I own an XL Lag Shot 7-iron, and have begun to FINALLY hit balls straight, (often using the divot board that Tom recommends) with building consistency. Hooray! I am in golf swing rehab, recovering from a chronic combo of early arm extension, over-the-top steepness, fiiring the hands from the top, to name a few. If golf has seven deadly sins, I think I have had them all at one time or another.
Converting to SNT, two years ago, with inspiring instruction from Tom Saguto, I have experienced big changes, including a torso-arms connected swing and greatly-improved ball-striking.
My next white whale goals are consistent 3-wood off the tee and the deck, and the driver. (Driver being my worst club still) Which leads me back to the Lag Shot: In order to hit the LS 7iron straight, all swing mechanics must be there. Shallowing the club, tempo, lower body initiating the downswing ,arms extending post-impact, the whole enchilada, really.
My question for the forum: in pursuit of conquering my driver swing, should I also invest in a Lag Shot driver, or stay the course with the hours invested in retooling my swing, via Tom's online school, SNT, and continuing to master the LS 7-iron? Another ingredient in my bag, is the Orange whip driver length club, which is a great tool to help warm-up, stay loose in mid-round play, and feel lag, creating club head position awareness. Would the LS driver be redundant, given what I now own?
For anybody reading all of this, thank you, and good luck to all of you and your game-improvement, as well. Cheers!
Just will add agreement with all said. The biggest thing I got from them is the slight pause before converting to down swing. And the biggest factor was finding my tempo, which turns out for me is the biggest and most important componet of me hitting good shots.
My 1 cents adjusted for inflation!
I'm very glad to learn of your improvement, Tim - excellent job embracing the process and sticking to it!!
I like Ron's suggestion of sharing LS's with a buddy if that is feasible, and yes - I do suggest that you give some consideration to the LS driver for the simple reason that even though the swing is essentially the same, the club is not due to its shaft length.
Oftentimes when golfers are hitting everything well except for the longer clubs - which is quite normal early in the swing change process as a golfer gets used to applying the weight-forward concept to the fairway woods and driver - it can be attributed to one of the following:
1) 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, inhibiting any further necessary forward weight loading (we should be 80/20 forward halfway down, 90/10 at impact, and 95/5 in the finish), changing the low point and rerouting the club into a steeper angle of attack. This can produce a variety of undesirable results including fat and thin contact, topped shots and popups, straight pulls, and “banana” slices.
Of great importance is keeping your upper torso/head in place (in other words, not moving towards the target from a face-on view) while the hips execute the lateral slide action. This preserves the swing center and the desired shallow AoA.
2) 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 they take it back along the shaft plane for the first few feet, but as long as they maintain the "weight forward, shoulder down, and hands in" components while allowing the club to work around them, it should put them in the proper position at the top so they can attack the ball from the inside. (A good feel for that lead shoulder is "down and in, under the chin".)
3) Many believe - and some even teach - that we must try to "hit up on the ball" with the driver. However, consider that in our stock setup with the driver the hands are even with the inside of the lead thigh (as they are with all clubs when playing a standard shot) and our ball position is even with the inside of the heel of the lead foot. This presets a very slight degree of forward shaft lean with the driver. Beyond that, the ball is behind the zero-point of the swing (which is even with the lead shoulder), meaning that without any contrived manipulations the club will still be on its descent - albeit very close to flat - at impact. So, perhaps with the exception of folks with slower swing speeds – or those Long Drive participants teeing it extra high and hitting maybe 1-2 balls out of 10 onto a 60-yard wide "fairway" - in general the path is still ever so slightly down. In fact, the PGA Tour average with the driver is actually minus (e.g.: downward) 1.5 degrees - nearly level - and it should feel level - but slightly down nonetheless. (Here is an article on Ping’s website addressing this topic.)
As mentioned, 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 continue to experience difficulty resolving it - we can always arrange for an online coaching session.
Keep up the great work!
TS
Good question! I recommend, and this is just my view, that you hold off on the Lag Shot Driver. The LS 7 iron will provide you with the feels and body motion sequence you need to make a sound swing. The S&T swing fundamentals are the same for both driver and irons. The set up and ball position vary but the tenets of the swing remain constant for all clubs.
The Orange Whip is essentially a similar training tool, you just can't hit balls with it. At some point, you might try the LS Driver to see if it helps refine your driver swing. I would ask around to see if anyone has it so you can try it out. If you have a golf buddy, you might let him try your 7 iron and if he thinks it might help him, maybe suggest he buy the driver and you two share both clubs.
Just my 2 cents, I probably owe you change.