Hitting behind the ball with short irons

[khale]

Currently I am driving the ball beautifully getting around 240-260 yards out in the fairways and usually I have around 100-130 yards to the greens on most par 4s. The most frustrating thing is that I will chunk half of these relatively easy shots to the greens hitting two to three inches behind the ball.

I have another problem that might be related is that my left wrist breaks down at contact and thus adding loft. As a result I hit the ball sky high and not getting much distance. However, I have had this problem since I started playing. I have hit behind the ball before ocasionally but never 50% of the shots like now.

What are some the drills I can do to fix this?

My distance
PW 100
9 112
8 125
7 140
6 150
5 160
4 170
3 180
3W 210
Driver 250
I shoot around 90-95 on an average course.
One weird thing is that my friends' drive distance are about the same as mine but they are about 1.5 clubs longer than me on the short irons.

Many thanks,

[kennay92]

Try transferring your weight to your front foot earlier and see if the fatties go away.

[Harmonious]

Sounds like you may be shifting your weight to the outside of your back foot on the backswing, then not getting back over to your left side on the downswing. Make sure your weight stays on the inside of your back foot during your backswing. Very important for solid contact! This could also explain your adding height to your shots.

Here's a drill suggested by a "Top 100" teaching pro: Take a 7 or 8 iron. Then hit shots with as low a trajectory as possible. Make the ball flight as low as a 3 iron. Don't move the ball back in your stance. Just get the feeling of your hands leading the clubhead through the ball, not the other way around.

[Zeph]

Without a video we can't tell for sure, but here are some general faults that most high handicappers struggle with:

- Hold the flying wedge: http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads...rs-and-Release --- http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads...e-Flying-Wedge
- Weight forward: http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads/29616 (also the last video above)

[TN94z]

If your left wrist is breaking down like you say, then you are probably "scooping" the ball. This is going to change the bottom of your swing arc and probably make you hit it a bit fat. I used to have this issue a few years ago. Mine wasn't bad but about the last frame before impact, I would cup my wrist which was hurting my compression and distance.

[Gerald]

Most medium and high handicappers play the short irons way toooo far forward in their stance !

[khale]

Thanks everyone for the tips. Today I went to the range and I stopped at the top of the swing and it turned out that most of my weight is on the outside of the right foot. Basically there was almost no pressure on the inside part of the right foot. Like Harmonious thought, I didn't shift my weight to the left side properly with the weight outside of my right foot.

I attempted to fix the problem by turning my right foot a little bit more the left and turning my right knee toward the left knee more. By doing this, I felt most of the pressure is on the inside part of the right foot. During the downswing, my weight transfer was much better and I hit the balls really well. Amazingly, I had the same problem 4 years ago and a pro helped me and told me the above fixes but apparently I have forgotten about the lesson.

I will play this Saturday. Hopefully I will hit my irons better.

[Harmonious]

Glad to hear it! Of all the people I know who have trouble with making consistent contact, including myself, this is the biggest fault I see. That weight has got to get to the inside of the back foot, not the outside. Good luck on Saturday.

[senorchipotle]

check your grip as well, it might be a little weak.

[khale]

I played on Saturday. I was anxious to test out whether weight shift was my problem. During the swing, I was trying to put more weight on the inner part of the right foot by turning the right foot to the 11:30 clock position and tilting my right knee toward the left knee. At the top of my backswing, there was a lot of tension on my right knee and leg and my backswing was some what shorter. My weight tranfer was good (with a few times I had to walk forward after finishing the swing) I hit the ball much better and zero fat shot. Although I hit the ball thin three or four times but didn't get penalize too much because it was with the 6 and 7 irons and that the thin shots had about the same distance. I shot 9 over in the front and 8 over in the back for a 88. This was my first time breaking 90 in more than a year.

Like all of us, I have the next thing to work on which is my tempo. When I got quick, basically starting the downswing before finishing the backswing, I tend to pull the ball way left. This problem cost my 5 or 6 strokes during the round.

[motteler621]

guys somehow I hurt my left wrist on the top hinge part. I think I stretched it out while playing golf awhile back. Anyone have any tips on this because its been sore for about a month

[CalBoomer]

A flatter swing plane is more forgiving. Fewer chunks.

[2bGood]

check your grip as well, it might be a little weak.

My thought too, strengthen you left hand (if you are right handed)

[Mr. Grassburner]

I would really focus on 'scooping' the ball when you are about to hit it with the short irons, my friend gave me that advice and it is paying off big time.

[Zeph]

I would really focus on 'scooping' the ball when you are about to hit it with the short irons, my friend gave me that advice and it is paying off big time.

Scooping? That is the exact opposite of what I would recommend you focus on. Scooping is one of the big causes for people hitting it fat, casting and flipping. There are two problems in hitting the ground behind the ball. One is that the weight is too far back, the other is it will lead to throwing the clubhead away.

Weight too far back can be fixed by working on a better weight shift by pushing the hips or knees toward the target on the downswing, while maintaining the position of your upper centers. Scooping, flipping etc. can be fixed by working on maintaining the flying wedge (right wrist bend) through the entire downswing to the finish. If you hold that angle, the shaft will be leading at impact. As soon as the wrists start flipping it forward, the angle is lost and chances of a good hit will diminish.

[Pheasant Run]

Interesting question. First, I want to congratulate you on knowing your distances so precisely. Many amateurs would do well to really learn their distances and THEN try to improve different areas of their games. Chunks can be as frustrating as the‘s’ word. I won’t type that word because it is such a bad word that it makes all golfers shiver but you know the one I am talking about. The word rhymes with tank. Anyway, fat, chunk, lay sod, all can be extremely demoralizing on the course. First ‘tip’ play the ball farther back in your stance. What happens when you chunk usually can be traced to one of three things; you finished your swing earlier than you were planning on, you changed your spine angle, meaning you raised and then violently lowered the angle of your back in relation to the golf ball, or and this seems to be a contributor for you, is that you hold your wrist cock to long or your wrists breakdown at the top. You seem to think that it breaks down at the bottom, well it has to if you are hitting turf as much as you say, otherwise you would REALLY break your wrist. Drills, wedge; Chi Chi taught me this one, open your stance in relation to the target. Swing DOWN on the ball. Swinging down imparts spin and will loft the ball but it will do it properly as opposed to trying to ‘lift’ the ball causing loss of distance. Keep the club and your arms in a lower case ‘y’. See it? Don’t let that change and you will hit better wedges. Keep working and check that ball position and spine angle as well.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Drills, wedge; Chi Chi taught me this one, open your stance in relation to the target. Swing DOWN on the ball. Swinging down imparts spin and will loft the ball but it will do it properly as opposed to trying to ‘lift’ the ball causing loss of distance.

It's interesting to see this advice again. The old instruction books, (from Chi chi's era and before) counsel that you make your stance both narrower and more open as you club down. It seems like your advice is similar, I don't see that any more.

[Zeph]

What will opening the stance do? Assuming you got the same ball position that is.

Trying to force a swing down on the ball is hard to do consistently. Keeping the weight forward and holding the flying wedge is something you can learn the body, it is also something one should do for most swings.