Problem with lower irons

[aparhar]

Hi all,

Great site this. I am relatively new golf enthusiast who has been visiting the driving range for the last month or so. My first few days at the range were a nightmare, but with the help of some reading (specially Ben Hogan's book) I think I am getting a better appreciation of what to do and what not to do during the swing.

I am very satisfied by the way I am hitting my 7,8,9 irons on the range. Getting good elevation, being able to vary the distance depending on the target, and a high percentage of shots are dead straight. I seem to have a lot of confidence when I get the 7,8, or 9 in the hands and have also started experimenting a bit with the angle of the club face, distance between the feet, etc.

Unfortunately, my 3 to 6 irons are not faring that well. Maybe I am trying to hit them too hard as I expect to hit longer with them. Not sure what the problem is. My shots generally go low and are not getting good elevation. I don't get the same, nice crisp feeling at imact as I do with 7-9. I tend to hit the ball a bit towards the right too. I think I am using the same swing as I do with 7-9.....Any idea on the commom pitfalls with the lower irons? At times I have even tried to imagine that I am using a 9 even when I go in with a 6 but it ain't making much of a difference. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!

[Big Sheesh]

Re: Problem with lower irons

Try maintaining the cupped right hand even after impact. Hold it a bit longer so that you are forcing to make the clubface square through and out. This should help. Try it and let me know.

[bparker]

Re: Problem with lower irons

A lot of beginners and even experience players have this problem. Try to hit the ball with 70% power and let the club fall back on plane on your downswing. I also find it helps to try and force an in to out swing for me but that might just be because of my height. I think that hitting a 2 and 3 iron flush square in the club face is one of the best feelings in golf.

[aparhar]

Re: Problem with lower irons

Hi folks,

Updating you on my progress. I took the advise posted here as well as went through the online instructions at thegoflchannel.com which I found very useful. While going through them I realized that my most probable mistake was what is known as "Reverse Weight Shift"

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/core.a...27&select=2130

I think I had a tendency to do this as I was trying my best to keep my head dead still and always 'looking down from straight above' at the ball. I think this was also causing me to keep the club very close to myself in the backswing so that at the end of the backswing the club shaft would almost be parallel to my shoulders and hence away from backswing plane (which would cause all sorts of other problems as I tried to correct the allignment during the downswing).

I also worked on my takeaway in order maintain a wide swing arc. Both the above corrections made my swing feel much more comfortable. With the correction of the "Reverse Weight Shift" my body is a bit behind ball at the finish of the backswing and then moves forward towards the ball (initiated by the hips at the start of the downswing) and finally ends up slightly ahead of it at the end of the downswing.

Whilist before I was hitting my 6 irons all over the place (predominantly left to right) and lesser distance than 7-9, after these corrections a high % of my 6 iron shots were going straight. I was averaging 150 feet with some of the better shots going 170-180. Given that I have been going to the range for a month or so now, should this distance be of concern or should I keep working on the basics of the swing and let the distance improve with time?

Cheers

[aparhar]

Re: Problem with lower irons

One more Q. I am having some trouble being consistent with where I end my backswing. Any drills/tips on helping me figure out what is the best time (as well as ideal positioning of the shaft and clubhead) to end of the backswing and transition into the downswing?

Cheers

[Big Sheesh]

Re: Problem with lower irons

180 yards with 6 iron is deadly. Keep it up and you'll probably do that with an 8 iron like Tiger.

I think I read somewhere that Tiger can launch his 2 iron stinger beyond 300 yards. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[aparhar]

Re: Problem with lower irons

Thanks for the encouraging words sheesh. I have to say the few shots that went 170-180 felt so nice that the first thought that came to my mind was whether I will ever be able to top that again

Hit a few shots with the 4 towards the end and they were not as fluent (direction and distance) so I guess there are plenty of flaws still there which need to be worked on .

[CantPuttICant]

Re: Problem with lower irons

I think I read somewhere that Tiger can launch his 2 iron stinger beyond 300 yards. Correct me if I'm wrong.

His 2 iron? Don't you mean his pitching wedge ?

Random question sorry, what does flog mean? Someone thought it was funny that golf spelt backwards spelt that. \__/

aparhar, keep it up. It takes a while to learn the golf swing but you seem to be doing the right things, it should be encouraging for you.

[Big Sheesh]

Re: Problem with lower irons

When I went to Hong Kong last September I saw a golf apparel brand called GLOF. I believe they wanted to call it GOLF but the folks there just didn't know how to spell it properly.

They even had a Vietnamese restaurant called VIETMANESE in a very popular mall. It was both funny and ridiculous at the same time.

[CantPuttICant]

Re: Problem with lower irons

If only they were aware of the dikshunary !

[aparhar]

Re: Problem with lower irons

Just updating this thread. To give a brief background, I started playing golf around 2,3 months back. To begin with, I practiced only the short irons (7-9) and have been trying to improve my long iron game lately. I had a good session in the driving range with the 3 iron today and though I will share some of my thoughts. Hopefully this will be useful for other newbies like me. The more seasoned folks, please comment if any of the following points interest you...

1. For, the longer irons I placed the ball ahead in my stance (closer to my left foot). I place the ball just inside of my left foot heel.

2. For a few session on the range I tried to swing the longer irons in exactly the way that I swing the shorter ones. That is, I tried to "hit down on the ball" just as purposefully as I do with 8-9. I had limited success doing that with the longer irons. By trying to "hit down on the ball" just as much as I did with 8-9, a lot of my longer iron shots would be "fat". I tried to rectify this by 1 (placing ball ahead in stance) and also by keeping a mental image that with the long iron I am trying to sweep the ball of the ground. Almost like chopping a few blades of grass instead of making large divots.

3. At address I place my clubhead an inch behind the ball while with the short irons I place the clubhead as close to the back of the ball as I can.

4. I made a minor adjustment to my backswing when using the longer irons. As compared to the short irons, I try and decrease the steepness of my backswing's plane. Don't have videos to analyze my swing, but I guess I was decreasing the angle of my backswing plane by about 5 degrees when using the longer iron. Essentially, not much difference, but the change did seem to have a pronounced positive effect ont he quality of my shots.

5. Biggest thing...when hitting the longer irons I try to take the fear of SWINGING HARD out of my mind. I am very cautious in my swing while using the short irons and initially I tried to be just as cautious with longer irons (which meant I wasn't trying hit the ball with the hardest swing I was capable of). I now try to keep that fear out of my mind and while swinging with the longer iron I go in with the intention of giving the ball a "good whack at the back".

The above five points seem to be helping me now so I thought I will share it with the rest of the gang here.