Airmailing Greens

[billchao]

This is something that's been bothering me lately. In my recent rounds I've been airmailing the green on an approach shot with a short iron at least once per round, like I'm carrying the ball longer than I expect to. I have no idea why. It's happened five times in recent memory. I thought at first it might be due to a flyer lie, but I did it once with a PW out of a fairway. One time the ball flight was a little lower than my typical flight and carried longer and that one I assumed was a flyer because it didn't feel like I hit it thin. But the other three times, twice with an 8i and once with a 9i, the ball came out looking like my normal shot and ended up flying farther than I wanted it to.

My swing has been improving steadily as of late and I've been working out more. There's a possibility that my top end speed has increased and I'm hitting the perfect storm of faster than usual speed and pure contact that results in longer distance at the worst possible time. Long misses on most holes I play are pretty much dead - the rough usually slopes away from the green and my ball will hit the slope and carom even farther away, often into penalty areas or fescue or whatever. It's not like a typical summer increase in distance due to being in mid-season form and the weather conditions; I'm seeing the usual slight increase in distance through the whole bag but these shots are aberrant.

I'm not sure how to Game Plan for such an anomaly, or if I should even bother at all. I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of my shot zones to be able to place the largest % chance for me to put the ball on the green, but like how I'll occasionally hit it fat and miss short, do I just accept that I'll also occasionally pure it and miss it long, too? Is a long miss acceptable if it might result in a penalty stroke or lost ball?

It's kind of a stupid and frustrating feeling to hit the ball really well and watch it not end up where you thought it should have.

[Vinsk]

17 minutes ago, billchao said:

This is something that's been bothering me lately. In my recent rounds I've been airmailing the green on an approach shot with a short iron at least once per round, like I'm carrying the ball longer than I expect to. I have no idea why. It's happened five times in recent memory. I thought at first it might be due to a flyer lie, but I did it once with a PW out of a fairway. One time the ball flight was a little lower than my typical flight and carried longer and that one I assumed was a flyer because it didn't feel like I hit it thin. But the other three times, twice with an 8i and once with a 9i, the ball came out looking like my normal shot and ended up flying farther than I wanted it to.

My swing has been improving steadily as of late and I've been working out more. There's a possibility that my top end speed has increased and I'm hitting the perfect storm of faster than usual speed and pure contact that results in longer distance at the worst possible time. Long misses on most holes I play are pretty much dead - the rough usually slopes away from the green and my ball will hit the slope and carom even farther away, often into penalty areas or fescue or whatever. It's not like a typical summer increase in distance due to being in mid-season form and the weather conditions; I'm seeing the usual slight increase in distance through the whole bag but these shots are aberrant.

I'm not sure how to Game Plan for such an anomaly, or if I should even bother at all. I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of my shot zones to be able to place the largest % chance for me to put the ball on the green, but like how I'll occasionally hit it fat and miss short, do I just accept that I'll also occasionally pure it and miss it long, too? Is a long miss acceptable if it might result in a penalty stroke or lost ball?

It's kind of a stupid and frustrating feeling to hit the ball really well and watch it not end up where you thought it should have.

If indeed you’re hitting clubs longer, until you can re-figure your distances you could play to safety based on going long or coming up a little short. So if you’re looking at 150 to the middle of the green and that’s your 7i....if long is trouble and short is doable then either choke the 7i or play your 8i. 

[Bonvivant]

Sounds like pin hunting at its finest. Are you aiming for the fat part of the green, or are you aiming at a spot pros hit?

[billchao]

13 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

If indeed you’re hitting clubs longer, until you can re-figure your distances you could play to safety based on going long or coming up a little short. So if you’re looking at 150 to the middle of the green and that’s your 7i....if long is trouble and short is doable then either choke the 7i or play your 8i. 

I'm still hitting my usual distances with those clubs, just once in a while, at least once a round it seems, I'm catching one long. It's kind of like hitting a bomb with your driver, except I'm doing it with my scoring clubs which is kind of the opposite of what I want out of them.

11 minutes ago, Bonvivant said:

Sounds like pin hunting at its finest. Are you aiming for the fat part of the green, or are you aiming at a spot pros hit?

Center of the green, laterally and distance-wise. I only split the green into halves when I get down into partial wedge distances.

Pin hunting would have nothing to do with airmailing a green when the pin is in the center anyway.

[Vinsk]

Well if it’s happening occasionally then you may just have to deal with it the same way you do when you catch a flyer, hope you don’t get too penalized. However, it’s possible you’re doing something on those swings that is simply better; sweet spot, club head speed? 

[billchao]

38 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Well if it’s happening occasionally then you may just have to deal with it the same way you do when you catch a flyer, hope you don’t get too penalized.

That's basically what I do now. I have no idea if/when it will happen and it doesn't happen as often as a mis-hit approach shot so I play for those to have a better chance to end up on the green.

38 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

However, it’s possible you’re doing something on those swings that is simply better; sweet spot, club head speed? 

This is what I'm leaning towards, except for the one shot I described that I know for certain was a flyer. I'm hitting the ball pure and it comes out longer than I think I should be able to hit it.

[Patch]

My guess is that on those "occassional" long ball flights, you are arriving at the ball with a higher percentage ball impact position. Less wasted energy in those longer ball flight. This because I am assuming your swing speed is not changing. 

You are simply getting better at impact. More things in your are going right........sometims. 

 

 

 

 

[DeadMan]

What irons are you playing? And can you tell if these shots are hitting the center of the clubface? 

[ncates00]

@billchao Strike and flyer lies aside, check these things:

- perhaps you’re delivering less dynamic loft than normal, more shaft lean at impact. 

- perhaps you’re hitting less down than normal and thereby reducing spin loft, leading to longer carry. 

- more clubhead speed? This might be getting into strike, but maybe more ball speed? 

- ball? 

Edited July 31, 2019 by ncates00

[boogielicious]

Is it a complete clearing of the green or are you hitting it and it ends up long? I know the greens on my league course are so firm right now, even a PW has trouble holding.

[billchao]

18 hours ago, ncates00 said:

- perhaps you’re delivering less dynamic loft than normal, more shaft lean at impact. 

- perhaps you’re hitting less down than normal and thereby reducing spin loft, leading to longer carry. 

- more clubhead speed? This might be getting into strike, but maybe more ball speed? 

All of these are possibilities, yes.

The question is, do I worry about it? It does cost me extra strokes if I have to take a drop from a penalty area or an unplayable lie, but once a round isn't all that often.

11 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Is it a complete clearing of the green or are you hitting it and it ends up long? I know the greens on my league course are so firm right now, even a PW has trouble holding.

I'm flying the greens. The  course conditions are perfect right now and the greens are receptive.

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, billchao said:

All of these are possibilities, yes.

The question is, do I worry about it? It does cost me extra strokes if I have to take a drop from a penalty area or an unplayable lie, but once a round isn't all that often.

I'm flying the greens. The  course conditions are perfect right now and the greens are receptive.

Ok...how about Colonel Mustard in the Library with the candlestick?

[dennyjones]

3 hours ago, billchao said:

I'm flying the greens. The  course conditions are perfect right now and the greens are receptive.

Extra gamma rays lately?

[Zippo]

5 hours ago, billchao said:

I'm flying the greens. 

I used to have that problem but then I figured out that it was only happening when the green was to the east of me. Took me a while to add 2 and 2 to get 5 but I realized that when I hit the ball into the air toward the green to the east the earth was rotating underneath the ball in flight causing me to be long. Now, when hitting towards the east I always take one less club.

Why, yes. I did just have a margarita. Why do you ask?

[Casualgolfer]

Check and see where you are impacting on the club face. on those shots. Might find you are hitting them better or possibly a "groove low" lol.  Could be presenting less loft at impact as already mentioned.

[billchao]

On 7/30/2019 at 10:34 PM, DeadMan said:

What irons are you playing? And can you tell if these shots are hitting the center of the clubface? 

Sorry Dan, somehow I missed this comment. I'm playing Mizuno MP4s.

---

After thinking long and hard about this topic because it keeps coming up again and again, I've decided it's the irons. I suspect that my stock yardages are based on mis-hits and as I've improved my mechanics this year, I'm striking the ball better and hitting it farther. So now I'm noticing a bigger difference in distance from well struck shots simply because I'm hitting them more often. Yet I still hit those nasty toe shots once in a while and lose like 20 yards on them, so my shot zone is kind of elongated now if that makes any sense.

I'm seriously considering getting fit for a more forgiving set of irons so my dispersion gets tighter.

[Vinsk]

2 minutes ago, billchao said:

Sorry Dan, somehow I missed this comment. I'm playing Mizuno MP4s.

---

After thinking long and hard about this topic because it keeps coming up again and again, I've decided it's the irons. I suspect that my stock yardages are based on mis-hits and as I've improved my mechanics this year, I'm striking the ball better and hitting it farther. So now I'm noticing a bigger difference in distance from well struck shots simply because I'm hitting them more often. Yet I still hit those nasty toe shots once in a while and lose like 20 yards on them, so my shot zone is kind of elongated now if that makes any sense.

I'm seriously considering getting fit for a more forgiving set of irons so my dispersion gets tighter.

Let me know what you get if you do! Are staying with Mizuno?

[billchao]

15 hours ago, Vinsk said:

Let me know what you get if you do! Are staying with Mizuno?

No sure yet. Going to go into a fitting with an open mind. I did like the Srixon irons I hit when I went to a demo day last year so definitely going to see how they perform compared to others.

Just need to find a good place for a fitting now. Kind of want to avoid Club Champion because they don't fit with stock shafts. There's a place about an hour south of me that does fittings with Trackman.