Problems with the short iron clubs

[jeck]

Lately I've been changing my swing to inside to out, before I just hitted the ball with a outside to inside swing and the ball could go anywhere but mostly huge slices or pulls or fades.
nowdays I stand a bit too far I guess from the ball, but if stand closer I don't hit as clean.
My long irons goes very well most of the time straight or with a slight draw(or push-draw) sometimes a slight hook or a push.

But when I shoot with like an Iron 9 I hook it a bit too much like 11-16yrds away from target(it goes straight for the first 110yrds) its like I have so much easier too close the clubface with that kind of club compared to the long irons.
Im trying to have the same swing with all my irons, but I feel like its tought to swing it exactly like an long Iron(beside distance to the ball and where I put it in the stance) because of the hooking issue.
If i make it a softer swing or try to swing a bit less inside-out I hit the ball more straight but it goes shorter.
Or if I open the face a bit, I most of the time hit a push that goes like 15yrds too short.

So my questions are: is it easier to close the clubface with a short iron compared to a long?
Should I change to a softer swing with the short irons?
Should I swing a bit less inside out with that kind of club?

I hope I can provide a video soon.

And I will talk to a pro about it if it doesnt go better just wanted to hear your opionion about it first.
maybe I focus on the wrong point I mean I still hit a green more often than the average 30+ hcp player.

Thanks in advance.

[themightytimmah]

I have the same problem. What has helped has been keeping a little more weight on my front foot and shortening my swing a hair. This has produced a bit of a distance gap between my 7i and 8, but I hit the high numbers straighter.

[RC]

This is a guess based on general issues with pulled wedges. First of all, the shorter clubs do make pulling the shot easier, nothing new about that. The key is the same with all shots, you have to get your weight forward and continue your rotation through the shot. It is all to easy to cut off the swing and slap the shot with your hands and arms (flip it a little) when what you need is the same belt buckle to the target finish and weight shift of longer shots. It is true that short irons can be hit with an outside-in swing a little more successfully than longer shots due to the loft of the club and my guess is the problem you are having is a bit of the left over tendancy to square and then flip the club with your hands and arms from when you were OTT. Go out and hit a bucket of push fades with your short irons and feel the body turning all the way through the shot. It is sort of counter-intuitive, but turning fully through the shot, even on wedges, is critical to a good short iron game. Otherwise, if your weight is not left and your body turning, you will likely decelerate and flip the club face closed to your swing path. So hit a few where you turn through the shot fully and try to keep the club face pointing more toward the sky past impact. As a draw player myself, I consider a one or two yard push fade with a wedge the prettiest shot in golf, but you absolutely must maintain the "flying wedge" type impact and post impact positions.

[jeck]

Thanks a lot RC I will try this.

I feel one other options for me is to change to an outside in swing because I think it can be easier for me to control a fade, but im not quite sure. And I don't think you would recommended it to a beginner. :)

Btw forgot to tell you I'm a lefty.

[melchior]

I *believe* that you have just the opposite problem as me, but what the heck do I know anyways...

What I find is that I have a slight fade with my longer irons, but my short irons are pretty much dead straight. What I do is that I take my longer irons above plane which contributes to an in to out swing; while for you I think you take your short irons under plane (but on the same plane as your longer irons) which makes you come too far in to out with your shorter irons.

My brother in law has the same problem and I'm pretty sure it's cause he comes too far in-to-out on the downswing.

Hopefully this helps!

[jeck]

I was out now first practicing on the driving range, I hit most of them to the right of the target(I'm a lefty) but sometimes when I got the rotation correct it was a very straight shot, so I think that's what I've to work on.

It was the same on the course only played 12 hole, but when I missed the target but hit the ball it was mostly straight pushes(it was the same with even an iron4), just one big hook close to a pull hook(with iron6)

But I think it has to do with what RC said.

melchior yeah I thought so too but when I try to make it above plane(by standing closer to the ball) I still have both the pulls and the hooks and it feels like I dont hit it as clean as I normally do.

[jeck]

I meant push in the last sentence. (couldnt edit)

I thought a bit for a while about what you said melchior and you might be right, because when I use my Hybrids 3 and a 4 today I had like 3 slices out of 5 shots I think.
I also use an offset driver which I never have a draw with, sometimes pull hook but most of the time straight or a slight fade.

It could be that on the longer clubs hybrids and woods I have it harder to take the swing inside out and on the shortest one its very easy.
Or?

[melchior]

(From personal experience)

You don't really have to adjust how far away from the ball you stand, I just think about bringing my hands back to a different point. For my 9I, it's "above my head" (obviously not there, but since feel isn't real this gets me pretty close). For my 4I, it's behind my shoulder blade. For my driver it's around my hip.

The way I think of it (since I use a 1 plane golf swing) is that on the backswing the angle of the club when the grip is pointing at the ball and the angle of where your club is at address should be 180*. So since the shaft is shorter for your short irons; the angle up is steeper so your arms have to go "higher" if you know what I mean.

Unfortunately, my occasional shanks with my driver/woods come from flipping... It's hard without a video; but that's where I would start with irons since they're typically easier to control (especially shorter ones)

[Mrd19abhs]

I was actually having this same problem wut all with all my irons they would go straight for 75/80 % of the ball flght then just dive left all the sudden. I tried everything to fix it and I just couldnt get it fixed then i just started to learn to play it and then all the sudden it went away. So I know it can be frustrating I hope you can fix it but until then just learn to play it.

[RC]

You can use an outside in swing for some shorter wedges, but that is a highly skilled technique that requires a lot of practice to master distance control as well as learning just how the shot will fade. Straight or near straight is preferred, and that, in the modern swing requires the weight shift and rotating motion to be committed. Even little short pitches should be struck with a nice turn through the shot. But the hands must lead for best results. The clubface is critical. When the toe gets a little ahead of where it should be, the sidespin and left (right for lefties) curving shot will be very difficult to control not just directionally, but the roll out after landing. I hate pulling short irons because they are almost always long and bound away to a difficult recovery. So, when I know the shot cannot afford to be pulled left, I visualize turning through the shot with the clubface holding off any hint of a roll-over action. I want the power to come from weight moving left and the body turning through while the clubface stays square to my swing plane as long as possible, which means fully extended arms just after impact and the only reason the club goes left is my body turned. When I miss-sequence and get the face left (right for you) of my line, it may feel solid, but you already know from the arms turning over that the shot is going to be bad. So, I practice short irons almost exclusively as push fades, only a yard or two of fade. Then a funny thing happens on the course. The juiced up feeling of going at the pin invariably straightens out the little fade and it goes straight or draws a slight amount. Of course that is only if I hit it well... I still can pull a wedge with the best of any of you, and it comes from a lazy lower body shift and bad turn finish, trying to generate power from too much upper body. Don't give up the inside approach, just learn how to control push fades and draws. Then you can use alignment to your advantage and hit the shot that is needed.

[jeck]

(From personal experience)

I understand it in theory I just don't know if I do it in practice would be fun to watch.

I was out at the grassrange one more time and only focused on coming through on the swing I think like 90% of the times I hit the ball clean I hit within 10 yrds from target(both left and right) I shot with 8i and 9i. sometimes when the ball goes too much to the right of target I think I was aiming wrong with my shoulders compared to the rest of the body.