Hitting Full Shots

[iacas]

See the poll results.

I voted for < 10% of the time. I'm almost always taking a little off a shot. For example, from 140, I'm much more likely to hit 8I than I am to hit 9I, despite my 8I distance being about 152.

Shorter, slightly lesser swings are more controllable, flatter, and manage the spin better. Even with a lower-spinning ball.

[David in FL]

Not very often.  Way less than 50%, let’s call it 10-30% for the poll.

I hit a nifty little 7-iron to about 8’ from 125 yds yesterday.  

[klineka]

I voted 30-50%. 

Typically my 6 and 7 irons are full shots, but 8 - SW are typically less than full.

I'm really comfortable with partial wedges, but I need to get better with partial mid/short irons.

[iacas]

I think better players will generally vote for a lower % of the time than higher handicappers.

Few of my college kids play partial shots. They haven't learned how yet, or they're caught up in "the yardage is the yardage" or something.

[saevel25]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

I think better players will generally vote for a lower % of the time than higher handicappers.

Probably something I should do more often.

There are times when I initially want to hit a shot at lower speed, but then forget about it as a swing thought...

I voted 70-90%.

[JeepXJ98]

I voted 50-70%. But I'm aware that is the 'wrong' answer, and this is one of the things I'm working on as I go out to practice and play lately. I did hit some magnificent 9 irons from 125'ish 2 weeks ago. That would normally be a pretty full PW, but I chose to club down and take some off. The results were much better than I likely would have had hitting a full PW. Reading the 'flighting your irons' thread and watching the pros leads me to believe this is a solid path forward to improving accuracy for the reasons you stated, @iacas

[iacas]

Just now, saevel25 said:

I voted 70-90%.

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/iacas/round/2592653?hole_id=44776257

There's the 8-iron I hit from 140 the other day (138.3 IIRC, uphill a few yards, so maybe 141-142).

Inside info: often, in GG, I tag a shot with the next iron down because those are my "actual" yardages. For example if I have 181 to a par three, I might tag my 6-iron but hit a soft 5I. I don't do this inside of about 120 though, so GG thinks my PW averages 109, when really it's my 125 club. I just hit it pretty often from 110, 100, even 90.

[Zeph]

I probably don't do it as much as I should.

Would be interesting to see some statistics of how accurate players across a range of handicaps are when hitting partial shots compared to full shots.

[Piz]

I voted 30-50 but the percentage varies from hole to hole.  I nearly always take a full swing, off the tee, but rarely from an uneven lie.  That is particularly true when playing uphill.  

[DaveP043]

Without real stats, I'm guessing that its around half the time.  With 6-iron, its usually a full swing, 7-iron a majority are full, with more and more partial swings as the clubs get shorter.  I chose 30-50% in the poll, but it might fall into the 50-70% category just as easily.

[DeadMan]

I voted 70-90%. Generally, if I'm taking a little bit off of a shot, I'm going to grip down a bit. I'll do that maybe once or twice a round. I'll flight a wedge about once a round.

I have never really been comfortable taking a little off of a shot. I have found just trying to take a little off a shot does not lead to good results. If I purposely try to swing slower, I tend to decel and hit a terrible shot. Contact with my 3/4 and 1/2 swings can be really inconsistent. In contrast, gripping down takes off a couple of yards and is pretty consistent. Flighting my wedges is less consistent - I can hit some pushes and some hooks. It's getting better.

The real issue is that I don't devote practice time to hitting partial shots. I don't have a ton of practice time, so I'm using it to work on my priority piece generally. I don't have a ton of time to hit 3/4 shots with a lot of clubs to get a good feel for it. If the choice is to hit a 3/4 7 iron that I haven't practiced or hit a full 8 that I have practiced, I'm going to take the full 8.

[Shindig]

Almost the entire time.  Pretty much the only exception is what would be a full sand wedge, I'm more comfortable with a half 9-iron.  

I remember the flighting thread from a few years ago:  is this the same idea or is that something else entirely?

I probably should know this, but when does learning how and when to hit a partial shot become a priority for a player?

[Cantankerish]

Yeah, I am not there yet.  I chose greater than 90%. I think I would have guessed that I will eventually need to master lots of less than full shots, but this conversation does highlight its value.  I'm happy if my wind and height calculations hold up with club selection and angle, but those happen before the stroke.  Taking something off the swing just seems like undue stress when I am spending so much thought on the mechanics of the proper full swing.  Honestly, I think that anyone who has command of a shot at 90% and call upon it versus the same club at 80% for a different scenario...that just seems like magic to me at this point. 

I would be interested to see how a comparison of these poll results match up against handicap.

[iacas]

34 minutes ago, Cantankerish said:

Yeah, I am not there yet.

I don't get that. Yes you are.

36 minutes ago, Shindig said:

I probably should know this, but when does learning how and when to hit a partial shot become a priority for a player?

Now. Start learning them now.

---

Guys, think about it. It's a slower, shorter, more controlled swing. You'll make better contact. The ball will come off lower so be less susceptible to the wind. You'll likely curve the ball less with the lower clubhead speed and better contact.

[pganapathy]

For me, taking something off a club only happens with the PW or below where I am getting it onto the green or with a specialty/recovery shot, say under a tree so need to hit a low shot and hence cant hit a high-lofted club

[Shindig]

43 minutes ago, iacas said:

Now. Start learning them now.

Will do.  I'm going to the full range tomorrow and will practice them then.  I will do some slow motion pieces indoors today. 

I'll do my normal full swing outdoor practice, but I'll include some hitting of shorter clubs with @mvmac's instructions from 

Is that what would be the good first step?  I assume a lot of what I work on for my full swing should still apply. 

[billchao]

I want to say 50-70%, but it's probably in the 70-90% category so that's what I went with. I don't generally think about hitting less that full shots unless I'm inside 150.

[dennyjones]

I almost always go full out with my 6 iron.   My 7, 8, 9 and PW are probably about 90% unless I'm using them for a knock down approach into a green.   My other wedges almost always significantly less.