Long irons - not long at all

[jacu430]

Hi, I have a pretty good idea on how far I could hit my short irons, PW-130, 9i-150, 8i-160-165. But as I move up in the irons, the increments of yardage increase seems to diminish and I'm struggling to figure out what it is that I'm doing that would cause the loss in gradual increase in distance.

My swing feels ok and sounds pretty solid as I'm hitting them off the mat, but I seriously struggle to hit let's say 190 on the fly with a 6i. So to put it into a different perspective, I feel like I'm almost hitting my 6 thru 3 clubs at only about 5-10 or so yards difference (total)? and that's from balls that I felt were decently struck.

To get back to the fundamental part of golf, every article I've read tells the reader to address the ball for long irons closer to your left heel (relative to the low irons). My question is, I tend to press my clubs a bit at address, so if I move my 3i let's say and address the face closer to the left, if I don't move my hands further to the left (almost on top of my left knee) that effectively increases the loft, no? and I feel like that is precisely the reason why my longer irons all play about the same yardage, b/c the manual tells me that I'm suppose to move my club towards the left as the club gets longer. So to counter that theory, I'm trying to address the ball in the center a bit more, but the club seems to dig a bit too much and I have a hard time turning in time to hit straight shots.

Sorry for the long post.

[GregJWillis]

Re: Long irons - not long at all

Where are you measuring these distances? Are you at the range with range balls? Or are you on the course with your normal balls?

[AvidGolfer]

Re: Long irons - not long at all

Hi, I have a pretty good idea on how far I could hit my short irons, PW-130, 9i-150, 8i-160-165. But as I move up in the irons, the increments of yardage increase seems to diminish and I'm struggling to figure out what it is that I'm doing that would cause the loss in gradual increase in distance.

My swing feels ok and sounds pretty solid as I'm hitting them off the mat, but I seriously struggle to hit let's say 190 on the fly with a 6i. So to put it into a different perspective, I feel like I'm almost hitting my 6 thru 3 clubs at only about 5-10 or so yards difference (total)? and that's from balls that I felt were decently struck.

To get back to the fundamental part of golf, every article I've read tells the reader to address the ball for long irons closer to your left heel (relative to the low irons). My question is, I tend to press my clubs a bit at address, so if I move my 3i let's say and address the face closer to the left, if I don't move my hands further to the left (almost on top of my left knee) that effectively increases the loft, no? and I feel like that is precisely the reason why my longer irons all play about the same yardage, b/c the manual tells me that I'm suppose to move my club towards the left as the club gets longer. So to counter that theory, I'm trying to address the ball in the center a bit more, but the club seems to dig a bit too much and I have a hard time turning in time to hit straight shots.

Sorry for the long post.

10-13 yard gaps between clubs is normal, and if you look at the What's in the Bag sections at the back of golf magazines you'll often see that gap with pros as well.

Here are Ernie Els listed carry yardages for his clubs:
http://www.ernieels.com/default.aspx?i_CategoryID=173

[jacu430]

Re: Long irons - not long at all

I'm using range balls at the range to gauge the distance.

10-13 yard gaps are fine, the problem is I'm not getting that gap as the club gets longer for my irons. So effectively from 6 -3i, I'm hitting all of them at around 185 to maybe 200 on the fly at best.

I'm curious to see if anyone can explain the logic of moving the ball forward yet still achieving the longer distances. Think of it this way, when I place my 7i in the middle of my stance, the loft angle appears to be exactly the same as my 6i one ball length to the left of center. So that to me makes sense as to why my 6 and my 7 seems to hit ~ the same yardage, given that I set up as indicated. So can someone explain this?

[GregJWillis]

Re: Long irons - not long at all

Do not take creditability in range balls. They are completely unreliable. Their flight characteristics are like a cannon ball -- they can be launched up and they travel far, but they do not maintain loft holding them in the air. They will fall quickly and you get your 6i = 3i results.

Test and gauge your distances with real golf balls. Test them on a real course late in the day when no one is behind you. Play some shots to designated targets and take the averages...then play a different club to the same points and take those averages...eventually you will get a good distribution to evaluate. (Be sure to fix all divots).

If you do this and you still see problems with lengths being to compact, I would turn to your equipment and have them tested. I had a 4i that was equal in face angle to my 3i, so it was bent to proper specs and that solved my problem. If your shafts are different, that can have the same affects...they might be slightly longer/shorter, stiffer/weaker, etc.

After that checks out, then you are safe to start to look at your swing.

Moving the ball forward helps maintain a sweeping angle of attack on the longer irons. You don't necessarily want to hit them high with a steep attack, so a forward position helps that.

What I see mostly as a cause to long irons going the same distances is the overall swing speed generated by the player. If this speed is significantly slower then normal, you do not get good compression on the ball, and you loose distance to flight/carry. The ball is struck with too low of a spin and it just bumps out there on a common trajectory.

The solution is to work on your swing to increase swing speeds while maintaining control. There will be a limit that a person's abilities will have, so at some point, you would exchange a 5i for a hybrid. And continue to replace the longer irons with these woods to help create the desired distance separations.

[jacu430]

Re: Long irons - not long at all

Thank you GregJWillis, I will test that out.

[joeywarren]

Re: Long irons - not long at all

in reguards to moving the ball i would suggest that you dont move the ball as it should always be inline with your left armpit (for a normal shot.) the only thing moves is the right foot. as you address the ball start with it in the middle then move your left foot a couple of inches towards the target then simply move the right foot futher away as the clubs decrease in loft. it works for me.