My IRON GAME is BROKE!!!

[PuttPutt]

So for the last 5 years I hit my irons flawlessly. I had to, because it always seemed my drive was ****. So I finally bucked up and bought a new driver 2 weeks ago, and ever since I bought it, I cannot hit my 5, 6, and 7 worth a ****. Now when I hit it, it slices hard and fast and often times barely gets off the ground. I have tried everything I can, and I am just about to hang it up for good if I can't fix it. This is 100% opposite of what I used to do. I used to be able to hit my 5 iron about 180-200, 6 iron about 160-180, and my 7 iron 140-160, and I would hit them straight and beautifully. Now for the last two weeks since I got a new driver, I cannot even get them 100 yards, and forget about straight.

ANY IDEAS? PLEASE I am THIS CLOSE to just giving up for good.

[KyleOlson217]

Don't give up just yet! I may be young but I have been in this boat before as I've been getting back into the game. Take out a 7 iron or even an 8 iron. Make only slow half swings, focusing on contact. Work your swing with ease until the feel is back to where it was and the ball flight is sound. Now if your slicing, either your clubface is open at impact or swing is outside-inside. Thats something you will have to work with someone on because they can see your swing from another perspective easier. But see if you can't hit the ball straight and solidly by starting slow and building it back up. Remember, your not trying to sweep the ball like a driver, your trying to hit down on it. (except the 5, thats where your getting into the long iron area). You don;t need to make big rotations or weight transfers to hit a 7 iron solidly. Just be patient. If you had it before, theres no reason you can't get it back. Don't sweat distance as much as contact. Hope this helps! Just don't put the clubs away until you start really basic and get back to your regular sound swing. Make sure you are balancing your driving range outings between all your clubs. Even if I need to work on driving, i still always warm up with a scoring iron just to get a rhythm. Good luck and let me know how it goes! -Kyle

[KyleOlson217]

ah, and i almost forgot...choke up and inch while you are making your reduced swings. You'll be suprised how much more control you have. Then slowly build back up (hitting balls crisp and straight) to a normal swing and grip.

[mattttt25]

Google "burning driver as sacrifice to golf gods". Perform ceremony. You'll be fine.

[bkoguy07]

Google "burning driver as sacrifice to golf gods". Perform ceremony. You'll be fine.

Hahahahah classic. I googled it but nothing came up

[delav]

Either go see a pro or post a video. A good swing should be a good swing, regardless of the club.

[Mr. Grassburner]

This has semi-happened to me, with a different twist anyways, and I'm working on getting it sorted out now so maybe this will help you.


I was never really any good with an iron until halfways through the summer last year when I spent a week with my uncle and focused a lot on it. All of a sudden I had learned some secret to hitting irons. However, afterwords, my wood play struggled, and not being that long of a hitter that obviously hurt me as much as the iron gain helped me.


This year when the season started, I once again couldn't hit an iron. I went from hybrid straight to sand wedge. I could hit the sand wedge just fine, but even moving to a 9 iron gave me troubles and I couldn't get loft, or if I did it was a low hook or slice. I don't know what the so called 'geniuses' of this board claim, but I definitely believe that there is a different iron and wood swing. I started approaching all of my iron shots like it was a sand wedge. I just swung back focusing on a very straight left arm and pretended it was a chip from 70-80 yds out (a typical distance for me to put a little oomph on the sand wedge but not swing at max speed). My irons are going up in the air and straight (for the most part, there's still plenty of improvement room just like the rest of my game) and I'm gradually increasing my swing speed, the woods are staying strong, and I've been happy with how I've played the past couple weeks.


Dunno if that can do you much good if any, but I think what I've had happen to me kind of is the same problem so maybe that can help somehow.

[Bullitt5339]

I just got over a major iron problem like you. Low hooks were the norm. A few lessons, and I'm 90% good to go again, and I got my best score ever just a month after my worst score ever. Hang in there, and have someone look at your swing. A Pro can see the problem where you can't feel it.

What I had to do to even start getting anything that looks like golf shots was to narrow my stance, work on my posture, and work on hitting down on the ball instead of just swinging hard. Don't worry, it'll come back. I was starting to give up as well, but everyone I talked to had the same story that I did, and are now great golfers. I guess it's just one of those things you have to go through.

[keiko]

Dear PP"Broke", don't give in yet, golf is all about persistence. any good player, myself included, has gone through many a lull in his or her striking career.

Understand that with a driver you are positioning the ball differently, and, impact is different from irons. I suspect you have ball position and impact position problems which are easy to fix. Go see a pro but in the meantime try to understand with driver you are hitting up on the ball and with irons you are hitting down on the ball, ball position helps us do this, not a completely different swing. While you are now probably hitting up with driver and ball position is forward, understand that when you move the ball back with irons, you have to turn your shoulders and keep a strong left side at impact into the ball.

So for the last 5 years I hit my irons flawlessly. I had to, because it always seemed my drive was ****. So I finally bucked up and bought a new driver 2 weeks ago, and ever since I bought it, I cannot hit my 5, 6, and 7 worth a ****. Now when I hit it, it slices hard and fast and often times barely gets off the ground. I have tried everything I can, and I am just about to hang it up for good if I can't fix it. This is 100% opposite of what I used to do. I used to be able to hit my 5 iron about 180-200, 6 iron about 160-180, and my 7 iron 140-160, and I would hit them straight and beautifully. Now for the last two weeks since I got a new driver, I cannot even get them 100 yards, and forget about straight.

[Shanks A Million]

So for the last 5 years I hit my irons flawlessly. I had to, because it always seemed my drive was ****. So I finally bucked up and bought a new driver 2 weeks ago, and ever since I bought it, I cannot hit my 5, 6, and 7 worth a ****. Now when I hit it, it slices hard and fast and often times barely gets off the ground. I have tried everything I can, and I am just about to hang it up for good if I can't fix it. This is 100% opposite of what I used to do. I used to be able to hit my 5 iron about 180-200, 6 iron about 160-180, and my 7 iron 140-160, and I would hit them straight and beautifully. Now for the last two weeks since I got a new driver, I cannot even get them 100 yards, and forget about straight.

I have a better question. How does one with a handicap just shy of 20 hit his irons "flawlessly." The answer is, he doesn't. Tour pros don't hit their irons flawlessly. What you've experienced is a epiphany, and the first of many likely. Swings change as handicaps get lower, and despite the consistent arguments of many people here, swings nearly always match handicaps. At 20, these epiphanies happen quite often, but get fewer and fewer as you get better.

What will happen is, you'll find a fault, fix it, and come back better than ever, and the handicap will drop some more. The cycle repeats itself over and over, and it gets slower, but never stops. Even Tiger will have periods where he can't hit the ball or make putts, but some magical force will overcome him, and he will get it back. For him, it means another major, for us, it means a few strokes less.

[JML22]

haha yeah, i feel my iron game is really consistent right now but i dont hit those perfect pure shots very often.