Most golfers struggle with the driver more than any other club.  Which can be a major let down since we know the potential behind this big dog.  We get excited and amped up to bomb this thing and get sorely disappointed when the ball starts off straight for 100 yards and then takes a hard left or right for another 100 yards out of bounds.  It gets to a point where you don't even want to swing it anymore and revert to taking an iron or hybrid off the tee just so you can keep it in play.  Well I'm here to tell you that those days are over, and I'm going to break down the subtle differences in swings between our irons and driver and why we must know the difference in order to hit both consistently.  

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The driver is the only club in the bag (aside from the putter of course) that we are not taking a divot after we make contact with the ball.  That means our angle of attack is much less steep than with our irons.  Most golfers still swing on a downward angle to the ball of about 1 to 2 degrees.  However, with the change of technology and strategy, many professional golfers are now trying to swing level with the ball or even up a degree or 2.  I do not expect you to achieve this but we do want to avoid swinging too far down on the ball with your driver.  Since the driver has very little loft (typically 9 - 11 degrees) we want to maximize our trajectory as much as possible.  If we get too steep at impact the spin rates go way up and the ball will be missing both left and right.  So how do we level the path of our driver to strike the ball more consistently?

 

The secret my friends lies in our shoulders.  But let's slow down here! First and foremost let's make sure our set up is dialed in.  Our stance should be just outside shoulder width, and the ball positioning will be inside the left foot.  Now we want to think about our shoulders at address, let's slightly tilt our back shoulder down toward the ground.  This immediately puts our shoulders in the proper position that we want to return to at impact.  The idea is that we are trying to feel a swing that is hitting on plane with the ball or even up on the ball.  We want to keep our head back and still throughout the entire swing.  During the downswing we want to keep the back shoulder low, then that back shoulder swoops down during impact, then back up and around after impact.  As opposed to our irons where our shoulders are much more stacked over the ball at impact in a "T" shape with our spine.  Think of this "T" shape being tilted back to our right foot at impact with the driver.  Keep in mind that our hips are still working the same and are in sync with the shoulders. Please see illustrations below!

 

This nuanced difference of how we work our shoulders from irons to driver is what will allow you to hit the ball straighter and farther.  To practice this feel I like to put a tee in the ground without any ball on it and start chasing the feel with my shoulders hitting up on that tee.  Keeping the head still, back shoulder low and staying low at impact then swooping up and around after impact.  You will also want to make sure the path of the club head is coming from more of an inside path and not outside.  It is much easier to launch the ball from inside than outside.  The difference in feel from irons to driver is very subtle but makes a major impact.

 

A few more tips to consider with the driver is maintaining a wide swing.  We want our hands pushed away from our chest throughout the swing, do no collapse the space between the arms.  Another huge factor is our tempo!  Don't get too excited now,  allow that club to get set at the top of the swing before we start our down swing, do not rush the transition.  A very easy drill to help with club path and shoulder tilt is taking some practice swings with one arm at a time. Start with your right and feel the path of the club head from the inside and swinging up through the ball with our shoulders at impact.  Then repeat this with our left arm and finishing with some swings with two hands on the club.  I hope you found these tips helpful.  Please call or text me with any questions! 

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Chase The Feel,

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Coach Brandt Everest Pfeifer