Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro

Here we are going to look at a driver versus an iron, okay and what the difference is going to be in the start position with the driver and with an iron. So initially we need to look at the differences between these two clubs and if I put them right next to each other here, you can see there is a massive difference in the length of the clubs. You know this really is almost a foot difference between the wedge and the driver here. So effectively we are going to be stood at a different distance away from the ball to accommodate that shaft length difference. So with the iron, we are going to sand a little bit closer and with the driver we are going to stand a bit further away. Okay, now if I set the handles of these clubs, so that both are the same distance, at the end of the handle there, you can see that the clubs lie completely differently. The shaft of the driver is much flatter to the floor, the shaft of the iron here, the lie of the iron is much more upright. And that’s really going to affect how you set up because it’s going to affect the swing and the swing plane, the angle that the club swings around you there.

So we need to be able to accommodate that, so if we look at the driver, because the driver has that flatter setup position with the shaft, okay, we are going to stand further away and as you swing back, you are going to swing the club head on a much flatter swing plane, a much flatter angle around you. As you swing back in, that means that moving away and back in, the club is really going to be arcing around you. And if we think about the line that we want to hit the ball down, if we play the ball too early in the stance or too far back in the stance, the driver will connect with that golf ball and it will push the ball out to the right, because you won’t have gotten back to a position, because of the length of the club and this flatter angle, you won’t have got back to a position, where you have squared the clubface.

So the main difference here with the driver is, we are going to play the driver much further forward in the stance for that reason. So as we set up we want to look at achieving a ball position, with the driver, we are on the opposite the left big toe or the left heel. That places the ball much further forward in the stance, but the reason for that is, it allows this flatter plane to come back in the club head, so the swing path arcs in and then travels down the target line and moves down the target line as you connect with the ball. If we look at the iron and the setup position for the iron, we would play the ball much more in the center of the feet. And again, the reason for this is, that as you swing the iron back, the swing path, sorry the swing plane is much more upright, much more vertical. So the club head is going to drop down and is going to be traveling down the target line, much more, it’s not arcing into the target line as much.

So that allows us to play the ball in the center of the feet, so that as the club connects with the ball, the ball is going to travel down the target line because the club head is moving down the target line. So with the driver, we want to play the ball opposite the left heel and with the iron, the ball starts to move back, the shorter the iron gets to a centered position for the ball position with a wedge. Okay, as we set up with the iron, we want to play slightly more away on the left side, so that’s 70% of the way on the left side, 60-70% and keep the hands forward. That will promote you to pick the club head up and make this upright swing, but with the driver, it’s going to be slightly different, because the ball has moved further forward, we want to catch this shot on the upswing, where I have a nice sweeping action in here, not a dropping vertical action.

So we are placing 60% of our way on the right foot, we are making sure we keep our head behind the ball here, not over the top of the ball as it would be for an iron. And we are placing the hand, so the hands are over the crown of the golf club, it’s up on not the golf club rather than a head. So if we set up with these positions, then that’s going to promote us to make that sweeping action away, we will sweep back into the shot and we will be very successful. So work on those set up tips and you should find that you start getting a more sweeping action with the driver and a more vertical action with the iron, allowing you to hit much more better shots with whether you are hitting a wood or an iron.