What Do You Do When You’re In Between Clubs?

[dagolfer18]

Just curious about what y’all do when in this situation. I’ll give an example on what I would do.

Let’s say I’m 150 yards from the pin. For me, that’s right smack in the middle of my 8I distance (145 yards) and my 7I distance (155 yards). When I hit the longer club, I tend to catch it fat. Solid contact will only happen probably three times out of ten. When I swing harder, I’ll make solid contact probably nine times out of ten.

[bweiss711]

Generally, I'll look to see where the better miss is. Long or short. If it's better to miss long, hit the longer club. If it's better to miss short, hit the shorter club.  If for some reason, the only play is to attack the pin, I'll hit a "three quarter" shot with the longer club.  Of course at my handicap, I rarely end up actually executing any of those options properly.   But that's my mindset.

[phillyk]

Just now, bweiss711 said:

Generally, I'll look to see where the better miss is. Long or short. 

This, also what kind of spin I want, and what shot I’m hitting (tee shot into par 3 or approach elsewhere). Most of the time, I’m hitting the longer club but gripping down on it and swinging a bit easier.  But sometimes I’ll go bigger.

[Sandy Divot]

I'll usually take the longer club, choke down a bit, and take my normal swing.

[Darkfrog]

I choose my club based on LSW shot zones and pick the best shot based on that. As a mid-capper, my shot zones are constantly evolving based on my lesson priority piece, so sometimes I’m making informed guesses.

I also know my distances for 9-3 swings for 7-iron through LW, and 25/50/75% swing distances for all my wedges. I find a partial shot will often give more reliable distance and smaller miss than a full swing.

Besides full swing, I do quite a bit of partial swing practice, so I don’t worry too much about mis-hits on these shots.

I normally aim for near the center of green, not a specific hole location. Unless it’s a course with enormous greens where middle of the green is like 80-ft from the hole. 

[gjunkie57]

I duff the longer club. Best for me to swing the shorter club and miss well. 
 

[Shindig]

Swing normal with the longer club.

But I'm not sure what between clubs means.  When I say that I hit my 8-iron 125 yards, I don't mean that as a literal statement.  If I'm 125 out and all other things are equal, I'll hit my 8-iron. 

At my home course, when I'm thinking (i.e., not always), I know where I want to miss each green.  Yes, I'd rather hit the green in case anyone's wondering.  But, for example, the fifth green has trouble left, including a sharply declining hill, trees right, and a declining hill long.  If I miss, I want to miss short.  In fact, the last time I hit it in regulation, I was choosing to hit a 3H to come up short rather than try a wood and risk the miss.  I just hit that 3H a little too well and it trickled onto the green. 😕  I wish my other misses were this good.

Okay, let's say a green where I don't have a preference for where to miss, either because of ignorance or whatever.  If I'm 125 out and the pin is middle, I'm hitting 8-iron.  If the pin is forward and it's 125 out, I'm hitting 7-iron.  Why?  Because I'm more interested in having my shot zone on the green, even if it's further from the pin, than having a chance to have a tap-in birdie along with a lot of chances that are off the green. 

Pin in back?  I might hit 9-iron, similar reasoning:  if it's 125 yards to a back pin, a 9-iron probably puts me on the green.

Even if I'm playing greens with multiple tiers, which is rare for me, I think I'd be better off putting from the wrong tier than chipping from off the green.

[knott]

You can hit the shorter club 110 %. But if 100 % is a hundred I like the idea of reaching the pin if there is no hazard front or back. 

[Double Mocha Man]

First I take a sip of Italian Sports Drink.  Then I toss some grass in the air to see if it comes down in front of me or behind me.  If it comes down to the side I take another sip of Italian Sports Drink...

[David in FL]

Ask yourself this.  Those times when you think you have the perfect yardage, do you tend to miss long or short?

Unless you’re about a 5 hcp or better, take the longer club and and don’t try to adjust anything.  

[RFKFREAK]

I take the longer club and choke down .

[iacas]

For the 99% of the people who miss short 99% of the time, the answer is the longer club, always.

If you miss long 30% of the time or so… or you're a good player and the shot is downwind, sometimes the shorter club swung a bit harder will work.

[Hardspoon]

I just take the longer club.  I'm much more likely to mis-hit than I am to "pure" one, and most of my misses are short generally. 

[Shindig]

3 hours ago, RFKFREAK said:

I take the longer club and choke down .

Grip down, not choke down.  Don't get in the habit of thinking you're choking during a round of golf  

[Mr22putt]

10 hours ago, Sandy Divot said:

I'll usually take the longer club, choke down a bit, and take my normal swing.

Often this

[PhilsFanDrew]

I don't like swinging easier to hit yardage and I don't like stepping on one either.  I find I play my best golf when I swing the same for all full shots which for my feel is about 80%.  So if I am between clubs on approach I look at where the pin is in relation to trouble.  If I have 145 and the pin is front with bunkers guarding the front of the green I will hit my stock 7 iron.  If the pin is back of the green I will hit my stock 8.  For the level of my game I don't get worried about proximity to hole until I get to a wedge yardage then I am trying to attack pins.  For mid to long irons I'm just trying to get GIR and 2 putt or get near GIR with green to work with to give myself the best chance to get up and down.

Edited August 16, 2020 by PhilsFanDrew
typo

[TourSpoon]

Good question and the answer is it depends. 

Generally speaking if there is any wind hurting its the longer club, gripped down and played slightly back. If there is trouble front with a front pin placement its the longer club. Downwind with a scoring club is shorter club. Pin back and trouble long is shorter club. Pin middle and all things being equal it almost longer club unless you must keep it under the hole. If the green has a front bailout area that makes for an easy up and down, shorter club. Its all situational but if your miss is always short then you really need to hit the extra club. 

One tip if you feel that you have a hard time swinging the longer club easier is to grip down, don't rush the transition, and feel like you are staying down through the shot a little longer.  I see people panic and either start pulling up early to watch their ball flight or get a little jerky at the top and pull the shot. Practice, trust, and play it. 

 

[Papa Steve 55]

Just because its golf and that's the way things work. If i'm between a 7&8 I take the 7, swing easy, and hit it as far as I would have hit the 8, so come up short anyway.