Best Club for Punching Out

[jas80s]

I am filling out my bag and I still have one slot left.  I am thinking I can use a good club for low punch shots.  I have a tendency to hit the ball on a somewhat higher trajectory generally, so this isn't a huge strength of mine, but it does represent a fairly large hole in my game so I would like to address it.

With that being said, what club do you favor for low punch shots?  I'm thinking of a low iron.  I have a four iron, but that is still 25 degrees or more of loft.  Do I need something with even less loft?

[Bonvivant]

When I am punching out, 4I is my go to. If there is something that I can't get under with that, it's sideways back to the fairway I go.

[chilepepper]

Really depends on the shot and the vertical clearance I have to work with. Might be a a hybrid, 5 or 6i . Might be a 7i

[saevel25]

Mostly 5 or 6 iron.

If I need to some speed and keeping it really low I might punch chip a 3 wood.

[David in FL]

Anything from my driver to my putter, depending on what I need to accomplish

[Vinsk]

6 hours ago, jas80s said:

I am filling out my bag and I still have one slot left.  I am thinking I can use a good club for low punch shots.  I have a tendency to hit the ball on a somewhat higher trajectory generally, so this isn't a huge strength of mine, but it does represent a fairly large hole in my game so I would like to address it.

With that being said, what club do you favor for low punch shots?  I'm thinking of a low iron.  I have a four iron, but that is still 25 degrees or more of loft.  Do I need something with even less loft?

25* at standard set up, yes. If you’re hitting a punch shot you can vary that quite a bit by getting your hands forward.

[Patch]

My whole bag is punch out clubs. Any of the 14 can be used.  It just depends on the situation. Distance required, ball back in my stance, how much roll to expect, landing area, and what my clearances are. 

For me it's a combination of ball position in my stance (farther back), the initial carry needed, and the landing area when selecting the club.

I suppose my favorites are my 7W, and/or  2I. 

The other day I had a punch shot to get to the green, with a tree in my way. About 60 yards. I hit a great, choked down, 3/4 swing 7W. As soon as the ball left the club face, I knew it was good. Well almost good. When the ball found the ground after the carry, it hit a pine cone, and went straight right a few feet. Why a pine tree would be growing 214' feet below sea level is just not right. 

[CarlSpackler]

I don’t have just one. If the ultimate goal is to have it go as far as possible and keep it very low, my 4i is my go to. If I have a little room vertically, but need to control distance, then I pick the iron that has enough loft to keep it under the branches or whatever and vary my backswing length. 

[Aaron from Baltimore]

As long as the rough is not too high I like chopping my driver down on it. It comes out as a low bullet cut.....

 

[jas80s]

Good advice all around, thanks very much to all of you for taking the time...

[BC-to-MI]

If I really need the ball to stay low, I tend to go with a 4i back in my stance. But if I have more vertical room to play with, I often go with a 7i as it seems to give me the best combination of getting above the rough I am hitting out of and velocity to roll out once it hits the ground. Unfortunately, I've had a lot of practice and experimenting with this during rounds.

[pganapathy]

Used to be my 3 iron, but now that I have removed both the 3 and 4 irons, it is usually my 5 iron for punch out shots.  though I can hit a low punch with a 7 iron, though it will be a bit higher than a 3 iron played the same way

[Shindig]

I think learning to punch a shot with a hybrid might be worth my time?  I hit a decent punch with my 5-iron, but when I am in a situation where I can punch and advance it, and could have advanced it more if my 5-iron went further ... maybe time to get over my fear of punching with a hybrid. 

[billchao]

What I use depends on what the situation calls for. The other day I hit a low draw from behind a tree with a hooded 9i to keep the ball under the branches and curve it around the trunk.

 

[Buckeyebowman]

On 7/30/2019 at 6:54 PM, Shindig said:

I think learning to punch a shot with a hybrid might be worth my time?  I hit a decent punch with my 5-iron, but when I am in a situation where I can punch and advance it, and could have advanced it more if my 5-iron went further ... maybe time to get over my fear of punching with a hybrid. 

I've tried that, but the whole idea of the hybrid design is to get the ball up in air. I have a hard time keeping my 2H low, 

I read a post here several years ago where a guy had room for one more club. He had an old 2 iron, cut it down to 6 or 7 iron length, and used that as his punch out club. 

[Shindig]

2 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

I've tried that, but the whole idea of the hybrid design is to get the ball up in air. I have a hard time keeping my 2H low, 

I read a post here several years ago where a guy had room for one more club. He had an old 2 iron, cut it down to 6 or 7 iron length, and used that as his punch out club. 

Hmmm... I do own a 1-iron and have two gap wedges in my bag ... 

[biodarwin]

On 7/29/2019 at 11:38 PM, jas80s said:

With that being said, what club do you favor for low punch shots?  I'm thinking of a low iron.  I have a four iron, but that is still 25 degrees or more of loft.  Do I need something with even less loft?

I use a 4-iron, if I have quite a ways to punch and need to keep it low, I play it further back in my stance, de-lofting the club.

[BogeySwine]

On 7/30/2019 at 7:04 AM, David in FL said:

Anything from my driver to my putter, depending on what I need to accomplish

Exactly! It all depends on how low the tree branches are. We have a lot of pines on the course I generally play. They don't cut the branches up about 8' feet from the ground like some other courses do so they can cut the grass so we usually have to punch out sideways or backward!