Distance wedge punch question

My student was asking a question about distance wedges, so I thought I'd share it here:

He asked:

"Hey Tyler I was hoping I could send you a swing video with a question:
I was experimenting with a “distance wedge” stance with my irons because I seem to hit the ball so much better with my knockdown shots. And I’m wondering why I seem to get the club in better positions with this close and open stance than I do with my “normal” swing. This is 1 video with a Normal swing and 1 with a knockdown stance. Both with an 8 or 7 iron. I obviously can’t play this stance on every shot, but just wondering why I get so much more compression and better positions with this stance? Is that common?"

If you look at the delivery position (pic 1) snap shot, you'll see the knockdown stance has flatter arms that aren't as much across his body. He has more hip rotation. At impact (pic 2) his trail foot is more down and the trail arm appears to be more in front of him. If you look at the two swings, you can observe the right hip is working more in the direction of the golf ball as the arms pull down steeper. While in the knockdown, the hip is not early extending as much and the swing appears more rotary. This can be a common issue for hitting it well with less than full swings or effort. It means his power pattern is really tied to driving that trail leg too much and pulling down with the arms behind him and vertically. If you struggle with a similar pattern, check out your swing on video as well.

On, I did also say to him: "I’d say in general, the major differences would be seen from the face on view. In general, I think the face on view reveals a lot more than the DTL. I know it’s sometimes harder to get, but it shows more about contact, trajectory, distance, spin, etc."

Happy Golfing,

Tyler

Thanks for posting Tyler.

In general I feel like in my “normal” swing — my body goes early and my arms come through at the end with little power and little compression.

And in my “knockdown” swing my body is quiet early, and then actually brings the club through at the end. Feels much more powerful, and compresses the ball better.

It also looks post impact that the face has less rate of closure so requires less timing?

Just wondering how I can incorporate those things into my full swing. Or maybe I should just play a knockdown on every shot!