Full round of punch shots?

I've been having quite a bit of trouble lately with full swing and 3/4 swing. When I'm at the range I've been slowing down my movements to try and keep myself on plane and connect flush. It's been working to an extent, but when I get to the course it all seems to go downhill. FYI: I'm talking mostly about my irons and wedges.

Until I feel comfortable hitting a nice solid 3/4 or full swing, would anyone recommend using punch shots around the course. Like for example, I was in shank mode yesterday and I came up to a 130 yard par 3. I changed things up and hit a little half swing punch with my 7 iron because I just wanted to get somewhere near the green. It worked, and I scored better this way for the rest of the round.

I'm just wondering if this is a bad mindset to get into. Or a decent shot when things are falling apart. It looks a little silly, but I don't really care about looks as long as I'm keeping my score low.

I just realized this should probably have gone into "instruction and playing tips", if a mod can move me in there that'd be great :D

Sounds like too much of a band-aid to me. I would only resort to doing something like that if I was playing a tournament/match play situation and my swing was really falling apart. But if nothing is on the line I would stick to a regular swing and try to work out the kinks because you're not going to improve from just punching the ball around.

Just my opinion:

Nothing wrong with resorting to any shot that has the best percentage chance of working based on how we are playing. I've resorted to what amounts to really long pitch shots with way more club than a stock shot would require for the distance on par 3s myself plenty of times.

My theory on the course is to get the ball in the hole in as few strokes as possible no matter how unconventionally I may have to go about it. Might even hit fairway woods or hybrids from ridiculously short distances if that's what I think it takes.

When I'm not on the course is the time to figure out what in the Hell was going on, why my stock shots were pathetic, and hopefully straighten it out.

To me the dumber thing to do is to not make any adjustments and keep trying to hit the same shots, that obviously aren't working, time after time.

+1. Unless you're playing a practice round, if you are on the course than 'play golf'. Meaning make the best sore you can and if that's with unconventional even ugly shots then so be it.

This is what half of me thinks. It may just be a band-aid but it seems like a band-aid with some potentials. Like this punch shot will give me some practice that whenever I need to hit the ball low underneath a tree or to try and stay low from the wind than I'll at least have that type of shot in my arsenal. On the other hand, I don't want to get used to having to play this way every single time on the course.

This is what the other half of me thinks. I've rarely ever been able to change or fix my swing mid-round. And when the shanks come for me, they come with a vengeance. I have a small scramble tournament coming up in a couple weeks and I just want to be able to shoot a decent score for my partner. I feel like if I need to punch the ball down the course to do it...than so be it. My short game is right where I want it to be right now. (well...as long as I stay out of the bunkers)

Awesome! Thanks ya'll. I'm playing a 9 hole tonight. I'll probably start off with some punch shots and then if I'm feeling confident I'll got to 3/4.

I like that drill that you posted mvmac, I definitely need to working on getting my weight more forward at impact.

This thread reminded me of an interview I heard a few years ago while watching a Nationwide Tour event.

The leader had just had a really good round and the interviewer said, "Well you were really hitting the ball great out there today."

The guy being interviewed said "No, I really wasn't. I had to aim 20 yards right of the green all day long just to have a chance of hitting the green. As soon as I get done with this interview I'm going to the range to see if I can get it straightened out so I don't have to do that again tomorrow."

^^ LOL.

the 9 holes went really well. I scored decent but the big positive was that I was more consistent and felt more comfortable. Which made it way more fun. I was half swing punch shotting onto greens 150 yards away with my 5 iron. It really is amazing how far the ball can go when you hit it flush....even with a baby swing.

I'm probably going to continue to play this way and slowly increase my backswing higher and higher as I get more confidence. Highly recommend this play for beginners or anyone who has the shanks/hard time on the course.

Good job. Sometimes you've just gotta dance with who you brung!

My father was a life member of the PGA and a very respected teacher. He believed if you couldn't hit a "half-swing" why would you ever try the whole thing! Hitting punch shots really helps develop the hitting area and teaches could impact. Keep working on it...he'd have me hit 100's of balls with a swing that never got above parallel on the take away or follow through. I resort back to that when my swing leaves me. Then I slowly just start swinging longer.

For me the key to hitting the punch shots is staying down and extending the arms long in the follow through. It helps maintain spine angle and gets rid of some of my other bad habits.