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For me , I used hybrids to replace irons . However , I made sure that my hybrids were the same length and loft as the irons they replaced . A hybrid that replaces an iron should really go longer than the iron , but it should consistently go as long as a WELL STRUCK iron . If you hit a good 3 iron 220 but only 2 out of 10 times , then the hybrid should go as long but just more consistently . -- K.

Hogan felt that the club is controlled better by having the club under the pad of the left hand . That doesn't mean not to hold the club with the fingers , it just means that the fingers have less work to do when the club is controlled by the muscle in the palm of your hand . Done properly , this move actually allows the player to control the club with less tension in the fingers . Keep working on it ( including the one-finger drill shown in the book ) and you should be able to figure it out ... -- K.

Andrew -- I don't want to get into a debate about what causes a slice ( since there are many reasons ) ... however I can't say that body rotation causes a slice in most high handicappers . My personal belief is that tension in the hands and arms causes most people to "hang on " in such a way that the clubhead never gets to release and get to square at impact . As far as Hogan and "5 Lessons" , I think Hogan gets it right in setting up a correctly compensating series of movements that lead to solid ballstriking . Looking at his grip , it is slightly weak , but not more so than a lot of top-notch ballstrikers -- many of whom make many changes to fight a hook ( the hook tends to be the miss of the better player ) . If you take the whole book in , piece by piece , "5 Lessons" will set the beginning player on a correct path to a solid swing . -- K.

First , your swing plane has to match your body . Short and stocky swingers naturally have a flatter swing plane . Tall lean players like myself ( 6'5" , 230 ) have a more upright swing plane . Don't force yourself into a swing plane that doesn't fit , otherwise you will always struggle to keep your swing on plane throught your swing . Secondly , assess your physical skills : How strong are you ? How flexible are you ? Choose a swing that your body can make all the crucial moves to completion . If you hit the ball well with a certain swing but kill your back performing it , then you either have to get in better physical shape OR you have to find a swing that your back and body are happy with . For me , a bad back from work forced me to completely redo my swing , starting about 2 years ago . I finally am at the point where I am content with my swing , and my scores are starting to go back down again . If you can trust your swing , you can go lower and be more aggressive on the course . Good luck ! -- K.

I've played both ... don't believe the hype either way . More of your feel on wedges has to do with your shaft and your grip than the head . Most premium wedges , whether cast or forged , work effectively for most players . Demo what's out there and buy what feels the best for you . No one else can tell you what a wedge feels like in your unique pair of hands -- Good luck ! -- k.

Some people have suggested lessons , which is a GREAT idea . If that is not an option for you right now , get a copy of Ben Hogan's "5 Lessons" and go thru the book , page by page and section by section . Don't rush thru it , just take it in piece by piece . Every night , take 15 minutes and stand in front of a mirror and practice some of the moves and sequences described in the book . The key to rapid improvement is not just the quantity of balls you hit , but the quality of your practice . You want to practice good solid fundamentals , not just hit balls with your old flawed swing . Realize also that you are likely to get worse for a while before you get better . You must maintain your patience if you want to improve . Good Luck ! -- K.

Do you play with your hands very close to your body ? -- K.

I've had clubs lengthened , and I can see in some cases having the lie angle adjusted ... don't see how this would affect face angle -- ? I do know that lengthening a club does make it play a bit more upright automatically for the taller player . If you play clubs that are way too short for you , you have to make them more upright just to help compensate for the lack of proper length . I used to play Titleist 962's @ 2" overlength , but I ddin't have to adjust the standard lie angle at all . When I went to a custom set of irons ( Wood Bros heads ) that are built only 1 1/2" longer than standard , I did make some adjustments to bend the heads more upright . -- K.

Johnny Miller once stated that every good player at one point or another in his career fights a hook ... If you are a good player, you tend to hit more with your body than with your hands . If on occasion you use your hands a bit too much thru impact , you will have a tendency to hook one off the planet every now and again . Open faces help minimize that hook miss and keep it playable . Tom Stites of Nike Golf has a driver in his office that belonged to Ben Hogan ( Stites worked for Hogan Golf before coming over to Nike ). It's exceedingly heavy , has a very stiff steel shaft and has a head that sits very open at address . According to Stites , most pros who came by his shop had a difficult time making the Hogan driver work for them . The only pro who was able to hit the Hogan driver well ? TW ... -- K.

Your clubhead speed is close to mine , so I would recommend my current favorite shaft : the Apollo Hump shaft in S flex . These used to be Vijay's shaft of choice ( and also Jim Furyk ) . They are an unusual shaft that is smooth yet is very difficult to overpower by strong swingers . The only downside is I don't believe they are currently available in anything but a .370 parallel shaft ( no .355 taper ) . -- K.

6'5" , not sure of my exact WTF measurement ... I currently play custom irons that are ~ 1.5 longer than standard specs . The one thing that I do NOT do is play a longer than standard fairway wood or driver . In fact , my driver is 44" ( I used to play 43.5" in steel ) with a graphite shaft . I think a lot of players do themselves a disservice by playing the driver at too long a length . Since I am taller , my arc is big enough to start with . Unlike irons shots , I am not hitting my driver with a descending blow , so lie angles are less of an issue than they are with irons -- my driver's leading edge never strikes the ground . If I play with a driver longer than my 44" model , I have a hard time keeping track of what my clubhead is doing . 44" is the average length of drivers on Tour as well . I hit it plenty long enough and with greater consistency with my driver built @ 44" . The other adjustment I have made is to play all 3 of my irons ( 48* , 54* ,60* ) at the same shaft length . For the taller player with a long WTF measurement , the short irons can be difficult to hit if they are too short ( particularly the LW ) . I really don't see the need to alter the length of the last few clubs in my bag if doing so makes them more difficult for me to hit . -- K.

If you do not like the hybrids ( as you stated earlier ) drop them and add a 2 and 3 iron ( preferably to match your Mizunos ) . I don't see any fairway woods in your setup at all , but you mention hitting a 3 wood ... I assume you have one in the bag ? Then again , that would put you over the 14-club limit , so perhaps I shouldn't make that assumption ... -- K.

The question is not whether you swing too fast or too slow . The question is whether the fastest part of your swing is at the optimal time in your swing . Pros swing in a way where they speed up the most just before and through impact with the ball . Pros also have a greater amount of "lag" in their swings as opossed to most high handicappers . Most people are trying to generate pace in the wrong way . They are trying to force the club through , when they should think about allowing the club to release through impact . When I hit the ball the cleanest and farthest , it feels as if I've hardly swung hard at all . If I want to hit the ball a long way , I think most about taking the tension out of my hands and arms , loading the shaft properly in my backswing and then simply try not to get in the way of the club as it whips thru the hitting zone ... -- K.

Hogan's "5 Lessons" actually were originally written in 1957 ... they came out first as a series of Sports Illustrated articles . I'm lucky enough to own a complete set of the original SI magazines that contained the entire series . I've thought about selling them from time to time , but I haven't been able to convinve myself to give them up ... I think I want to find someone who would truly realize the uniqueness of the original series as it appeared first ... -- K.

I have hit one , and it did not work for me -- however your impressive handicap indicates that you are a better ballstriker than myself . I would say that Ebay is full of 1-irons for sale at bargain prices , especially since even the PGA Tour players are no longer using them very much . What clubs do you currently carry ? I was curious since a 1-iron is probably a bit of a specialty club in today's game , and you have to be able to find a spot for it that makes sense in your game . -- K.