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Hi all

My iron play has improved greatly over the last few months.
I have a few swing thoughts which have helped me immensely, without overloading with too much info.
My driver swing has suffered as a result. I am hitting duck hooks and sometimes pushing out to the right.
I have my own thoughts on why this may be happening. Like not releasing my hands properly at impact and ball position.
I was wondering if anyone could give me some feedback, specifically on what there arm position is on the takeaway when the left arm is parallel and also what ball position works best for you guys.
I can't help thinking that my ball position is too far forward and my takeaway is too upright and should be flatter.

Hey Loft Boy,

I had the same problem with hitting duck hooks with my driver.I had a PGA teaching pro look at my driver swing, and what he saw was that I was diping my upper body down when I was swing.I worked on trying to stop diping so much with my driverswing and I started hitting my driver alot better.Maybe that will help you with your driverswing.Oh as to your other question,I find that my best ball position for my driver is a litte bit in frount of my left heel.If you can you should try and post a video of your golf swing.

They say that with an iron you hit down on the ball to get it up in the air and it is a steeper swing,with the driver you hit the ball on ascendency with a wider arc swing,so you are sweeping it off the tee,try tilting slightly to the right on address with drive to give that feel of the driver travelling through and up.

Whatever club I use I do this:
Set the club on the ground and then grip it with my arms hanging down. If its a wood or longer club, it will naturally be further back from the ball for me giving me a flatter swing.If it's a short or mid iron, I am naturally closer. The swing is more upright.

I let the club set up where the ball should be in relation to my chest (ie logo on shirt or sternum, etc). The only thing I do differently between the clubs is have a wider stance.

The swing of the driver is the same as my wedge regarding tempo. In fact, if I am mishitting any club, I will go back to swing the full swing wedge to help my swing.

Sounds similar to what my problem was(upright swing) the analogy my teacher told me was my swing was a ferris wheel when it should be a merry go round. I took this and made it feel like I was trying to hit my butt with my club by coming around at such an extremely low swing that itd only get there. However it does still get up like a normal swing I use that just for a more around feeling. Im a 2 plane swinger and this feels more 1 plane to me but helps with getting it around instead of up.

Tell you what works for me. With an iron, I cock my hands down @ the wrists & with a wood, I have less wrist cock (kind of like raising the toe of the club) @ address. This automatically gives me a flatter swing with woods.

You just reminde me ttp 3006,hands should be ahead of the ball with iron but not with driver,and what you have explained sounds similar.

I had 18 a few days ago.
Standed more upright at address and bought the ball back a touch from my left heel and boom, long and straight !!!
I do find that if I think less about my swing with a driver then it works more naturally. As opposed to my irons swing where I have a few swing thoughts at setup.

THIS IS WITHOUT DOUBT THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IRON PLAY AND DRIVER! I finished a PGA level 1 coaching course last Feb and the instructor now a Pro at Cruden Bay told me to enforce this difference to all our junior students.

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An arc is an arc.

The only reason you're hitting "down" on an iron swing is because the ball is on the ground as opposed to a tee and it's further back in your stance.

The "descending blow" is simply a byproduct of this.
Say that the bottom of your swing arc is Zero. This position would likely be used when hitting, say, a 4iron. That is to say that the 4-iron clubface strikes the ball at the "0" point of the arc. A 5-iron might make contact at the "minus .5 point", (because the ball is slightly further back(, the 6-iron might be minus 1 and so on.

A driver is struck either level or slightly on the upswing because it's on a tee and the ball is positioned further forward in the stance. So a driver might be struck at the "plus 1 or 1.5" point on the swing arc.

A divot is also a byproduct of hitting a ball early in the swing arc using a descending blow which is the result of moving the ball further back in the stance. A divot is not a "goal".

There is no difference between a driver swing and a 9-iron swing other than ball position and the natural difference in swing plane due to club length. But they are both arcs.

Now, there are specialty shots such as "pinching" a ball to gain backspin, bunker shots and certain other types of shots which require a more upright backswing and more of a "chopping" motion, but for standard shots, they're basically all the same.


-JP

This makes sense to me and I think folks here and in the other "different swings" thread are getting hung up on semantics. Depending on the club, you're going to have a different arc & swing plane and your swing will even look or feel different, but this is a function of the club length, ball position, distance from the ball, etc. and not through any conscious effort to alter your swing. I don't think that you want to change the basic mechanics of your swing because you have a different club in your hands, even though the swing will look and feel different... it's more of a "swing thought" concern rather than a "swing definition" one... if that makes any sense. If not, carry on guys.

Yeah - I think this is kinda where I'm coming from.
If I straighten my back to the extent that it feels almost awkward, stand more upright, then i really get through the ball more at impact.
I'll be trying it again during the week.