Hi Tom
Thanks for all your lessons and episodes. Magic, and has really helped me to improve my game.
Have worked a lot to change my swing with the irons, I am comfortable with that now.
However not the same improvement with the driver.
You know, hitting down and through, is fine with the irons, but not with the big stick
I know that the ball must be forward and the driver coming upwards at impact , but still not easy
Could you please create some episodes where you just use the driver?
Cheers from wintery Sweden
Paul
Thanks Tom for these great lessons! Irons are laser accurate...hitting 7 iron 165+ with little effort. Unfortunately still struggling with driver concept. Aligning adjustments per your recommendations...ball aligned with lead heel; lead hip 1" to target; slight shoulder tilt; weight 60% on lead leg. I initiate driver back swing with same iron swing feel. However, with driver, it feels I need to bring lead shoulder, arms/hands deeper inside in order to avoid getting "stuck" during back swing. The result is a sky ball with a slight draw. I feel there is a sequencing issue that is creating a steep attack angle at impact. You also mention driver shaft lean. When I do this, ball goes higher and hooks. Any attempt to correct creates a new ball flight issue(s). Any assistance is greatly appreciated!
Tomˋs answer from dec 20. is perfect. Only move the lower body to the target, upper body remains on place.
It feels (not true) like falling back. Important to come flat to the ball, so you can use the magic elbow.
At the end of the backswing it feels for me to be more extended. Tom did a YT-video.
Perhaps he can give you the link.
@paul.waern I've been working on driver on my indoor hitting area. I found myself not keeping my head still and thus lunging forward and coming in steep. I think this swing flaw gets amplified when using driver. Way too much backspin and thus the ball 'balloons' up and stalls. so when doing @Tom Saguto 's tip #2 above make sure you keep your head and shoulders centered and do not sway. Also, keep that spine angle through impact. Just from my 'experiments' :)
Hi Paul,
Think of proper impact position - hands leading the clubface, bowed front wrist, "flying wedge" intact. It'd be difficult to retain those angles if we were actually hitting up on it with the driver. So, perhaps with the exception of folks with slower swing speeds – or those Long Drive participants using extra high tees and hitting maybe 1-2 balls out of 10 onto a 60-yard wide "fairway" - the path is still ever so slightly down. In fact, believe it or not the PGA Tour average with the driver is actually minus (e.g.: downward) 1.3 degrees - nearly level but slightly down nonetheless! Thus, I do not advocate trying to hit up on the ball, and efforts to do so due to erroneous advice has caused many an amateur significant issues with their driver.
It is quite normal for golfers to experience early success with the irons while being challenged by the driver. First and foremost, patience is the key because it will all come together for you. Beyond that, 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. Alternatively, if you prefer to focus on your Tailbone-to-Target action during the backswing, then your downswing will not require nearly as much lateral hip motion since they are already well forward by the time you get to the top.
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.
Also, if you have not already been through it, here is a mini-course on the driver that will help you with some of the key elements for hitting the big dawg consistently well.
Again, 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.
Stay warm up there!!
Tom