Problem with long irons

[BrianJ]

Hey everyone,

I have been golfing since the fall of 2008 and truly love it. I have taken about 10 lessons and they have been invaluable to my game. I plan on taking more lessons this season with my pro (Marty from Redgate in Rockville MD). Anyway, a peculiar thing has happened lately with my long irons, especially my 4 iron. Just before impact I seem to be uncontrollably turning my clubface back towards downswing, or in other words away from my target. It has the effect of hitting the ball thinly with the very bottom of the clubface. If you picture just holding the club like normal at address, and then turning your hands clockwise so that it gains loft. I am not opening face, and I don't suffer from a slice anymore. If anything I am starting to suffer from a hook these days. I am coming thru a bit too thin and losing tons of distance, the impact has an entirely different feel than when I make solid flush contact with the ball. Has anyone experienced this? It does not happen every time, but id say on 15-20% of my long iron shots. This never happens with my short irons at all.

Thanks for reading

[HeadGolfool]

What I see a lot of golfers do especially with long irons is trying to help the ball in the air which will lead to thin shots and loss of distance.  What helps me sometimes when I'm not making solid contact is moving the ball back in my stance with my weight forward and hit some punch shots to get the feel of solid contact with my weight on my left side at impact.

Have you ever noticed that it's easier to make solid contact with short irons?  You trust the loft will get the ball in the air, you make a good weight shift to your left side at impact and you make solid contact.  With long irons most golfers don't have that same trust and try to help things along.

Hope this helps.

[BrianJ]

Ok great thanks for the reply.  I have definitely employed the punch shot technique before, it was part of my game last season when things were getting out of control, but I seemed to forget about it.  I'll work on this on the range this weekend!

[Wingover718]

Hey everyone,

I have been golfing since the fall of 2008 and truly love it. I am coming thru a bit too thin and losing tons of distance, the impact has an entirely different feel than when I make solid flush contact with the ball. Has anyone experienced this? It does not happen every time, but id say on 15-20% of my long iron shots. This never happens with my short irons at all.

Thanks for reading

Brian, I think you and I have been playing about the same amount of time. If money or time were not an object I would love to go to a few of the schools around the country. Until last season I wouldn't hit anything beyond a five iron from the rough or off the deck due to a lack of confidence in the other clubs. Last year I dedicated myself to dropping balls from 250 to 200 yards out during practice rounds while playing with friends who were waiting to hit into the green. I came to the conclusion that my poor hits on long clubs were primarily me ratcheting down my grip pressure in the transition, or just overall tension causing me to come up and out just enough to hit thin or flat out skull the ball. All of the extra hit was also causing me to unload the club to early, delofting the club and hitting up on it. I have since learned to swing easier and allow the club to do the work on longer shots. I also learned when to lay up. A hybrid to a close chip gets me up and down a lot more often than trying to hit up with my 3 wood. That's my two cents as a wannabe. Good luck.