Help me hit my irons

[bunkerputt]

I've got a really strange problem. I hit my wedges (60,56,52) pretty well, I don't hit my PW or 9-iron well, I hit my 8 and 7-irons well, not my 6 or 5-irons, my 4-iron great, my 3-iron awesome, my 5w and 3w great, and my driver like crap. When I say hit well I mean a ball sized wear mark dead center, particularly on the wedges. The bad clubs I hit high on the face and off the toe. If it was just that I was bad at longer clubs, I'd think I just had steep swing, or the opposite if I had trouble with the shorter ones. But I don't know what causes weird gaps like the ones I have. It's not the equipment. They are all the same shaft and trimmed appropriately, though they are not flo'ed or pured. I definitely don't try to swing the same with each club, as I try to match my swing plane to the shaft angle. The wedges, I keep my weight left, turn only, and take a 3/4 swing or so. I don't have a lot of shift in my swing with the wedges. My woods swing plane is definitely flatter, but still with very little lateral motion. Any clues?

[is2linda]

hm... this is mysterious... where are you aligning your ball? i cant really say until i see a video.

[enduro]

I definitely don't try to swing the same with each club, as I try to match my swing plane to the shaft angle. The wedges, I keep my weight left, turn only, and take a 3/4 swing or so. I don't have a lot of shift in my swing with the wedges. My woods swing plane is definitely flatter, but still with very little lateral motion. Any clues?

That's your problem then. Swing every club the same. The only difference is the length of the club. So, shorter clubs naturally create a steeper angle and longer ones are flatter. But your hands/arms/shoulders/hips should be doing the same thing with every club.

[brgolf]

You say you keep your weight left hitting your wedges. Extending that idea to your mid irons would be a bad idea, indeed I start with a 40/60 weight distribution for my iron shots generally before shifting my weight to the left foot on the downswing.

Try leaning your hands slightly ahead of the ball at address, cock you wrists at about the 8 o'clock position on the backswing, turn your shoulders 90+ degrees, your hips about 40.

Those are some of my swing thoughts. Hopefully you achieve a descending blow with a divot after the ball.

[bunkerputt]

That's your problem then. Swing every club the same. The only difference is the length of the club. So, shorter clubs naturally create a steeper angle and longer ones are flatter. But your hands/arms/shoulders/hips should be doing the same thing with every club.

That's not quite true, though that is the golf-tip du jour. Your swing is flatter with longer clubs because your spine is more upright. Since your spine angle changed, you can't help but change everything else in some small way. That's just one of the differences. The stance width changes and depending on how you align, the openness of the stance changes as well. This influences the amount of weight shift you can have. If you say "swing every club the same" specify exactly what you mean. If your reply is, "maintain your spine angle, don't shift around too much, start slow from the top, keep your arms in roughly the same spot relative to your torso for each club, etc.", i.e. the basic swing fundamentals, I agree with you, though it's not incredibly helpful for feeling the difference between a 6 iron and a 7 iron.

[enduro]

That's not quite true, though that is the golf-tip du jour. Your swing is flatter with longer clubs because your spine is more upright. Since your spine angle changed, you can't help but change everything else in some small way. That's just one of the differences. The stance width changes and depending on how you align, the openness of the stance changes as well. This influences the amount of weight shift you can have.

Apparently you have it figured out then?

I'm sorry, I don't change everything in some small way. The ball is further away, the swing is either a little steeper or flatter due to length of the club and the angle created but this doesn't change the way my shoulders rotate around and keep an angle with my hips and then rotate through releasing through the ball and finishing in the same spot, depending on type of shot played. Why would anyone consciously think of weight shift when swinging? This is a side effect of good mechanics. I mean, rotating back and the forward causes this...

If your reply is, "maintain your spine angle, don't shift around too much, start slow from the top, keep your arms in roughly the same spot relative to your torso for each club, etc.", i.e. the basic swing fundamentals, I agree with you, though it's not incredibly helpful for feeling the difference between a 6 iron and a 7 iron.

I think I did when I said "But your hands/arms/shoulders/hips should be doing the same thing with every club."

And what difference are you trying to "feel". It sounds like you're struggling with the golf swing and you're making things much more complex than they are. It isn't that complex, really. I'd get lessons.

[Adumb]

Lean over the ball more with a shorter club. If it's really short like a S Wedge or a Lobber bend at the knees more. Your swing shouldn't change all that much. But what exactly is the problem? Are you topping them or hitting them fat? From what it sounds like, you're topping them.

[bunkerputt]

Lean over the ball more with a shorter club. If it's really short like a S Wedge or a Lobber bend at the knees more. Your swing shouldn't change all that much. But what exactly is the problem? Are you topping them or hitting them fat? From what it sounds like, you're topping them.

Hitting them off the toe, mostly. Sometimes I'll catch one thin, but I hardly ever top the irons. I'll shank them if my hands get too far to the outside on my takeaway. That same fault leads to a top in my woods.

[senorchipotle]

your problem is i think, because i've had the same thing happen lately, is you're standing the same distance from the ball with all your irons. this is a problem. so make sure that with each club you're the proper dist. away from the golf ball.