How come Tour pros hit the ball so low...

I was at the range last week during work while pros were there practicing before they tee off. Effortlessly they were hitting the 170 yrd green, only big difference is I noticed there ball flight is a lot lower. Im guessing its an 8i or 7i, but it just seems so much lower than average. I also noticed this at a pga event, the ball flight only going maybe 40 to 50 feet in there air on longer shots when an average guy hits em maybe 100 feet high. Explain.

Was it windy...? I have No explanation re: the low ball flight other than to get under the wind.

I noticed this at the couple events I've attended, most noticeably with irons/wedges into the greens.     The pro's shot shape is consistently LOWER than anything I've seen even from better players I've been paired with on local courses.    I could see where a lower ball flight would be more accurate, but unless there's alot of spin would run out too much.     My guess is it they probably hit down on the ball more than us mere mortals, which may deloft the club ??     Otherwise, I have no idea & would love to hear how they accomplish this lower tradjectory (on their iron shots) ?

If you have really high clubhead speed like the pros do, you don't have to get the ball up as much to get good carry. This ties into the "penetrating ball flight" which the Player's category irons promise in their ad promos.

On the wedges, some will play their partial wedges back an inch or so from center, and hit the low punch shot that hops once and stops. This an alternative to playing the wedge an inch in front of center, and actually hitting up on the ball slightly for "more stop."

During my last lesson, the pro suggested that I could get more reliable short shots if I hit down slightly on everything, rather than just on chip shots.

For us mere mortals, there's the high launch shafts for our irons. I reshafted from Project X Rifle Flighted 5.0 (115 grams) with NS Pro 8950GH R.flex (97 grams); this is a high launch, low-spin shaft. The R is about a half flex lighter than the 5.0. So, I have a high-launch shaft on a GI head, and the combo really works nicely.

Haven't had a chance to play with the full set yet, but I play some holes with my reshafted demonstrator 6i. The 8950 shots go noticeably higher than the 5.0, and about 12 yards farther - even into the wind. As others have told me, the 8950 doesn't spin the ball much when it lands, but the steep descent angle makes for a very stable landing on the green. The low spin helps it fight the wind.

This probably ties into the "loft up" ideas for the longer clubs.

As @ mvmac noted, the average golfer hits long irons too low and short irons too high. This is why the club manufacturers are pushing flighted shafts.

I think they are hitting it higher than you think.  Most better players (that I have seen) start the ball lower and it climbs to peak height later on.  It appears lower because the peak height is farther out.  Compared to me where the ball gets up right away and then just falls out of the sky.

This is what I was thinking also. I can tell a significant difference when I hit the ball correctly and the ball climbs gradually and lands with backspin over shots that climb high quickly but land and roll out. The sound of the ball flight is completely different too.

It's because their irons have lower lofts------their 8 irons are actually six irons------then the commentators ("announcers" to you Yanks\!) wax lyrical about how far the pros hit the ball!!  It's all BS, designed to persuade you to part with your cash and buy the same clubs as them.!!

Except for the fact that it's our clubs (the GI and SGI versions, I mean) that typically have the stronger lofts.

Titleist, for example;  AP1's have a 36* lofted 8 iron, AP2's 38*, and MB's 39*

Or Callaway:  x2hot 8 iron is 34.5*, whereas x-forged is 38*.

Taylormade Speedblade ... 34.5*, Tour Preferred MC 38*

So, yeah, that's not it.  Their 8-irons are actually our (those who play GI or SGI off the rack at least) 9-irons, so it's even the opposite for a lot of people.

But still, regardless of any of that, as @Spitfisher points out, in general, most people have an apex height similar throughout the clubs, it only appears higher or lower due to the distance from you that it occurs.

Dammit GD, there you go ruining a perfectly good, albeit wildly inaccurate explanation with facts again.  Knock it off!