Inconsistent contact with short irons

[$2 Nassau]

Sounds strange, but I feel more comfortable with a 3,4,5, iron in my hands as opposed to say an 8 or 9 iron. I've even been hitting my driver and 3 wood fairly well lately, feeling very comfortable over the ball.

But when it comes to the "scoring" clubs, the short irons, I just can seem to make consistent, solid contact with a descending blow to the ball.

I've been told a few times that it's not uncommon for taller (amateur)players to struggle a bit with the shorter clubs. (I'm 6' 3"). No clue if there is any truth to this though.

Anyone else experience this? A weight transfer problem possibly? Why only the short irons?

[Fourputt]

Sounds strange, but I feel more comfortable with a 3,4,5, iron in my hands as opposed to say an 8 or 9 iron. I've even been hitting my driver and 3 wood fairly well lately, feeling very comfortable over the ball.

Man, I've been looking for someone with the same problem as I have (I'm 6'2")... of course, I can't hit the long irons either, but that's another story. I've played some pretty good golf in my life, but I've never been comfortable setting up or swinging my 9I or my wedges (full swing, half swing and chips seem to be fine). Back when I was playing some of my best golf, I hit everything from 145 in with my 8I... I was better with that from 120 than a full 9I, or from 100 with a full PW. I got over the problem for a while, but it has returned with a vengeance.

I may have found something... I was at the range yesterday, and just before I finished up the small basket I was hitting, I realized that I was leaning too far forward, with my weight fully on the balls of my feet rather than centered. I only had a couple of balls left then, but I hit both well with my 8I, a club that has been my downfall lately, so I'm going to try it again today and see what happens. I'm hoping for some improvement anyway...

[$2 Nassau]

I posted something in the "correcting a shank" thread about my tendancy to lean forward "in" to the ball during my downswing. Sometimes I can feel my contact with my irons creep towards the heel and even hit some hosel rockets now and then.
Making sure I have proper knee flex and sticking my butt out a little usually helps to keep me in better balance and maintain spine angle.

But for some reason, something else always pops with my short irons, causing me to look for another fix. All I'm really doing is placing band-aids on the problems without really ever finding a cure.

[lamebums]

Sounds strange, but I feel more comfortable with a 3,4,5, iron in my hands as opposed to say an 8 or 9 iron. I've even been hitting my driver and 3 wood fairly well lately, feeling very comfortable over the ball.

I'm 6'4'' and I had a similar problem--my problem was less of contact rather than a push-fade (the clubface being angled outwards) but at the end of last year I bought a new set of irons and had them fitted--I had them all extended by an inch and a half. Since then, I hit nothing but nice, long draws.

Check into getting all your irons extended...it's an overnight job for most golf stores, but it'll do wonders for your shotmaking. Edit: Since then, the pitching wedge has become my second-favorite club (after the driver) and probably the one I'm best at.

[Dminn23]

I can't answer as to why your having the issues without seeing your swing but here is what I do.

My feet should be closer together when hitting a full pitching wedge, about 1 feet apart. The ball should be positioned in the middle to promote a descending blow, changes should be made to deal with wind conditions. Make sure you are setting up with your head behind the ball (I should be able to draw a line vertically through my left ear down through the ball if I was looking at a picture of myself from face one). I made sure I'm loading my weight on my right side in the backswing (Not swaying my hips though!) and then initiate the downswing with a slight bump towards the target which starts the ROTATION of the hips (a slight bump is not a huge lateral movement) and shifts my weight to my left side. When I made this changes recently I didn't FEEL powerful at first, but boy am I much more powerful and under control.

I hit solid golf shots and take proper divots when I swing like this. I was trying to do the Jim Hardy model of the one plane swing, studying it endlessly. My body just works better with my being a hybrid swinger and my results are better when I swing like this.

I finally understand what golfers are talking about when saying the swing starts from the ground up. If I transfer my weight from one side to the other correctly, I can easily maintain my wrist angle and lag on the downswing without forcing anything and hit very solid golf shots. No issues with early releases.

Another note, remember, address and impact are NOT identical positions. If your hitting a lot of shots off of the toe of your club with your wedges, set up with the ball more around the inside of the face (closer to the hosel). This is perfectly normal. In fact, Vijay's setup looks like he's about to hit a huge hosel rocket right off the club.....but do you see him doing that?

Just focus on your weight transfer! Pay attention to how heavy each foot feels, it may feel like your weight is on your right, and it may look like it, but you could be really hammering your left foot down in the backswing. Its impossible to get consistent, positive results with a reverse weight shift/pivot.

[$2 Nassau]

Thanks Dminn. Those are some good thoughts/advice right there. I think with the shorter irons I tend to load up the front foot at address, thinking that doing so will help me to finish with my weight forward and through the ball. But it is probably just causing all kinds of balance issues which would account for my influx in hosel rockets lately.