Low ball flight with irons and chips

[DrChoi]

Hi all,

Something that has been killing me the past few months.
1. Almost all my irons have an unbelievably low trajectory. I used to be able to hit my mid and short irons quite high when i needed to get over trees and such, but lately everything is like a stinger. I hit an 8 iron that looked like a 3 iron punch shot today and its not uncommon for me to do that. My wedges are fair in height.
Things i'm suspicious of
a. Extreme delofting?
b. Turning my hands over too much/flipping?
c. Very flat swing?

2. My chips are really low too. Usually its not a problem, but i can easily chip with my sand wedge and keep it under like 3 feet. Times i'll want a mid/to high trajectory i end up only getting up to like 6 feet. Makes it hard with a tucked pin.

I will say the major thing that has happened (not necessarily intentionally) is that my swing is VERY flat. In pursuit of trying to prevent the outside-in swing, and trying to make sure every full swing is an inside-out swing my back swing is extremely flat now and i'm going to make a conscious effort to steepen it.

thanks

[Martin Levac]

Re: Low ball flight with irons and chips

The ball doesn't lie. You say almost all your irons, which irons don't produce an unbelievably low trajectory? As irons are used, they can bend. Have them checked for loft and lie. Perhaps you'll find that some of them got bent.

As for your technique, instead of trying to steepen things or flatten things, why don't you try to align things? For instance, align the clubhead path (or arc, some call this the swing plane) with the target line and go from there. If all else fails, striking downward on the ball is always a safe bet.

[GregJWillis]

Re: Low ball flight with irons and chips

...my swing is VERY flat. In pursuit of trying to prevent the outside-in swing, and trying to make sure every full swing is an inside-out swing my back swing is extremely flat...

Here is most probably your answer. You got away with it with an upright swing and the out-to-in path. Now, you are square on...but...

So what is the next step? Let's have you look at your ball position at setup. Make sure you have it forward as your clubs get longer...so a PW is in the center, 7i about 1 ball forward of that, 5i 1 in front of that, 3i...and the Driver is on the inside of the leading heal.

If that is ok, then I would venture a guess that you slide forward into the shot rather then rotating and staying centered over the ball. You have to transition weight from your back to your front feet, but this does not mean you slide everything forward. If you did, your center of the swing at impact position is now too far forward, and essentially it is like you played a 5i in the center of your stance...where it really needed to be about 2 balls forward.

If so, check out my wall/impact drill to help you get the feeling of rotating and not sliding.

[DrChoi]

Re: Low ball flight with irons and chips

All my irons go low except SW, PW, 9 is ok. It really shocked me when i hit an 8 iron, didn't hit it particularly thin and it was like a punch shot.

Just got a new set of irons, i hit it low with both set. Its not the arrow, its the Indian.