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Is your driver and iron swing the same?

Tadashi70 said:
ask yourself why the driver would be swung different than the sw. what is the primary difference bewteen the two clubs? Length and maybe lie angle but since the driver doesn't make contact with the ground, the lie angle is of no consequence. So length is the only factor. The arms and shoulders still move the club from address to the top and back again. THe amount of time is take the driver head to travel is a bit longer but not by anything measurable with the naked eye. Hence you swing each club the same.

Now swing arc with change but arms and shoulders move back the exact same way with the drive, 7 iron or SW.
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Here's the one place that I will differ with you: the driver is normally the only club that you will use where the ball will be significantly teed up off the ground. I realize that some people will tee up the ball a fair amount with a fairway wood or hybrid, but for the purposes of this discussion, let's just keep it to the driver. Also, to maximize distance with the driver one needs to hit up on the ball with the driver, whereas you want a descending blow with every other club. While most of the features of your swing with all other clubs should carry over to the driver, the unique situation of having the ball teed up and wanting to hit up on the ball can result in needing to make subtle changes to your driver swing compared to all other clubs.
 
the swing doesnt change the plane that you swing each club and arms on does change due to the legnth of each club.

you cant grab a sand iron set up then switch the driver in you would hit the earth. its going to have to be more flat and around the body.
 
Tadashi70 said:
ask yourself why the driver would be swung different than the sw. what is the primary difference bewteen the two clubs? Length and maybe lie angle but since the driver doesn't make contact with the ground, the lie angle is of no consequence. So length is the only factor. The arms and shoulders still move the club from address to the top and back again. THe amount of time is take the driver head to travel is a bit longer but not by anything measurable with the naked eye. Hence you swing each club the same.

Now swing arc with change but arms and shoulders move back the exact same way with the drive, 7 iron or SW.
Click to expand...

OK I see what you are saying now, I considered it a "different" swing because of swing plane and lie. I do agree that the arms and shoulders should be the same in whatever club you swing.
 
arydolphin said:
Here's the one place that I will differ with you: the driver is normally the only club that you will use where the ball will be significantly teed up off the ground. I realize that some people will tee up the ball a fair amount with a fairway wood or hybrid, but for the purposes of this discussion, let's just keep it to the driver. Also, to maximize distance with the driver one needs to hit up on the ball with the driver, whereas you want a descending blow with every other club. While most of the features of your swing with all other clubs should carry over to the driver, the unique situation of having the ball teed up and wanting to hit up on the ball can result in needing to make subtle changes to your driver swing compared to all other clubs.
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Why do you swing up with your driver? The goal of the golf swing is to return and retain. Return the club to its address position and retain your posture, grip and stance. Swinging up is what some do but it's not needed. You want the ball to launch higher, spine angle is your friend.

The arms and shoulders move away the ball the same with every club and return to the ball the same with every club. The length of the arc changes, nothing more. Event if you move the ball forward to catch on the upswing, the swing is the same.

How's the baby? Miss you bro.
 
Here's a question for you Freddie...

The lie angle of the club is obviously flatter, which will make the plane flatter.

Do you take a steeper shoulder turn with a wedge/iron versus a driver or is it the same and you let the club dictate the plane? Something that's been on my mind lately.
 
Hawk said:
Here's a question for you Freddie...

The lie angle of the club is obviously flatter, which will make the plane flatter.

Do you take a steeper shoulder turn with a wedge/iron versus a driver or is it the same and you let the club dictate the plane? Something that's been on my mind lately.
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All things being equal, on a normal swing the shoulders turn the same. Angles are adjust by ball position. Wedges in back abs drivers upfront.

Now for specific shots where your angle of attack needs to steep you will engage the hands and arms more as you will need to pick the club up quicker and return steeper. Shoulders still turn level but arms are more in play.
 
Thank you sir.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Why do you swing up with your driver? The goal of the golf swing is to return and retain. Return the club to its address position and retain your posture, grip and stance. Swinging up is what some do but it's not needed. You want the ball to launch higher, spine angle is your friend.

The arms and shoulders move away the ball the same with every club and return to the ball the same with every club. The length of the arc changes, nothing more. Event if you move the ball forward to catch on the upswing, the swing is the same.

How's the baby? Miss you bro.
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Agree, I don't actually swing up more now than before, I just have more of a tilt at address with the ball a touch more forward so the swing catches it more on the up. Not so forward that I'm coming across the ball though. If I want to hit a low stinger I just stand neutral with the ball back a touch and swing the same swing.
 
ChristopherKee said:
Agree, I don't actually swing up more now than before, I just have more of a tilt at address with the ball a touch more forward so the swing catches it more on the up. Not so forward that I'm coming across the ball though. If I want to hit a low stinger I just stand neutral with the ball back a touch and swing the same swing.
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Agree CK - and Freddie. If the ball is just getting in the way of the swing, really only thing that needs to change is ball position to get a higher launch angle
 
Tadashi70 said:
Why do you swing up with your driver? The goal of the golf swing is to return and retain. Return the club to its address position and retain your posture, grip and stance. Swinging up is what some do but it's not needed. You want the ball to launch higher, spine angle is your friend.

The arms and shoulders move away the ball the same with every club and return to the ball the same with every club. The length of the arc changes, nothing more. Event if you move the ball forward to catch on the upswing, the swing is the same.

How's the baby? Miss you bro.
Click to expand...

Baby is good, you'll meet him in Hilton Head.

I get what you're saying in terms of spine angle. There are multiple things you can do at setup to swing up with the driver. Heck, you can just move the ball position pretty far forward and not change anything else in your swing and you will hit up on the driver since the low point will stay in the same place. But the driver with the ball on a tee is a unique situation compared to other clubs, so once you start getting into adjustments in terms of stance/ball position/weight distribution/spine angle/etc, then you can see where some people might view the driver swing as different from other swings.

I enjoy the conversation. Even though I think that they are 2 different swings, I think that there are not huge differences between the 2, only subtle changes that need to be made to get the ball to go straight.
 
I think my iron swing and driver/FW swings are different. I think more about sweeping the club with the woods than I do with the irons.
 
Freddie's admittedly forgotten more golf than I know. He's also way better than I will ever be. If in doubt, take his advice over mine. ;)

I do think there are possibly multiple schools of thought on this topic. I saw this and it resonated with me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6Z-I9e3QHo

I've been working on a driver swing -- longer rotation, further away from the ball, bigger arc, faster acceleration through the ball. I'm currently hitting the driver better than I ever have.

I've tried the driver swing with the other clubs and it is hit or miss. On some days, I can pick up an easy 30 yards with the other clubs. On bad days, I can hardly hit it flush. On good or bad days though, I'm not nearly as accurate as with my shorter swing.

I think I'm going to try the longer driver swing paired with the shorter, easier swing for everything else. It seems like the best of both worlds.
 
You tend to play the ball more forward in your stance for the driver ... in order to hit it on the "up swing" to get more carry.
You play the irons back in the middle of your stance to hit "down" on the ball to compress it to maximize backspin. Hit down to hit it up!
How can they be the same??
Look at the swing of Ernie Els ... he looks like he swings the same way every time to you and I on TV, but it really isn't. It is just methodical and fluid ... unlike you and I that are all over the map!
 
Ball position forward with driver.

Weight on balls of feet,knees flexed, left arm straight, right arm relax. Toes, knees, hips and shoulders all on the same line.

Ball position with 5iron

Weight on balls of feet,knees flexed, left arm straight, right arm relax. Toes, knees, hips and shoulders all on the same line.

Ball position with SW is back

Weight on balls of feet,knees flexed, left arm straight, right arm relax. Toes, knees, hips and shoulders all on the same line.

Difference between the three besides size, weight and look is length. The adjustment of course is how close you are to the ball at address. But the knee flex is the same, the waist bend is the same and the arm hang is the same.

Since the club get to the top the same way with each club, all clubs are swing the same. If you swing your driver different than you 7 iron then you may have just discovered one of your swing flaws.
 
More less the same swings like using with irons. Except my ball position : towards middle and towards front toe of my left foot. I watched Jack Nicklaus' video, 1 swing , except ball position.
 
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