I need some help with ball striking.

[slabm7]

I have been playing some decent golf lately. Mid to high 80s but feel I could put up alot lower numbers if I could strike my mid irons better. Like 4-8 iron. I can drive the ball rather consistently about 260-280 either in the fairway or first cut. But its my second shot that kills me. I usually chunk or thin an iron to get near or closer to the green and either play a wedge or get up and down for a par and/or two/three putt for bogey or double. About 1 in 4 shots will I hit an iron well.  Anyone have any tips/drills to make my ball striking more consistent?

[senorchipotle]

don't lift up your chest, and keep rotating. if you rotate properly the club will bottom out where it's supposed to. swing so that your momentum is going at the target, don't try to "hit down on the ball," gravity will take care of all that.

[slabm7]

Originally Posted by senorchipotle

don't lift up your chest, and keep rotating. if you rotate properly the club will bottom out where it's supposed to. swing so that your momentum is going at the target, don't try to "hit down on the ball," gravity will take care of all that.

I do notice sometimes that I do not rotate through and stop 3/4 of the way in my follow through. Its definetly something I need to work on.

[oakdale]

Man i do this too. It never fails if i hit a good tee shot on the fairway, i will follow it up but hitting my second shot fat, leaving a huge divot and knocking the ball forward about 30 yards. If i hit it in the rough off the tee, i'm fine.

[ks8829]

practice chipping (an advance pracice is to chip off of hard pan and flat grass) this will help you focus on making solid contact, its all about your take away and your back swing and club positions.  You can start with hip high back swing and slowly work your way up to full swings.

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by ks8829

practice chipping (an advance pracice is to chip off of hard pan and flat grass) this will help you focus on making solid contact, its all about your take away and your back swing and club positions.  You can start with hip high back swing and slowly work your way up to full swings.

Good advice, but will only work if you practice chipping the right way . Flat left wrist, downward strike, ball-first contact and take a little divot. A good drill is to go in the practice bunker and draw a line in the sand representing your imaginary ball position. Then make practice chipping swings trying to clip the edge of the line while ensuring that the deepest point of your divot is a couple of inches in front of it. You'll quickly feel that the only way to do this is to get your hands well forward of the club head, which is exactly what you want with full iron shots too.

[slabm7]

Thanks for the responses guys. I did some research and came up with a couple "Impact Zone" ideas. Went to the range last night and pitched alot of balls while focusing on bottoming out my swing 4 inches in front of the ball. It really helped me realize just how much weight transfer I needed. I think I wasn't getting my weight forward fast enough or far enough. The rest of my game is feels great right now. Driving straight, routinely putting the ball inside 15ft from inside 100 yards and making alot of putts. But I waste alot of shots by mishitting my irons. If I could get this to come around in the next couple months I think I could break 80 a few times before the year is out. I also just ordered "The Impact Zone" from Amazon and it should be here in a couple weeks.