Pete Finch – PGA Teaching Pro

So now we know that the main fundamental building blocks are very similar between the Iron and the driver's swing. But what are the differences between these two techniques. If we're not going to be changing masses of things technically, what are we going to be changing to make sure that the angles of attack are different throughout the shot.

Now with an iron shot, I've got my seven iron here. And my ball position with my seven iron is generally just forward of center if I want to be hitting what I class as a normal shot. Now because of that my sternum position is pretty much over the top of the ball maybe just slightly behind. As I swing up to the top of the swing and I move down into the through swing, my weight is transferring left at an impact my sternum will be much more over the ball and possibly even a little bit more towards the target. That's because I want my angle of attack to be travelling downwards when hitting the ground around this point.

I want to be striking ball first and then the turf, so I’m using the same swing as I will be with my driver but I’m moving my weight through my sternum position is after the ball. I’m striking the ball first then the turf and then following through to a nice full finish. With my driver however, I don't want to be taking a divot. And this is where the big changes start to become apparent. My driver stance width will now be wider; that's because I’m going to be swinging the same. But because the driver is longer, I’m going to be accommodating more club head speed. So I need a strong stable base. So my stands is going to be wider, ball position is going to be inside my left heel. And as I’m going to set up over the ball here, I’m going to be adding in a little bit of spine till away from the target.

Now you can see here as far as sternum position goes this is a long way away from my iron. And this means that my angle of attack and my swing arc is going to be bottoming out before the ball and then moving up into the point of impact. My weight will still be transferring, I will still be moving through as I had done with my iron shot. But because of the ball position is different, because my sternum position is different, the angle of attack and the swing arc is going to be drastically different.

That is why I’m not going to be hitting the ball and then the ground afterwards. So as a whole, technique wise not much is changed. But setup position and sternum position they have altered drastically. And that will give a big, big difference to how it’s been approached as the cut — a big, big difference of how the clubs are approaching into impact.