Moving from one club to another.

[bocbass]

During my lessons, of which I have only had two my instructor has had me work with only my 7 iron. I have been able to take way a lot of what he was showing/teaching me and started to hit that club very well. However I'm having trouble appling those instructions to anything with a lower loft than a 7.

At the range I will start with my 7 or 8 iron, then move up to a 5, with my hybrid and woods after that. I can never hit the ball as cleanly or sharply as I can with the higher loft clubs. I know that as lofts get lower clubs are going to be more difficult to hit, but the swing just starts to feel really awkward. And after a couple of swings with a 5 wood or my driver, I have a hard time finding the swing with my higher lofted clubs again.

Is this just a matter of needing more work on my swing and learning to adjust it for longer lower loft clubs?

Thanks!

[JML22]

it'll come
Make sure you learn how to chip and putt just as much
Up and downs are probably the most important to lowering your score because obviously you're gonna miss greens with 4-8 irons and you want to be ablae to up and down confidently

But it'll just come eventually, just make sure you dont try to swing harder to get it into the air

[ohiolefty]

My perspective---

I've started using the highest iron in my bag (either a 3 iron or a 4 depending on my bag setup that day, lately a 4) to groove my swing. Why? Well, the highest iron in your bag is usually the hardest club to hit. Using a higher iron gives you tons of feedback because any mishit is going to curve wildly in a direction you don't want it to. This kind of practice is very exacting in a technical sense.

Most importantly, it's a mental thing - a confidence scheme I'm running on myself. Quite simply, if I'm hitting a 3 or a 4 iron on the screws consistently, I can stand over a 8 iron shot and feel like the child of John Holmes and Ben Hogan.

I got this tip from Tom Watson on the Golf Channel. It's working for me quite well.

[Gerald]

It kind of depens what I am working on, long irons (3 - 5) are great for hitting the ball practice on hitting the ball very well. Mid irons (6 - 8) great for ball flight and short irons for backspin and direction/aiming.

[newtogolf]

My instructor approached my lessons the same way, and I had the same problem you did. The 3rd lesson we went back to the 7i and he took video of my swing. We then reviewed it, and made adjustments that didn't impact me swinging the 7i, but would impact lower loft clubs. Once I had the revised swing and posture working right on the 7i, we went to 5i, 3w and D all which I hit straight repeatedly, but not for expected distance.

Tomorrow we're supposed to work on wrists and weight transfer to increase distance while maintaining the posture and swing mechanics we established last time. I can live with lower distance for now as long as the ball goes in the direction I want it to.

[ks8829]

When I need to find my swing, I practice with my wedges and focus on solid contact, distance control and then direction. Once I begin to hit solid shots, I move up to PW, 9, 8 etc.

I also have taken a 7 iron to an open grass field and start hitting partial shots and make sure that I make solid contact before hitting full shots. I have found that most of my focus on hitting irons is on my backswing and take away. I try to visualize a circle on my backswing so that I take the club back on its natural circular arc since I know that when I return to the ball I will make solid contact.

[CalBoomer]

One of the big problems of beginning golfers is the necessary change in swing plane from club to club. You cannot hit a driver with the same swing plane as a wedge--and vice versa. Earlier in my career as a golfer, I would find that I was either driving well or hitting irons well, but virtually never at the same time. But then I was simply unconscious of swing plane and its effect on my game. IMHO it the main cause of the troubles you describe.