Why am I hitting my irons so short?

[Philip9210]

So I am having trouble,ever since I changed from my starter Dunlop irons to my current SuperSteel Burner's (the model from the early 2000's), I haven't been able to hit my irons anywhere near good distances. I am currently hitting the following:

PW,9,8 Usually about the same...between 100-125 depending on how I hit it.

7...around 130

6...around 140

5...around 150

This is really confusing me because I hit my driver a solid 240-250 when I hit it well and I can hit my 3 wood around 210 when I hit it well. Was just wondering if possibly the shafts were the problem, or if I'm just not compressing the ball properly. Thanks for any and all advice.

[BugDude]

Shafts may not match your swing.  It isn't as simple as stiff or regular.  There's also kickpoint (low, medium, and high).  Swing dynamics and shaft characteristics are better determined by a club fitter.

[awesome1975]

Originally Posted by Philip9210

So I am having trouble,ever since I changed from my starter Dunlop irons to my current SuperSteel Burner's

So were the distances with the Dunlops good before you changed?

[Zeph]

Regardless of club and flex you should still be able to hit the ball a reasonable distance with a good hit. I'm putting my bet on your ballstriking not being good enough. Which we can't really say anything about without seeing a swing video.

[Philip9210]

I'm going to play 18 tomorrow with some friends and I will get one of them to record my swing and I will post it under the member swing forum on here. Maybe somebody can help me figure out what I got going on here haha.

[Philip9210]

Actually, i just went out in the yard and hit some wiffle balls and recorded it, I'll post up the vids once they get done uploading to youtube.

[Zeph]

Here is the explanation, though it is a bit hard to see from the still shot. Your hands are not leading the clubhead into the ball. This adds loft, contributes to a lower smash factor, less spin and generally makes the ball fly shorter. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/image/id/235556/width/293/height/280][IMG]http://thesandtrap.com/image/id/235556/width/293/height/280[/IMG][/URL] The factors for distance boils down to: [LIST] [*]Clubhead speed [*]Amount of forward shaft lean at impact [*]Smash factor (where you hit the ball on the clubface) [/LIST] You also got the ball flight, trajectory, ball, club etc., but they don't matter as much as long as they are within normal limits. The speed of the swing itself is probably not an issue, it's more about hitting the ball with the maximum amount of speed. Getting the shaft to lean forward at impact contributes to hitting the ball clean with a downward strike. Hitting the ball on the toe won't make it fly very far. You want to hit the ball as close to center as you can. The amount of forgiveness depends on the clubs you hit. I used to hit my PW maximum 110 yards, today I hit it 130 yards on a stock shot. My long irons usually flew the same distance, rarely farther than 175 yards. Today I carry my 4 iron 200 yards. I probably swing my arms a bit faster, but the change in distance is primarily a result of hitting the ball clean with a forward leaning shaft. I'm still a bit off center, mostly towards the toe, but my distance is OK because of my impact position. You got some stuff to work on in your swing, but it's probably best to cover that in your swing thread. I just wanted to give an answer to the specific question in this thread.

[Philip9210]

Thanks Zeph!

[Nine Iron]

I am having the same problem with not much distance.

For me its a combination of not using quite enough wrist in my backswing and forward shaft lean.

[jestein16]

I am having a huge problem with hitting certain clubs so short.  I don't know what is causing it.

sw 85 wtf?

gw 95 wtf?

pw 125-130

9iron 135-140

8iron 150

7iron 160

6iron 168 wtf?

5iron 175 wtf?

4iron 185 wtf?

3iron 195 wtf?

3wd   240-250 wtf?

driver 280-300

Anyone know what could be causing this?  How the hell is tiger hitting sw's 130 and 8 irons 180?

[Mattplusness]

Originally Posted by jestein16

I am having a huge problem with hitting certain clubs so short.  I don't know what is causing it.

sw 85 wtf?

gw 95 wtf?

pw 125-130

9iron 135-140

8iron 150

7iron 160

6iron 168 wtf?

5iron 175 wtf?

4iron 185 wtf?

3iron 195 wtf?

3wd   240-250 wtf?

driver 280-300

Anyone know what could be causing this?  How the hell is tiger hitting sw's 130 and 8 irons 180?

Those are pretty good distances... tiger doesn't always hit his SW 130. I like to think of it like when I hit a full LW. It's going to stop and come back some, so if he can take a SW instead of a 9I, he might be able to be a bit more aggressive and not land it short of the pin in a tight spot.

[dak4n6]

OP, you said you might not be compressing the ball, and you were right. You have a decent reverse pivot going on, and a nice flip action, both of which lead to loss of energy transfer.

Stop swaying forward on you backswing and back on your downswing. Keep you head exactly where it is throughout the whole swing, and try to drive the ball into the ground with your irons. This will trap and compress the ball.

[onesome]

I used to do thesame thing, I figured it was casting at the bottom because driving the ball didn't really suffer for distance but irons did.

[Spudmonkey]

Philip,

Joined just to reply to this :-), couldn't let it go without comment.

1) Not sure on your grip, cant see it well enough but it looks like a very weak right hand position?. Get it checked (go for neutral/slightly strong if theres any choice)

2) The reason I joined :-

Others above have commented on your sway, you need to fix this before even thinking of doing anything else.

The problem is not that you sway (thats just a symptom) you need to fix the cause. The reason you sway is that your hips are not being used correctly!

You need to learn how to disassociate your hips, (do the twist from the 60's lol).

I promise, if you learn how your hips are supposed to move and do it, your golf swing will change massively for the better. Dont even bother working on anything else untill its fixed, because you will just be working on stuff that may not even be a problem afterwards.

Check the link below :- it's a Titleist Performance Institute presentation, they talk about the issue you have with the hips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk06DErc3rc&feature;=plcp

Good luck.

[chuckanderson]

Originally Posted by jestein16

I am having a huge problem with hitting certain clubs so short.  I don't know what is causing it.

sw 85 wtf?

gw 95 wtf?

pw 125-130

9iron 135-140

8iron 150

7iron 160

6iron 168 wtf?

5iron 175 wtf?

4iron 185 wtf?

3iron 195 wtf?

3wd   240-250 wtf?

driver 280-300

Anyone know what could be causing this?  How the hell is tiger hitting sw's 130 and 8 irons 180?

That's pretty typical if you aren't lagging the club and hitting with a nice, downward strike.  Check your divots and see if they are 2-4 inches in front of the ball.  If you're actually hitting your driver that far (have you checked with gps?) then your swing speed should be fine... and only 8 yards between clubs tells me you're not making correct contact.  I have ~120mph swing speed and my irons are almost 15 yards apart.