Progress sometimes comes slowly and with the driver it can be brutal. While I’ve been hitting the ball well with the big dog, I’ve certainly missed quite a few shots as well. Any little flaw in your swing that isn’t compensated for is shown in “High Def” when you miss with this club. A seven iron blocked 5 yards right ends up in the trees 20 yards right when the ball is moving at 160 mph, so things have to be pretty solid to hit the driver consistently well. While my changes from last week are becoming much more comfortable, I’ve added one thing to them that is specific to this club.

My driver swing tends to get a little long at the top and I will get across the line at the top when this happens. Today I worked on getting a little more square at the top. I setup with my shoulders and clubface square at address but my feet closed, so I don’t get too overly concerned if I’m slightly across the line at the top. If I set up with my feet square, my shaft points more down the target line, but I feel more stable with my feet slightly closed with the driver. Many rotary swingers had a similar setup with the driver including Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. Numerous other modern day tour pros do as well, such as Charles Howell III. Here is a video clip from today’s practice session.

When working on swing changes like this, my dynamics are often the first thing to go and you can see that here. My body is a little static at the top of my swing and that forces me to use my arms. This usually isn’t a problem for me when I’m not thinking about anything, so I don’t sweat it. Overall, my position at the top is a bit better and progress is progress.