Driver Swing Vs Iron Swing

[ChasenLogan]

I know the rule of thumb is to setup your driver swing so that you are hitting on the way up while your iron swing you are hitting slightly down. 

Im a pretty consistent iron hitter and my really main problem is my driver.  Ive read alot of how-tos and watched a lot of videos all claiming to set up with a little spine tilt to ensure you are swinging up. My problem is when i set up like that i tend to be all over the place.  Hooks, slices, etc.  but when i do get ahold of one it feels pretty.  If i set up like how i would strike an iron i am hitting consistently straight but just losing a little distance due to the swing path. 

Should i try to learn the driver set up or just keep my same swing for both irons and driver knowing that im at least straight.

FYI play once a week but dont have time to go to the range so pretty much playing on the course is my "practice".

 

[cnosil]

4 minutes ago, ChasenLogan said:

 

Should i try to learn the driver set up or just keep my same swing for both irons and driver knowing that im at least straight.

FYI play once a week but dont have time to go to the range so pretty much playing on the course is my "practice".

 

This is entirely your decision.  People will tell you to hit the ball as far as possible and to do that you have to hit up and have lower spin.  Many professional golfers hit down on the ball with driver.  
 

Are you willing to invest time into changing your swing and have poor performance until you figure it out?  What is your golf objective? Would more distance help you achieve that goal?

[THEZIPR23]

I have always been a very good driver of the ball. One thing I have struggled with my entire golfing career is separating the driver swing and the iron swing. I have always tried to use the same swing for both (as is taught mainstream for the most part). I have come to the realization that they need to be two separate swings, with separate matchups and separate keys to focus on. Since doing this (less than 6 months) my irons are better and my driver is the same. 

As far as your individual game, play with different ways to hit up on the ball, move it farther forward in your stance, tee it higher, etc. There are many different ways to accomplish the same goal in golf. You just need to find what works for you, and trial and error is the fastest way to achieve this IMO.

[ChasenLogan]

15 minutes ago, cnosil said:

This is entirely your decision.  People will tell you to hit the ball as far as possible and to do that you have to hit up and have lower spin.  Many professional golfers hit down on the ball with driver.  
 

Are you willing to invest time into changing your swing and have poor performance until you figure it out?  What is your golf objective? Would more distance help you achieve that goal?

Current objective is to be more consistent so yeah i guess more distance wouldn't help.  Im glad u put it that way, with how golf is right now everything seems to be about distance distance distance.

Once I think ive achieved some sort of consistency ill probably venture to swing changes.

Thanks!

 

[ChasenLogan]

13 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

I have always been a very good driver of the ball. One thing I have struggled with my entire golfing career is separating the driver swing and the iron swing. I have always tried to use the same swing for both (as is taught mainstream for the most part). I have come to the realization that they need to be two separate swings, with separate matchups and separate keys to focus on. Since doing this (less than 6 months) my irons are better and my driver is the same. 

As far as your individual game, play with different ways to hit up on the ball, move it farther forward in your stance, tee it higher, etc. There are many different ways to accomplish the same goal in golf. You just need to find what works for you, and trial and error is the fastest way to achieve this IMO.

I definitely always try to tweak something here an there with my swing.  I never had an official lesson so everything i do is from reading or videos.  My biggest problem is when i hit the ball solid i forget what i actually did with that swing..haha.  

Good to know that there is a noticeable line separating driver and iron swing.  Something i will have to work on to get better. 

Thanks!

[SkilledByDesign]

4 minutes ago, ChasenLogan said:

I definitely always try to tweak something here an there with my swing.  I never had an official lesson so everything i do is from reading or videos.  My biggest problem is when i hit the ball solid i forget what i actually did with that swing..haha.  

Good to know that there is a noticeable line separating driver and iron swing.  Something i will have to work on to get better. 

Thanks!

I’m in the same boat as you, pretty much YouTube and practice, but what I have found, like CNOSIL said, it’s all up to your swing. Two of the best drivers of the ball, Rory and DJ, have completely different setups and swings. Rory has more spine tilt and ball way up in the stance to hit up on the ball, where as DJ doesn’t have as much tilt and the ball not up quite so far and hits down on the ball. This is why they use drivers with much different lofts. Last I saw DJ used a 10 or 10.5 degree driver just because he hits down instead of up. It’s all about dynamic loft (angle of attack + loft of club)

[EEZurg]

Recently adjusted my driver from 10.5 to 11.5 degrees......it seemed to really help.

[cnosil]

27 minutes ago, ChasenLogan said:

Current objective is to be more consistent so yeah i guess more distance wouldn't help.  Im glad u put it that way, with how golf is right now everything seems to be about distance distance distance.

Once I think ive achieved some sort of consistency ill probably venture to swing changes.

Thanks!

 

Don’t get me wrong, Distance is very important. Scoring is easier the closer you are to the hole.  It seems general recommendation is chase distance and then fix the swing because it is easier than chasing distance after you fixed your swing.  And to get consistency you will probably have to make swing changes.  

[alfriday101]

You might start by adjusting the concept of “hitting down” and “hitting up” on the ball.  I focus on swinging the club, and the swing has a low point.  For irons, I am contacting the ball before my club reaches the low point.  For a driver, the ball is forward and on a tee.  The low point of the swing is before the club makes contact with the ball—the club is moving up from that low point at contact.  

If you keep your spine angle pretty much the same for irons and your driver, the low point of the swing won’t change much.  But your angle of attack will change because of ball position relative to the low point.

 

Next time you go out, take a couple of practice swings with your irons and note where the low point of the swing is.  Then do the same with your driver.  When you hit your driver, focus on keeping the low point steady and you should catch the ball on the way up.  You’ll hit up on the ball, without “hitting up” on the ball. 
 

 

 

 

[cnosil]

1 minute ago, alfriday101 said:

You might start by adjusting the concept of “hitting down” and “hitting up” on the ball.  I focus on swinging the club, and the swing has a low point.  For irons, I am contacting the ball before my club reaches the low point.  For a driver, the ball is forward and on a tee.  The low point of the swing is before the club makes contact with the ball—the club is moving up from that low point at contact.  

If you keep your spine angle pretty much the same for irons and your driver, the low point of the swing won’t change much.  But your angle of attack will change because of ball position relative to the low point.

 

Next time you go out, take a couple of practice swings with your irons and note where the low point of the swing is.  Then do the same with your driver.  When you hit your driver, focus on keeping the low point steady and you should catch the ball on the way up.  You’ll hit up on the ball, without “hitting up” on the ball. 

Agree with this concept but the club works on an inclined plane and begins to travel inward after the low point.  Now you are potentially building a more out to in swing.  Unfortunately golf isn’t just change one thing and everything else stays the same.  

[SkilledByDesign]

6 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Agree with this concept but the club works on an inclined plane and begins to travel inward after the low point.  Now you are potentially building a more out to in swing.  Unfortunately golf isn’t just change one thing and everything else stays the same.  

In this case, wouldn’t moving the ball position back in your stance help accommodate for this? I seem to remember Bryson having the ball positioned much more centered in his stance than he does now when he would drive without much spinal tilt, although now he is quite the opposite 

[alfriday101]

6 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Agree with this concept but the club works on an inclined plane and begins to travel inward after the low point.  Now you are potentially building a more out to in swing.  Unfortunately golf isn’t just change one thing and everything else stays the same.  

Of course.  My driver set up is a bit more closed to compensate.  But to me the concept is important to staying centered and balanced—swinging through the low point instead of altering the swing to hit up on the ball.

[Shapotomous]

1 hour ago, ChasenLogan said:

I know the rule of thumb is to setup your driver swing so that you are hitting on the way up while your iron swing you are hitting slightly down. 

Im a pretty consistent iron hitter and my really main problem is my driver.  Ive read alot of how-tos and watched a lot of videos all claiming to set up with a little spine tilt to ensure you are swinging up. My problem is when i set up like that i tend to be all over the place.  Hooks, slices, etc.  but when i do get ahold of one it feels pretty.  If i set up like how i would strike an iron i am hitting consistently straight but just losing a little distance due to the swing path. 

Should i try to learn the driver set up or just keep my same swing for both irons and driver knowing that im at least straight.

FYI play once a week but dont have time to go to the range so pretty much playing on the course is my "practice".

 

Without the time or the 'want to' to put in the work to make a swing change I'd keep the same swing and try a driver or three that had a little more loft than your 9*, maybe a 10.5 or even a 12.  My regular driver swing was near 0* and I worked over the winter to get a little more tilt to my driver swing and it wasn't a natural change for me.  It took a while but i am now up 2 - 3 degrees in the last trackman data when I want to be.  I don't always swing up, when playing in the wind I go back to my old setup, choke up a little on the grip, swing down slightly and hit stingers.

[Thibide1]

I lifted my club head into the air at address to put the ball in the middle of the face and it fixed a lot of these questions for me. Also got me to somehow move my hips more. 

[TBT]

I have always been more of the “one swing for all clubs” guys, I’m also more of a sweeper and not a digger so my angle of attack is not as severe as others.

I play my driver slightly forward but my shoulders are level and I don’t have much spine tilt. I’ve tried the “K Bomb” setup as I’ve heard it called but for me I struggle to get my weight through the ball with that setup and I tend to stay on my back foot then flip my wrists trying to save it and I hit big high pull hooks.

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, TBT said:

I have always been more of the “one swing for all clubs” guys, I’m also more of a sweeper and not a digger so my angle of attack is not as severe as others.

I play my driver slightly forward but my shoulders are level and I don’t have much spine tilt. I’ve tried the “K Bomb” setup as I’ve heard it called but for me I struggle to get my weight through the ball with that setup and I tend to stay on my back foot then flip my wrists trying to save it and I hit big high pull hooks.

The spine tilt is an interesting aspect of the swing that in my watching different teachers over the last year or so varies in how they teach. GG teaches right bend (for rh golfers) with pelvis centered. Porzak and some other teach small hip bump and let that set the tilt and I think Alex Riggs, meandmygolf and Chris ryan teach spine tilt and that then sets the hips