Need Help From the Data Nerds

[leezer99]

Good Morning Everyone - I'd like to solicit your thoughts on this set of data from a few 8 irons yesterday. I've lost 10-20 yards on my irons these past couple of weeks and can't figure out why. Note: Measured with Mevo+ using range balls. Ping BlueprintS orange dot, X100's. 

 

 

If it's helpful, here are some driver swings from a couple of months back so you can see the speeds.

[saevel25]

Your angle of attack is way too down for an 8 iron. PGA Tour average is 4-ish. You are 10+, I threw out that -1.6. Your height is too low as well, probably from swinging down so much. Even with that you have higher launch angle that PGA tour players. Your swing path is way right, but you end up with a ball that ends left of target. 

With out seeing your swing, it's tough to make recommendations. 

[leezer99]

20 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Your angle of attack is way too down for an 8 iron. PGA Tour average is 4-ish. You are 10+, I threw out that -1.6. Your height is too low as well, probably from swinging down so much. Even with that you have higher launch angle that PGA tour players. Your swing path is way right, but you end up with a ball that ends left of target. 

With out seeing your swing, it's tough to make recommendations. 

Thank you for the feedback. Any drills that might help reduce the AOA?

Some updated numbers with 7 iron from yesterday after working on trying to reduce the AOA.

[saevel25]

1 hour ago, leezer99 said:

Thank you for the feedback. Any drills that might help reduce the AOA?

Not with out seeing your swing. 

[Golfingdad]

On 8/3/2025 at 8:43 AM, saevel25 said:

Your angle of attack is way too down ... Your height is too low ... Your swing path is way right ... you end up with a ball that ends left of target. 

These factors make me curious about ball position - wonder if it's way back.

[leezer99]

3 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

These factors make me curious about ball position - wonder if it's way back.

We did move it up a bit for the 7 iron shots the next day!

[leezer99]

Sorry for the long delay in replying but I have a new question... 

Is there a correlation between the AOA and your shot shape?  Witnessed today that if I take a draw swing it produces a high AOA but if I use a cut swing it produces a very low AOA. 

[billchao]

5 hours ago, leezer99 said:

Sorry for the long delay in replying but I have a new question... 

Is there a correlation between the AOA and your shot shape?  Witnessed today that if I take a draw swing it produces a high AOA but if I use a cut swing it produces a very low AOA. 

What do you mean by high/low AoA? I’m asking because -10 is a “bigger” number than -3, but it is a lower number mathematically.

[leezer99]

26 minutes ago, billchao said:

What do you mean by high/low AoA? I’m asking because -10 is a “bigger” number than -3, but it is a lower number mathematically.

Yes, that is exactly what I saw. 

[iacas]

19 minutes ago, leezer99 said:

Yes, that is exactly what I saw. 

The implication was that your "high" AoA may have actually been a positive AoA, and your "low" may have been negative.

Your meaning is still somewhat unclear.

Please give specific examples. You asked for help "from the data nerds" and then aren't actually giving data, but vague words semi describing data (in this part of the topic).

[leezer99]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

The implication was that your "high" AoA may have actually been a positive AoA, and your "low" may have been negative.

Your meaning is still somewhat unclear.

Please give specific examples. You asked for help "from the data nerds" and then aren't actually giving data, but vague words semi describing data (in this part of the topic).

Sorry, the first post and third post have all the data from my typical draw swing. The original draw swing was around -9 but I got it down to a -5.6 by tweaking some things. The fade swing was between -1.5 and -3 yesterday.

Quick Edit: I don't have the data from yesterday's swings because it was taken from a different login that I don't have access to.

TIA!

Edited September 28 by leezer99

[iacas]

There's too much going on to say with any real certainty, especially when things are in conflict:

• A more downward AoA pushes the path to the right (draws) relative to the swing direction or the baseline of the plane.
• When I move a student's golf swing to be more rightward (outward, draws) it will almost always move low point back. When I move it to be more leftward (fades), AoA gets more downward.

You likely made a bunch of small changes, so this isn't some single variable type thing we can really solve.

---

As a 10 handicapper, I recommend you make a meaningful change to your golf swing to primarily do three things (kind of in this order, though there will be overlap)

1. Hit the ball more solidly.
2. Control the clubface angle.
3. Control the path.

[leezer99]

46 minutes ago, iacas said:

There's too much going on to say with any real certainty, especially when things are in conflict:

• A more downward AoA pushes the path to the right (draws) relative to the swing direction or the baseline of the plane.
• When I move a student's golf swing to be more rightward (outward, draws) it will almost always move low point back. When I move it to be more leftward (fades), AoA gets more downward.

You likely made a bunch of small changes, so this isn't some single variable type thing we can really solve.

---

As a 10 handicapper, I recommend you make a meaningful change to your golf swing to primarily do three things (kind of in this order, though there will be overlap)

1. Hit the ball more solidly.
2. Control the clubface angle.
3. Control the path.

Guess I should update my index.

[iacas]

23 minutes ago, leezer99 said:

Guess I should update my index.

Probably should.

My earlier points still stand.

[2-PuttMcGee]

🤓 I'll give it a go 🤓

Looks like your data’s showing a classic steep-AoA issue (angle of attack). Wlhen you’re hitting too far down, you ose ball speed and efficiency, which explains the 10–20 yards of distance loss.

Try moving the ball a touch forward and easing off the forward shaft lean. Focus on a smoother transition and feel like you’re “brushing” the turf, not chopping it. Use impact spray to check strike location (if you’re low on the face or toward the heel, that’ll rob speed too).

You’re already trending the right way with the 7-iron numbers, just keep shallowing out that attack and you’ll get the distance back.

 🤓 My two cents 🤓