Hitting irons High

[redranger]

I've always been a high ball hitter with my irons, but lately I've been wondering if that's a bad thing. I seriously hit my 5 iron as high as most people's 7 irons and similarly with my other irons. I also don't make divots or any big ones usually because I tend to pick the ball up and release early (causing the high ball flight).

I hit it fairly long (in my opinion). My 3 iron right now goes about 230yd, and 56 wedge is about 120, so it's not necessarily costing me distance.

Do you guys think that hitting a ball high is necessarily a bad thing? I'm wondering about things like distance, spin and accuracy.

Thanks.

[max power]

I've always been a high ball hitter with my irons, but lately I've been wondering if that's a bad thing. I seriously hit my 5 iron as high as most people's 7 irons and similarly with my other irons. I also don't make divots or any big ones usually because I tend to pick the ball up and release early (causing the high ball flight).

Seriously? If you hit your 3 iron 230 yards then you're certainly not being robbed of any distance. The higher the better-that's how Jack hit 'em.

[ks8829]

You must hit the ball pure, the only problem I see is if you played in windy conditions, have you experience playing into a 20 mile per hour wind? can you flight your ball lower if you need too with a knock down or punch shot?

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

I've always been a high ball hitter with my irons, but lately I've been wondering if that's a bad thing. I seriously hit my 5 iron as high as most people's 7 irons and similarly with my other irons. I also don't make divots or any big ones usually because I tend to pick the ball up and release early (causing the high ball flight).

Sounds like you've gotten very good at flipping the club. From the distances you posted, you must execute the flip with a great deal of club-head speed, which is conducive to good golf shots, but not so conducive to consistency. Consider this: nobody on tour releases early, or in other words, adds loft at impact. I tend to believe this is because nobody who flips the club has ever gone from kinda good to really good, without fixing their club-flipping ways. Food for thought.

-Andrew

[redranger]

This summer I've lowered my handicap 10 strokes and I've gained about 25 yard on all my clubs from last summer. I know it's not really a distance thing, but I have been thinking about playing in windy conditions and how it will affect me. I have been working on punching the balls to get that low stinger, but i can't seem to keep it real low. Something to work on I guess.

It's weird because my friend who's a scratch golfer told me that he loved my swing with the driver and hybrid, because of my release but with my irons and wedges I release early and flip it up.

Also, Open-Faced Club SandWedge, I was thinking the same thing, whether or not it would limit me from consistently hitting in the 70's in the near future.

The higher I hit them, the softer the landing, but am I sacrificing spin? If I want to get down into the low single digits is this something I NEED to fix?

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

I have been working on punching the balls to get that low stinger, but i can't seem to keep it real low. Something to work on I guess.

You have to get your hands ahead of the ball and keep them there. It should be a VERY different sensation than your normal swing, and probably something that'll require some coaching.

Also, Open-Faced Club SandWedge, I was thinking the same thing, whether or not it would limit me from consistently hitting in the 70's in the near future. If I want to get down into the low single digits is this something I NEED to fix?

I don't have your answer from my own experience, obviously, but I'll reiterate that there has to be a reason you don't see any scratch or plus handicaps with their hands behind the ball. I think it's because they either change their swing to get their hands ahead of the ball before they get that good, or they never get that good. That's not the easiest thing for you to hear, I'd think, but that trend really seems to indicate that you have to make a change if you want to see continued improvement.

-Andrew

[jamo]

It's weird because my friend who's a scratch golfer told me that he loved my swing with the driver and hybrid, because of my release but with my irons and wedges I release early and flip it up.

I have the same thing. It has to be like that because the driver is teed up. It just makes it easier not to flip I think.

[gir]

If you haven't already, you could try a lower trajectory ball like the Bridgestone e7. Since I hardly got any roll out of my drives, I figured my driver trajectory was too high. I then tried the Bridgestone e7 ball out and got a little extra distance with a lowered trajectory.

[James_Black]

What I do is club up and swing easier, there's still more than enough spin on my shots to stop them quickly.
I think i need to change shafts though, the ball balloons when I take a full swing.