Penetrating Iron shots

[Aaronsrix17]

I been hitting my irons very well lately and normally my ball striking is very good but I played with another junior (well he was like 4 years older than me and like a 1 hdcp) and the flight he got with his irons was a nice penetrating (seemed a little low) but he could stop a 5 iron on a dime. His irons were titleist blades. My irons tend to balloon compared to his but he was only 1 club longer than me (my 8 iron 150 his 9 iron 150). I loved the flight he got and I asked him how he can hold the greens with such flat ballflight (like honeslty his ball would just float on a rope it was insane) and he said that when a ball has lots of backspin it naturally goes like that. Was it cuz he had blade irons and I have GIs. Apparently I need stiff shafts in my irons so I was thinking I might wana get the Project X 5.5 but How can I hit these nice flat ball flight shots? Or is it even possible with GI irons and to whippy of a shaft?

[deronsizemore]

I been hitting my irons very well lately and normally my ball striking is very good but I played with another junior (well he was like 4 years older than me and like a 1 hdcp) and the flight he got with his irons was a nice penetrating (seemed a little low) but he could stop a 5 iron on a dime. His irons were titleist blades. My irons tend to balloon compared to his but he was only 1 club longer than me (my 8 iron 150 his 9 iron 150). I loved the flight he got and I asked him how he can hold the greens with such flat ballflight (like honeslty his ball would just float on a rope it was insane) and he said that when a ball has lots of backspin it naturally goes like that. Was it cuz he had blade irons and I have GIs. Apparently I need stiff shafts in my irons so I was thinking I might wana get the Project X 5.5 but How can I hit these nice flat ball flight shots? Or is it even possible with GI irons and to whippy of a shaft?

Your irons don't really make a difference. It has more to do with your shaft and your swing. If your shafts are not stiff enough you could balloon some shots. If his swing speed is higher than yours and his contact is better, he'll naturally have a different looking ball flight as he's applying more force to the ball at impact.

I wouldn't worry about changing from your game improvement irons as there are a lot of pros that use game improvement irons (Kenny Perry comes to mind). Has nothing to do with blades or non-blades.

[lugonza_2001]

I agree about the irons. The key could be in the shafts, or at your impact position (i´ve been told many times: "keep flat left wrist, keep flat left wrist, keep flat left wrist,...."), that would keep ballooning away and hitting down the ball would generate a nice penetrating flight.

[goblue107501]

I agree with the others. It has nothing to do with the clubs. Maybe a little bit with shafts, although probably not as much as you are talking about.

I would say 95% of the reason is the other guys swing, swing speed, and contact. I don't think backspin has as much to do with it as the guy claims. I hit the ball higher than most, and usually have more spin than most.

A good friend who is much better than I am, hits the ball really low, much lower than I do, but we hit about the same distance. My ball tends to hit and back up a foot or two and his ball hits and jumps a foot or two. Doesn't matter, we ultimately get the same result. He just has a different swing and makes contact with the ball a little differently. Neither of us is right or wrong, just different.

Point is, you don't need to change all your gear because some other kid is hitting differently than you do. He just swings differently. Hitting the ball higher doesn't seem to affect you that much. A 150 8-iron is probably above average. A 150 9-iron is just flat out huge. Ballooning with irons might be an issue, hitting the ball high is not. There will be many times when hitting the ball high is a much greater advantage than hitting it low.

My suggestion would be to try and get together with a pro or a club fitter and see if there is an issue with what you have. It may be that you need stiffer shafts, but don't change them on a whim with out trying some out first and finding the best one for you.

[ks8829]

I have started to play 3/4 shot into the wind with the ball slightly back in my stance using an extra club and with a shorten follow through with a low penetrating ball flight and able to stop the ball on the green.

before you change equipment, try different ball positions, extra club, shorten backswing and see what results you have.... high spin ball helps to hold the green. I practice this shot on the range and tried it on the course several times, last time I played with success. I wanted to keep the ball low below trees and into the wind approach shots. I also tried different ways to keep the ball low and then draw or fade the ball depending on the pin positions or obstacles to avoid.

[Aaronsrix17]

I have started to play 3/4 shot into the wind with the ball slightly back in my stance using an extra club and with a shorten follow through with a low penetrating ball flight and able to stop the ball on the green.

Dont get me wrong my ball spins on the green (I can spin a 9 iron back a few inches ) so im getting plenty of backspin i think

[CG031]

there is nothing wrong with a high flight with your irons as long as your not losing distance. Most pro's hit all their clubs very high, but almost all of them have the ability to hit low knockdown shots when they need to.

I do understand where your coming from though because when I had my RAC OS I hit the ball very high and just could produce a knockdown shot. Now that I got my MP-57's last year I can do knockdown shots and work the ball a lot more.

[Happy Dragon]

Your playing partner compresses his golf ball and thus has a better strike. A strong ball flight penetrates the wind much better. Light winds will have little effect. I bet he generates lag and naturally de-lofts his irons. Watch Sergio Garcia at impact to get that visualization. You can also look at my avatar. That's a lag or a delayed release in my softball swing.

Hit the weight room too. Make sure your stretch before and after.

[Futuresport]

Your playing partner compresses his golf ball and thus has a better strike. A strong ball flight penetrates the wind much better. Light winds will have little effect. I bet he generates lag and naturally de-lofts his irons. Watch Sergio Garcia at impact to get that visualization. You can also look at my avatar. That's a lag or a delayed release in my softball swing.

exactly. I've played a lot of people who like to shorten up their swing and hit something similar to a knockdown. yeah sure its great for a lot of situations, but make sure you can still hit the high shots when the course calls for it.

plus as you play more, you'll start to figure out how to tweak things in your swing and in your grip to add distance to shots when needed. 9 iron at 150 yards isn't too difficult if you play it a certain way...an 8 iron from 180 is as we all watched a couple weeks ago haha

[kafka01]

Obv. it has to do a lot with the swing you put on the ball and the result of the ball flight. But in the beginning of the year i was looking around for new irons, and i came across a review video, where one pro hit MP-52 and the other hit MP-67 and they had one of those radar thingys they use on tour to track ball flight (sorry cant remember the brand right now), and their conclusion was that in fact the blades did launch lower and had a more penetrating flight, despite that, there wasnt much difference in length.

So i got the MP-52 and when hitting them side by side with the 67´s, which i played before my trajectory definately was lower on a stock shot.

But when reading on the net about this a bit more, it seems that there are also higher launching blades out there (taking for granted that shafts & kickpoints are the same), so a generalization like blade equals low ball flight is probably wrong.

[MiniMoe]

a good friend of mine can hit the ball very high, sometimes they balloon like yours. He just got some new irons with stiffer shafts, it has made all the difference in his ball flight. He can still hit it high, but the ball does not balloon. The shafts made all the difference.

[DriverTees]

It depends a LOT on the ball.

[tsajjad]

has to do a bit with the shafts , my pro caddy told me to place the ball in the back of the stance and hit with as much force as i could. gave it alot of backspin and a lower penetraating flight

[ddalet]

has to do a bit with the shafts , my pro caddy told me to place the ball in the back of the stance and hit with as much force as i could. gave it alot of backspin and a lower penetraating flight

Sorry to tell you your 'pro' caddie is completely off.

Yes placing it back on your stance 'might' bring the ball down a bit. But hitting it with force to create backspin will cause the ball to go to the moon. If anything you want to minimize spin on a ball that you want to keep low... it is just basic physics. Try this, take your 7 iron and hit a full regular shot. Make not of the trajectory. Now take the same 7 and hit a 3 quarter shot with a muted hip turn to reduce clubhead velocity. This ball will be much lower, and likely have signifcantly less spin.

[tsajjad]

Sorry to tell you your 'pro' caddie is completely off.

thnx fr the tip , i tried it out today and it totaly worked... cannot believe that i couldnt c the physics of that shot.. gonna take my caddies head off now .

[bioman]

He probably traps the ball better during impact.

[wedge player]

i do not like a really lowflight unless i need one i like hitting towering shots that stay up forever thats just me though.

[wedge player]

I'm going to agree with wedge player,I love a high ball.