, hit a long pretty shot in the fairway, then hit a crappy approach with a short club for a difficult leave, then don't get up and down.

Maybe it's just practice time?  The 18 holes thing is good, but maybe just all the way through the round, doing something like warming up, trying to get both the driver and the irons feeling decently in the groove, then a set of rotating through 2-3 drivers, 2-3 3i-5i, 2-3 8i-SW for a while, then a set of 1 driver, 1 3i-5i, 1 8i-SW.  Same idea as your playing 18 holes, but more explicitly balancing out the shots so you're not just totally getting dialed in on the iron shot and then just banging out a few drivers with bad feel during the pretend 18 holes?

[04v8s4]

I feel like this happens to me too. I try to focus my practice time on the part of my game that needs the most help (who wouldn't?!)  However, I feel like I'm a fairly well balanced player.  No one part of my game is significantly better than another.

So if I'm not striking my irons that well...I will focus on my irons during practice and inevitably my driver game suffers the next time I play.

I also try to "play a round of golf" during my practice sessions...but often wind up hitting a bunch of drivers or approach shots if I dont hit the first one well.