Driver set vs iron- ?

Thanks, Tom. My question came up because if I first hover and center the driver at the ball, and then sole it, i.e. let it drop to the ground, the driver center moves back, as expected and the driver toe is more at the center of the ball. So if my preference is just to sole and then center, my actual swing will hit the ball with the heel. Which is what happens. As an aside, the problem also comes up at some ranges that use those hollow rubber tees, that sloppily are different heights. Just curious how others approach this. I’m just noticing lately that my 3H or wood hit farther or the same distance as my driver, and I’m trying to clean up the swing linkages/ set up, where I suspect the problem lies. Thanks again.

Okay, Tom. Regarding my first post, for address set up, do you lower your upper body to bring the driver to touch the ground at the midsection of your stance (Assuming the swing path will bring the driver head to tee ball height) or do you suggest lowering the upper body to bring the driver head tee ball height at the forward positioned ball? Hence the driver is above the ground at the ball position.

@rbrtschroeder - Oftentimes when golfers are hitting everything well except for the longer clubs it can be attributed to one of the following:

1) They don't start with - or maintain - enough weight on the front side. In general with the longer clubs we should add a little more front weight load at address - more like 60/40 instead of the 55/45 prescribed for the other clubs. This forward weight should gradually increase to the top of the backswing (70/30) and build further on the downswing - approximately 80/20 halfway down, 90/10 impact, and 95/5 finish.

2) Their hips are not continuing their lateral slide through impact. This is common with the longer clubs as the wider stance means that the hips have a greater distance to travel. If the hips stop moving laterally towards the target on the downswing then their rotation takes over, changing the low point and rerouting the club. This can produce a variety of undesirable results including fat and thin contact, topped shots and popups, straight pulls, and “banana” slices. Here is a drill from the Fixing Common Swing Problems section specific to building in more lateral hip slide in the downswing.

3) They are not allowing the length of the club to dictate the backswing path and are getting too steep as a result. The shaft length of the longer clubs encourages more of an around the body backswing as established by the shaft plane at address. It may "feel" flat as you take it back along the shaft plane for the first few feet, but as long as you maintain the "weight forward, shoulder down, and hands in" components while allowing the club to work around you, it should put you in the proper position at the top so you can attack the ball from the inside. This KFC Club members video may help in this regard.

This is a common issue that I am regularly asked to fix, so if yours doesn't relate to any of the above causes - or if it does and you are experiencing difficulty resolving it - we can always arrange for a V1 swing video analysis to pinpoint the culprit and offer an appropriate solution.

With regard to ball position, the stock S&T positions are middle of the stance for short irons, two balls inside the lead heel for middle irons, and creeping more forward for the longer clubs - the farthest forward being even with the inside of the lead heel for the driver (with the stance width increasing as we move from shorter to longer clubs). Hand position remains constant - even with the inside of the lead thigh - for all clubs. From there we can make incremental tweaks to see how different positions affect impact quality and shot shape. For example, my personal preference for the shorter clubs tends to be a position that is slightly forward of prescribed. (By the way, I strongly suggest using alignment sticks when monitoring ball position - one on the foot line, a second one parallel to the first to mark the target line, and a third perpendicular to these to show ball position – as our side-on view from above tends to skew our perspective of the actual location of the ball relative to our stance.)

Hope this helps!

TS

I should add that Stack & Tilt and this site really helped me hit flush with irons/ irons, instead of topping. However I always had hit my driver well, straight too. Now I find myself hitting the driver ball at the top edge of my driver, coming in too flat or even down. I think my previous setup worked for ‘my’ driver swing, but not this new one. So I’m looking at my setup and more straightening up during impact, and it raised some uncertainty in my thoughts.

thanks.