Ah crap, i cant hit my new irons!

[mjs8621]

Are i20's forged? I thought only PIng ANser range were? Ayway I bought some g20's a few months back- never did get used to those shovels, too clunky and too upright lesson learnt. Sold them on and now gaming a sweet old set of WIlson Staff Progressive irons from the early nineties. They cost me 31 pounds less than 5% of the g20's and feel so much better. Just goes to show we are all different and what suits one may not be the best for the other. Learnt my lesson - an expensive one on the Pings though, but thats just me!:-

[tuffluck]

This is another case of a high HC golfer buying a club designed for low HC players and pro's......

You'd be much better served with one of their more forgiving alternatives.

My ball striking has been pretty good, and in store i was hitting the i20 7i very well, and this was over the course of many trips. I don't care what my HC is, if you try a club and continually hit it well, buying said club seems like a reasonable decision. [quote name="Lihu" url="/t/62912/ah-crap-i-cant-hit-my-new-irons#post_780974"][quote name="tuffluck" url="/t/62912/ah-crap-i-cant-hit-my-new-irons#post_780949"]I am tall but very thin. Although I drive 265 on average, I don't have a sick amount of power over the average golfer. I just have arc as an advantage. Most of my friends are my height but 50 pounds heavier, they hit crazy distance. I think I am at a huge disadvantage because my body weight is not even close to being proportional to my height. However I understand why many of you would think my size should be advantageous in this sport. Nevertheless, I think adding an inch to any club makes it harder to hit. Being powerful enough to man the club is one thing, but just being stupid tall and lanky doesnt make the club any easier to control, regardless of it being fitted for you.[/quote] Your swing speed is probably 105mph and you don't need to move fast to do it :-) [quote name="onesome" url="/t/62912/ah-crap-i-cant-hit-my-new-irons#post_780857"]Why would anyone want to "hit" their irons? Sounds like it would hurt your hand. I would rather swing my irons correctly and that usually requires some help from a good teacher. Get some lessons...... why bother asking people over the internet unless you just want to vent.[/quote] Point taken, "hit balls with irons swung properly" :-) [quote name="tuffluck" url="/t/62912/ah-crap-i-cant-hit-my-new-irons#post_780845"]Btw, I definitely believe that taller players are at a disadvantage in golf. More moving mass, including body AND club extensions. Keegan, Ernie, and of course Dustin Johnson buck that trend, but those guys 4 inches shorter would dominate this game (even more). Although, I don't think Keegan plays with extensions. It is absolutely harder. My buddy is 6 feet 4 inches and he doesn't have extensions. He is very built and hits a PW 160. I gave him my 4 iron and he hit it 170, with actually good contact. Longer the club, harder to hit I thin[/quote] Dustin is only an inch shorter than you, and really thin and lanky. He is known for raw power. I have read that the average height of a PGA golfer is something like 5'11", but that's most likely a statistical mean of all men who are athletic in this country. The fact that most PGA golfers are shorter than you does not mean that tall people are disadvantaged at golf.[/quote] My swing speed is about 110, and I feel like I am swinging pretty hard to do it. Also I don't really consider Dustin lanky, at least compared to me. I can't even put on a few pounds after months at the gym and eating over 5,000 calories a day. I've tried that 3 different times in my life. Anyway, tall golfers may not be at a disadvantage, but I believe they are depending on how they are built. I played again yesterday and hit the ball much better. I am not where I want to be by any means, but I hit almost every iron at least 2-3 times and was catching the ball pretty cleanly. I think it is just going to take some practice. I also found it very easy to fade and draw the ball with these clubs.

[tuffluck]

Are i20's forged? I thought only PIng ANser range were? Ayway I bought some g20's a few months back- never did get used to those shovels, too clunky and too upright lesson learnt. Sold them on and now gaming a sweet old set of WIlson Staff Progressive irons from the early nineties. They cost me 31 pounds less than 5% of the g20's and feel so much better. Just goes to show we are all different and what suits one may not be the best for the other. Learnt my lesson - an expensive one on the Pings though, but thats just me!:-

They aren't forged. I think my r9 was kind of a Players/GI hybrid like the i20. They are forgiving but not as forgiving as a flat out GI. I personally don't like many GI irons, I wind up hitting them all very high. Even my fitter did not recommend the g20 because of this, and instead put me in the i20.

[Lihu]

My ball striking has been pretty good, and in store i was hitting the i20 7i very well, and this was over the course of many trips. I don't care what my HC is, if you try a club and continually hit it well, buying said club seems like a reasonable decision. My swing speed is about 110, and I feel like I am swinging pretty hard to do it. Also I don't really consider Dustin lanky, at least compared to me. I can't even put on a few pounds after months at the gym and eating over 5,000 calories a day. I've tried that 3 different times in my life. Anyway, tall golfers may not be at a disadvantage, but I believe they are depending on how they are built. I played again yesterday and hit the ball much better. I am not where I want to be by any means, but I hit almost every iron at least 2-3 times and was catching the ball pretty cleanly. I think it is just going to take some practice. I also found it very easy to fade and draw the ball with these clubs.

You must be pretty lanky. I had a friend who was 6'8" and 195 pounds. That's probably thinner than you. We went to the gym together to work out. He was actually pretty strong back then, even though he looked so thin. I advised another blogger not to consume so many calories just to gain weight. I did the same thing many years ago and regretted having the extra weight. I lost a bunch of it lately, but it took lots of work. I'm sure there are lots of other folks on this forum that wish they could have your thin and tall build. Being thinner is healthier. If you backed off to 105, I bet it would be effortless. I backed off to about 98mph from 105, and it feels pretty effortless.

[tuffluck]

I went to the range tonight and hit a medium bucket. I actually hit about 90% of the balls on every club well. I seem to be fading them more than my old irons, but I started accepting it and began figuring out how to work it. I actually hit in general better at this range session than i did with my older irons ever, so... feeling a lot better about my purchase.

[tuffluck]

Im wkndering if the shaft i have is not stiff enough and I that is causing the fade? This didnt happen with my r9 set, at least not this much. It isnt a slice, but a string fade. I have the true temper z65 now, and had kbs stiff before on the r9.

[Lihu]

I went to the range tonight and hit a medium bucket. I actually hit about 90% of the balls on every club well. I seem to be fading them more than my old irons, but I started accepting it and began figuring out how to work it. I actually hit in general better at this range session than i did with my older irons ever, so... feeling a lot better about my purchase.

That's cool. I know the feeling of being able to hit balls with irons swung correctly again. :-)

[mjs8621]

I was always hitting a fade and thought it may have been requiring a stiffer shaft. I sorted my swing plane using the 9-3 drill, switched to reglar shafts and now find I have a nice right to left little draw. I think i may have been looking for the prblem in my clubs when i just needed to sort out a few fundamentals. I thik if you are fading, slicing, you may not be generating enough swing speed and as a result clubface will still be open at impact.

[Audaxi]

As a general rule, a stiffer shaft will cause more of a fade. However, I know that my swing is an exception to this rule, and yours might be as well. I have about an 85 mph 6i swing speed, which would usually correlate to about a 6.0 stiffness shaft. I currently have irons with a 5.2 stiffness shaft, and am getting ready to replace my irons soon anyways. When I went into a store to demo irons, I found that the stiffer shaft actually turned my usual fade into a nice little draw, which I found surprising. I have clubs with a fair bit of offset, but the irons with a stiffer shaft and almost no offset (MP-69's, MP-64's, MP=-59's, and s56's) actually had me hitting a draw. However, I did have to reshaft my 3-wood form a reg flex stock shaft, because I did hook that. You can go look at stores to try different shafts, but keep in mind it's another $200 to buy a full iron set's worth of shafts.

[Willie Malay]

Took me 3-4 months to learn how to hit my KZG ZOs(look them up). Never could hit the 4 iron well. I kept them for 12 years!! Played very well with them. Recently got some Cleveland CG16s(yeah it was quite a contrast). Hit them well from day one.

Don't know what to tell you to do. If you can get a good trade maybe go for it. But I'd give them maybe a little more time.

[tuffluck]

i did not know that at all.  i thought if you have a hard swing and a lot of flex in the shaft, your hands get in front of the clubface so that by the time it strikes the ball the face is pretty open.  i thought stiff shafts would mean you wouldn't have this problem.  i know with my fairway woods, they are all regular shaft and i slice the heck out of them when i swing normal.  if i slow my swing speed down on purpose, they fly straight.

i hit about 150 balls today at the range.  my arms hurt!  but i was making pretty good contact, still fading the 4 iron a lot.  when i got home i did some analyzing on the internet and realized my grip is a little off.  i have my left hand turned more left on the grip than it should be.  i need the top of my thumb more on the backside of my grip, and before it was much more on the front side.  i wish i had known this while i was practicing earlier, but i'll go to the range later this week and try again.  is it possible that the grip could have had something to do with the fade?

Originally Posted by Audaxi

As a general rule, a stiffer shaft will cause more of a fade.

[Mfed]

Originally Posted by tuffluck

i did not know that at all.  i thought if you have a hard swing and a lot of flex in the shaft, your hands get in front of the clubface so that by the time it strikes the ball the face is pretty open.  i thought stiff shafts would mean you wouldn't have this problem.  i know with my fairway woods, they are all regular shaft and i slice the heck out of them when i swing normal.  if i slow my swing speed down on purpose, they fly straight.

i hit about 150 balls today at the range.  my arms hurt!  but i was making pretty good contact, still fading the 4 iron a lot.  when i got home i did some analyzing on the internet and realized my grip is a little off.  i have my left hand turned more left on the grip than it should be.  i need the top of my thumb more on the backside of my grip, and before it was much more on the front side.  i wish i had known this while i was practicing earlier, but i'll go to the range later this week and try again.  is it possible that the grip could have had something to do with the fade?

If you just stand up straight and let your arms hang naturally, you'll notice your palms either face each other or face slightly inward. If you just bring them together on the grip, that would be considered a "neutral" grip.

[tuffluck]

Thanks. Couple more questions: 1. At the fitting I was hitting a white dot head on a 1 inch extended shaft and that was a correct combo for me. After it was ordered, it came in as a maroon dot. I was expecting white dot plus 1 inch, but he showed me on the fitting cart that should equal maroon. I did not understand, but no matter I guess as long as he is correct? 2. He fitted me for zz-65 shafts, stiff. He said I fly the ball high and am in between a stiff and x-stiff, and he thought the zz-65 would be ideal. Well, I am still hitting the ball really high. I was hitting my 4 iron higher than my r9 and landing it in the air about 185y. I swing my 7 iron right about 80mph. Does it sound like these true temper shafts may not be ideal for me?

[Willie Malay]

Yup, rotate left hand to the right when gripping the club and that will help cure a fade or initiate a draw.(right-handed hitter)

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by tuffluck

Thanks. Couple more questions:

1. At the fitting I was hitting a white dot head on a 1 inch extended shaft and that was a correct combo for me. After it was ordered, it came in as a maroon dot. I was expecting white dot plus 1 inch, but he showed me on the fitting cart that should equal maroon. I did not understand, but no matter I guess as long as he is correct?

2. He fitted me for zz-65 shafts, stiff. He said I fly the ball high and am in between a stiff and x-stiff, and he thought the zz-65 would be ideal. Well, I am still hitting the ball really high. I was hitting my 4 iron higher than my r9 and landing it in the air about 185y. I swing my 7 iron right about 80mph. Does it sound like these true temper shafts may not be ideal for me?

Check your left wrist at impact and see if it is flat, i.e., you're not flipping at impact, to keep flight down and offer more distance. Or it could be another swing issue such as the shoulders when beginning the downswing. I'd see a pro.

The ZZ65 shaft is typically stout, but when it's played +1 inch, I would think it would soften the tip section unless the club maker  did something else, or took length under shaft build consideration when fitting you.

[tuffluck]

when i do the 9-3 drill i hit the ball straight as an arrow.  it's only when i take the full swing does it fade so extremely.  i will try the wrist change and if that doesn't help, you're right, time to see a pro.

[Willie Malay]

I just came to the realization with my old set that I just couldn't consistently hit a draw with the 4 iron and just played the fade. I know that doesn't work for all situations but "play what you know will happen" sometimes is the best advice. My new set is completely different however and I can work the ball either way with all the irons. Went from KZG ZO to Cleveland CG16 and not too proud to admit it. Love the new irons.