Originally Posted by JPsuff

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It's the same swing.


The same takeaway, the same tempo, the same weight shift.

The problem with drivers today is twofold. First, drivers are no longer simply an extension of a wood set. If you have occasion to watch an old golf match from the sixties, you'll hear the commentator often refer to the the driver as a "number one wood". Back then, it was simply the steepest lofted wood in the bag and it was marginally longer than the nearest wood, (which was often a two wood or a Brassie.

Over the years, especially with the advent of the metalwood, the driver came to be regarded as a "power club". And since the 2-wood was discarded in favor of the 1-iron or an extra wedge, the driver came to stand alone as the premier tee-shot club.

The second part of the equation is length. With the advent of the lightweight graphite shaft, players found that they could increase their swing speed, by lengthening the shaft, since the added length didn't add a lot of extra weight, in an effort to gain a bit more distance.
Today, we've reached a point where a driver has become an icon, an extension of one's personality and a specialty club. It has become the modern symbol of power, prestige, wealth and ego.

Today, it almost seems as if "The Driver" should be carried on a satin pillow by a special bearer. And when the player asks for it, the bearer solemnly removes it from the pillow, genuflects to the heavens and the the clouds part, a shaft of golden sunlight shines down and trumpets sound as he hands it to the player.

Naturally, such a special club must also have a special swing to go with it.


Nonsense!


It's the same swing as all the other clubs. Naturally, you'll stand a bit farther from the ball with a bit wider stance, but other than that, a driver swing should be no different than a 9-iron swing.
What has further clouded the issue is the longer length I mentioned. And to a certain degree, this has helped foster the notion that a driver swing is different. If the club is exceptionally long, (as many modern drivers are), the swing will be flattened considerably and an unnatural, (in my opinion), adjustment has to made to accommodate this unusually long length.

This extra length comes from the fact that many Tour Pro's, trying to milk the last possible advantage from the club, tried longer shafts to increase swing arc and thus clubhead speed. While this may have worked for some, most have since realized that the adjustments needed to accommodate this exceptionally long club weren't worth the effort and many have since returned to more realistic lengths. This extra length did indeed require an adjustment in one's swing and that is the main reason why the myth of a special driver swing gained acceptance.

Try seeing your driver as simply the club you use to tee off with rather than some holy weapon of war, and you'll go a long way to understanding that it's just another club in the bag.





-JP