Syncing Up a Good Driver Day with a Good Iron Day?

[fpyle3]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this discussion, so apologies if it is not. The question is fairly simple -- are you able to sync a good/great day driving the ball while doing the same with your irons and wedges and, if so, how? I guess this question is more for the single digits and scratch players, but do not see why it would not apply more broadly.

Now that the season has ended, looking back mostly at competitive rounds, my best scoring days were by no means my best ball striking days. Best scores came on days where drives were kept in play but were not necessarily all that great, irons led to GIRs or easy up and downs, and perhaps a few putts outside 10 feet dropped or I chipped in, etc. Maybe once every couple of weeks I'd have a day where it seemed like I could not miss the driver, it was point and shoot. On these days, wedges and irons were generally bad to awful, and scoring was not good. Conversely, some rounds my wedges and irons were on point and driving really let me down, although the scores for these rounds were typically okay.

Is this a mental thing, where for some reason I cannot sync up my driver swing with the iron/wedge swing? Or are the swings sufficiently different to cause what I'm describing?

[andrue]

I am at the moment and have been for a month now. I made a swing change and all my clubs are now working well. Of course we all now how long these 'epiphany' moments last but this is the first time I can say that I've felt the improvement across the entire bag. It's also interesting that despite a very wet autumn here I'm playing just as well as I did in summer.

Of course since I'm a 22 it doesn't suddenly mean I can go on tour but something has changed for the better.

[sprcoop]

@ andrue Take detailed video DTL and FO ASA friggin' P!!! Regular and high speed. Driver and irons. That way when things go in the dumper (hopefully never) you can reference when you were hitting it well and see what is different. I wish I had done that when I was striking it well... wait, I never have struck it well so I guess I'm OK.

[juststeve]

Its never been a problem for me be cause I do my best to swing all my clubs the same way and position the ball innearly the same place at address. I can surely understand why those who try to hit up on the driver and down on he irons might experience difficulties.

 

Steve

[glk]

There are differences in an iron swing vs driver swing - mainly in axis tilt in downswing (beside the setup). Irons are hit with negative Aoa while driver is neutral to positive. Having a swing biased to one or the other leads to situations as you describe. Another aspect is that their are swing flaws that one can get away with irons and not driver ( and vice versa). One example is a slight upper body lunge - works with irons, especially shorter, but not driver.

[SNIPERBBB]

As a <3 Iif I could get everything in sync , I'd be a plus. Its like one muscle isn't quite loose enough and it works well for one part of the game but not the others or had too much or not enough breakfast. I can't figure it out

[scooterhd2]

If I am on, usually the driver and irons are both working well. The problem tends to be with wedges, or anything less than a full swing.

[andrue]

Yeah I was going to but haven't got round to it and now that the weather is dry I no longer go to the range (I normally only go during a wet lunch time when I don't fancy my normal walk). But I maintain a list of things to do and currently it has:

B/S

* Turn your back to the target.

* Flat wrist at top (natural arm rotation though).

* Wrist hinge is passive. /Don't unhinge from the top/ - gold wand test. Let the club accelerate.

D/S

* ?Start with left knee?

* Hips forward, left hip over left heel (not just a slide, rotate it back)

* Keep head back. Almost lean back at impact.

* * Looking down and almost back at ball at impact.

* * Trail elbow to hip should be automatic.

* Slow, smooth and steady.

* Then accelerate /through/ the ball.

End

* Chest should be facing or past at end.

 

Of course I can't and don't think about all that lot when I'm swinging but that's my 'how to' list. Currently the only thing I'm kind of thinking about (and what seems to be the crucial change) is keeping my head back. That 'look down and almost back bit' seems to have helped with launching the ball hugely.

[Zitlow]

A full swing takes the same amount of time as a putt.

[Lefty_3Jack]

Not sure how to help you, but those few times a year when they're both hitting are the days you wish there was more day light and and more people to play with. Makes you think, "this is what it's like for a pro to play a course."

At the end of the day you've hit 12-15 greens, missed a fairway or two and life is good. Then you come back and hit 7 greens, maybe about half your fairways and think the magic wore off.

[naj959]

This! When I'm on, the game seems so easy that it's borderline boring. It's like you're in "the zone" as they say. You don't have to think at all It's just point and shoot. On these type of days I usually challenge or shoot a career low. Unfortunately these days are pretty rare. I wish I could hit 15 greens every time I went out because missing can be a card wrecker for me, no short game whatsoever.

[golfho50]

Great post...just saw this after i posted similar issue. Sorry to be redundant.

[ferrispgm]

I used to struggle with this quite a bit....What helped me was to stop putting pressure on myself to hit a good iron shot after a solid drive. If i piped one down the middle and had 130 in I would automatically feel like i had to hit it close to not waste a good drive.....you have to simply just go up and hit the best shot you can and not worry about what hasn't happened yet (where the ball goes).....just focus on where you want the ball the go and how far it needs tot go and make your best swing.

That being said....you can't really substitute making your swing better.....that clears up a lot of issues.....but not adding pressure and just focusing on the target will help you hit it your best with what you have.