Hooking short irons...

[Losttsol]

I've really been fighting a hook lately with my short irons.  I don't know if shaft stiffness matters as much with short irons, but mine are stiff.  8-W is a guaranteed going left of the hole. but I'll normally hit a full sand wedge fairly straight though which is weird.  I might be in semi-chip mode by the time I get to that club so my swing is different?  I really don't even out until I get to a 6 iron.  Long irons are playing fairly straight.  I don't know if I'm trying to lift or work the ball too much and coming across my body or what.  Its frustrating feeling like you'd rather play from 150 out than 110 out, but that's kind of where I am right now.  Anything in particular I could do to straighten it out?  In the past I've always worked on fixing a slice, mainly in driving, so I'm always scared about going laying off too much and going right.

[Stretch]

My guess, the lie angles of your irons are too upright. This will cause shots to the left that will get progressively worse as the loft of the club increases. If your SW is a different model from the rest of the set, it may well have a flatter lie, which would explain why you find it easier to hit straight. Go to a golf store and get your clubs checked out. They'll tape the bottom of a couple irons and have you hit shots off a hard board, then check the scuff marks to see whether the sole is level at impact.

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by Losttsol

I've really been fighting a hook lately with my short irons.  I don't know if shaft stiffness matters as much with short irons, but mine are stiff.  8-W is a guaranteed going left of the hole. but I'll normally hit a full sand wedge fairly straight though which is weird.  I might be in semi-chip mode by the time I get to that club so my swing is different?  I really don't even out until I get to a 6 iron.  Long irons are playing fairly straight.  I don't know if I'm trying to lift or work the ball too much and coming across my body or what.  Its frustrating feeling like you'd rather play from 150 out than 110 out, but that's kind of where I am right now.  Anything in particular I could do to straighten it out?  In the past I've always worked on fixing a slice, mainly in driving, so I'm always scared about going laying off too much and going right.

Are these left-misses starting at the target and then going left or are they starting left and continuing further left?

[Losttsol]

Originally Posted by Stretch

My guess, the lie angles of your irons are too upright. This will cause shots to the left that will get progressively worse as the loft of the club increases. If your SW is a different model from the rest of the set, it may well have a flatter lie, which would explain why you find it easier to hit straight. Go to a golf store and get your clubs checked out. They'll tape the bottom of a couple irons and have you hit shots off a hard board, then check the scuff marks to see whether the sole is level at impact.

I play Ping black dot (standard lie) irons.  I'm 6'0" tall, which I would think would be at the upper end of using a standard lie club.  Most taller players I know have more upright lies.  The sand wedge is black dot as well, but I did add it to the original set later, so it could very well be slightly different.

Originally Posted by Tomboys

Are these left-misses starting at the target and then going left or are they starting left and continuing further left?

They do start a bit left, but they still have some more bend at the top.  This is why I think it might just be a swing problem more than an equipment thing.  I regularly set up with the ol' iron across the torso to get my aim right, but still go left.  Changing aim to compensate would be a bad idea I think.  More like a crutch that I don't want.

[JetFan1983]

One of my misses is a baby-pull-overdraw and the reason is because my hips stop pushing forward. This causes both my hips and shoulders to spin out too much, sending the path of the club slightly over the top. Since I'm bowing my lead wrist like crazy, the club face angle is shut to the path and I get this shot shape, sometimes even with my 56 degree wedge. Keep pushing forward with the lower body and getting the essential secondary axis tilt you need to make a proper approach into the ball.

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by Losttsol

They do start a bit left, but they still have some more bend at the top.  This is why I think it might just be a swing problem more than an equipment thing.  I regularly set up with the ol' iron across the torso to get my aim right, but still go left.  Changing aim to compensate would be a bad idea I think.  More like a crutch that I don't want.

Oh ok.  Sounds like you're pull-hooking/drawing the ball.  JetFan's description of what happens (when he doesn't get his hips far enough forward) is exactly what happens to me when I do the same thing.  So, maybe try sliding your hips more forward on the downswing and see what happens.

Also, I found this very helpful:

http://thesandtrap.com/playing_tips/ball_flight_laws

Once you understand what causes a ball to fly in a certain manner, then you can work on the proper mechanics to achieve the desired ball flight.

[rasky44]

I'm going to agree with the other posts.  I have the exact same problem as you and I noticed that with the short irons I have the tendency not to slide my hips at all.  Just the other day I needed a birdie on number 18 to break my best score at a local course.  I hit nine iron at the green and pull hooked it across the road and out of bounds.  After my drop I concentrated on the hip slide and knocked the same shot within a foot of the hole, doh!!!

[Losttsol]

Thanks for the tips.  I think I might be all arms with the short irons now that I think about it, trying to place the ball instead of a true swing.  I'll try getting my body more into it and see if it helps.

[Crue4]

Flipping will also cause this... trust me I know at too well I do it all the time...

[mdl]

Re: @Stretch's advice.  This is definitely possibly the problem.  I'm somewhere between 6'2" and 6'3" and have been playing a crappy standard lie starter set for years.  I got the 54˚ wedge in my sig maybe a year ago, and it has a significantly more upright lie angle than my PW, and I hit it SO much better.  My 8i-PW started to feel super flat.  I recently upgraded to the (used obviously) irons now in my sig, and they'd been bent a bit upright, 1-2˚ different from my old clubs.  7i-3i are now SO much easier to hit, but I'm having to learn not to come down with the club so flat and closed so as not to pull 8i-PW.  Oddly, I'm especially prone to the pull with the 9i, more so than the 8i or PW.

[Losttsol]

I went to the range and figured something out.  Basically that my grip was way wrong.  My iron set has Lamkin permawrap grips with the little line at the bottom of the grip for alignment (which I normally look at first when gripping).  I always set up with my thumb on the grip line.  My sand wedge though, which I added to the set later, has a very similar golf pride wrap grip, but no line.  I have been playing these clubs for almost 3 years and never even noticed that.  Like I said before, I usually hit my SW fairly straight with a full swing.  I took my other irons and started my setup by looking at the club face, not the grip.  In fact I would only look at the top of the grip just to make sure I wasn't choking up or down.  It helped dramatically.  I think I was gripping at the line and then rolling my hands slightly into my normal address position which just closes the club face.  Then I do some research and see both grips mentioned.  What is the correct grip?  Obviously for me it is having the V in the middle and not the thumb.