Long Irons

[Fowlerfan19]

This is pretty much the part of my game that is holding me back. I don't have any hybrids and I want to learn how to use these clubs. Off the tee I'm totally fine, the problem is with the 4,5,and 6 iron since the loft is lesser I'm having a very big problem with topping the ball. I can't make clean contact at all and I have no idea why. Any ideas?

[CuppedTin]

Those clubs are just like all your other clubs, next time you swing your 4 iron pretend it is your 8 iron... Same swing for every club in your bag... I'll send you an invoice!

[Fowlerfan19]

I mean honestly, I'll admit that it is in my head. I played a round today and tried using these clubs on the front 9. The back 9 I limited myself to a 7-A and I shot a lot better but it limits what I can do. For example If I'm 200 out that 4 iron would come in handy if I could make clean contact. I continually top the shop and it's so frustrating. Instead Ill use my 7 iron and max out around 140/150. Back to the grind tomorrow.

[jshots]

Yeah I've been hitting my long clubs horribly lately. I haven't been out yet but on the range i've improved by focusing on taking 3/4 swings. For me it must've been mental, me trying to hit the ball harder with a club thats supposed to go longer. Turned out taking 3/4 swings I lost almost no distance but was hitting them straight and long :)

[Fowlerfan19]

It's the same problem for me. I swing extra hard because I want the ball to go 200 yards, and in my head now...I don't even want to use any of them because I figured I'll top it and it will go 20 yards. Pretty frustrating.

[longbow]

Easiest to hit long irons I have ever played are TM Firesole irons.  I hit a bucket yesterday at Big Oak golf and concentrated when I first started on my 4 iron, thinking it may have been a fluke I hit it so well when I played 9 Fri.  Well it wasn't apparently.  I have two different sets of Firesoles, a tour grind model with gaphite shafts, Pro Launch or Pro Logic or something like that.  The second set are steel shafted DG S300 with seniscore, and these are labeled custom series.  Other than those differences, steel vs graphite, and one set says tour and the other custom series they appear identical to me.

Bottom line though is that I hit the DG 300 4 iron as well as the graphite 4 iron.  I could hit a fade or a draw depending on a open or closed stance and hand position staying the same on the grip.  I also bought a set of Nickent XD3 hybrid's a 3 and 4 in regular flex and can't hit them to save my life.  I'll tell ya something else too and that is the long irons feel better to me when hitting them than do the shorter irons in the Firesoles.  I can feel the shaft kick in either the steel or the graphite.  So that is my take on it.  TM Firesoles have the best hitting and feeling long irons I've ever  hit.

Now a trick to long irons is to do what Nicklaus used to do and alot of other tour players.  Have your 2-4 reshafted with senior flex shafts.  Like Nicklaus said in his book, long irons were for getting the ball down the fairway in the general direction of the pin.  He then had his scoring clubs 9-sw shafted in X stiff so they wouldn't go off line but were very accurate.  I think that is the deal.  thanks

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by longbow

Like Nicklaus said in his book . . .

Which book is that? I've read a few Nicklaus books and never read that nugget of wisdom.

[longbow]

I think it is in Golf my Way.  I could be wrong though, but I do know he initiated this piece of advice.  He was talking about his club make up.  He said he used an A flex or senior flex in his long irons, stiff in the mid irons and Xstiff in his scoring irons.  My brother mentioned once when he was writing a golf column for his newspaper, The Daily News, that he saw several tour players using this advice.  But this was back in the 90's I do believe.  Stands to reason though.  Matter of fact the shafts in my Firesoles feel as though they might be a softer flex in the long irons, even though the set is marked stiff, maybe they were tipped soft or something when they were made up.  I just feel the kick of the shaft more pronounced in the long irons vs the short irons and I am talking 6-pw.  I just don't get that release feeling with the short irons as I do with the long irons.  thanks

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by longbow

I think it is in Golf my Way.  I could be wrong though, but I do know he initiated this piece of advice.  He was talking about his club make up.  He said he used an A flex or senior flex in his long irons, stiff in the mid irons and Xstiff in his scoring irons.  My brother mentioned once when he was writing a golf column for his newspaper, The Daily News, that he saw several tour players using this advice.  But this was back in the 90's I do believe.  Stands to reason though.  Matter of fact the shafts in my Firesoles feel as though they might be a softer flex in the long irons, even though the set is marked stiff, maybe they were tipped soft or something when they were made up.  I just feel the kick of the shaft more pronounced in the long irons vs the short irons and I am talking 6-pw.  I just don't get that release feeling with the short irons as I do with the long irons.  thanks

I've had a few sets of blades from the 80s and 90s, and if anything the long irons have even stiffer shafts than the short irons. Maybe they're duds and that's why I got them so cheap.

[GaijinGolfer]

Id agree that its probably all mental and that youre swinging too hard and not trusting the loft of the club to get the ball in the air.  Try playing the ball slightly forward in your stance, sweep it off the ground and just swing nice and easy.

That and considering investing in a hybrid.  They are much easier to hit the long irons.  Ive never been a huge fan of hybrids but even at my worst I still hit hybrids better than long irons.

[awmgolfer]

I was hitting my 6 iron and above just fine and as soon as I went down to my 5 iron through 3 I would really, really struggle. I would slice them, hook them, top them, chunk them, you name it. I was working with one of the kids on the golf team and he was struggling with his six and five iron and I noticed he was standing too close and told him to back up a little. Made sure each club lower he would keep the same hand position but it would put him just a little further away with each club. He began hitting them clean, that's when the lightbulb went on for me..lol. Now I'm hitting them better then ever, hit my first 5 iron last night about 195 yards, flew the green badly, couldn't believe it. You might be standing a little too close, and make sure your back swing is smooth, not fast.

[Fowlerfan19]

Well...I went out today and played and I used my 6 iron a ton and was hitting the dead straight around 160-170, which was totally awesome. I topped a few of my shots early with my 5 iron, so I decided to not use the club at all. 6 iron down, 4 and 5 irons to go. The only problem I had today was that I kept slicing my driver. Is it possible to be able to hit your irons dead straight, but slice your driver?

[awmgolfer]

Absolutely, I can hit all of my irons and my 3 wood straight or how ever I wanted to work, more often then not..lol. I hit my 3 wood off the tee around 225 yards but I would take out the driver and slice it about 180 yards. So yes, it is very possible. I was swinging my driver quite a bit differently then everything else and with a few different fixes I had it down to a nice fade and have been hitting it around 230-240 with a nice fade this year. However, I have to be very careful for it to not turn into a slice. I was out with the golf pro yesterday and he made one more change on my take away and now I am hitting it dead straight without a hint of even a fade.

[Fowlerfan19]

Just curious what did he change in your takeaway?

[awmgolfer]

I was taking it so straight back it was going a little outside on the start of my backswing. He just told me to starte my backswing more inside and that's all it took, straightened it out on the first shot. Only problem is the hole angles to the right after about 100 yards so I usually hit a strong fade/small slice on purpose on that hole which always put me center of the fairway. Did my usual setup to hit it with the change he showed me at put two balls as straight as can be right into the woods, wasn't the hole to try it on..lol. The next hole was a straight hole and I hit it 248 yards on the nose. I put it about 4" from the 150 yard marker that is in the ground, made it easy to know how far I hit it..lol, again, it was dead straight, no fade or draw at all.

[Fowlerfan19]

Perhaps you could upload videos showing the difference? I think I may bring mine too inside.