2* upright

[NightHawk]

Hi All

during the fitting for my irons it was decided that my irons should be bent 2* upright. This has worked out fine for the most part, however i now cannot hit my 4 iron at all without a viscious slice. As a high handicapper i have struggled with longer irons before but prefer them to hybirds (which i cannot hit at all), however it has got to the stage where i wont even reach for the 4 iron. Could this be down to the 2* upright or am I just being terrible?

Ive only been playing for just under a year and was previously using a set of stiff shafted ping zing 2's black dot. I now have the adams redline irons, which are awsome (only issue being that there is a major gap between my pitching wedge and gap wedge as the redlines go so far).

I have heard that different clubs could potentially need different lie angles, could this be the case? Suprisingly for a relative newby and high handicapper i was always able to hit the ping zing 2 3 iron just fine, and would use it off the tee regularly while I learnt to master the cruel mistress that is the driver.

During the fitting i didnt hit the 4 iron at all, should i nip down the local pro and see if there is an issue?

cheers

[brettski01]

I think most people would need to see a video of you hitting a 4 iron to make accurate advice. As a quick fix you could always set up and try and play a draw. Close your stance and make an in to out swing.

I find it funny how you prefer the longer irons over the hybrids too, usually its the other way around.

[LovinItAll]

I have heard that different clubs could potentially need different lie angles, could this be the case?

Prior to being fit for a set of irons about 9 years ago, I'd heard that one should hit every club. I showed up to the fitting with our head pro, and he was going to have me hit one club (6i, I think). I told home I wanted to hit a dozen or so balls with every club so that's what we did. It ended up something like this : 2-3-4: 2* U 5-6-7: 1* U 8-9-PW: Standard Our pro was a good guy, and I knew him pretty well, but he definitely wasn't ready to spend that much time with me that day. I was dropping nearly a grand, though, so whatever. I have no idea whether my case was unusual or not regarding graduated lies. i remember asking him how many people ask to hit every club during a fitting. "None.", he said.

[NightHawk]

I'm thinking i should have hit all the clubs, although i did go through the set but tended to jump a club, i.e 9-7-5......there is still the possibility that I'm just terrible at hitting that particular club, but i do find it strange that i had (relative) success with my previous 3 iron.

[TourSpoon]

Have the guy check it out. Club fitters are only human and he may have made a mistake.

[Shaggie13]

I think if the 4 iron was too upright it would be going left, not right?  Maybe if the club fitter is a teaching pro, ask him for a lesson, too.

[Sticky]

Originally Posted by Shaggie13

I think if the 4 iron was too upright it would be going left, not right?

That's what I was thinking, if a lie angle is too steep you will come through toe up and the face will point left.  That would typically cause you to hook or pull a shot.

[Dave2512]

According to Ping's OL fitting guide upright is what they suggest to prevent slicing. My guess is there are other things going on with a 26 hc. I play 3* up irons and some days I'm all over the place. Could just be the switch to new irons. I can't hit my 5i consistent to save my life, always a slice. This is my first season back to golf in a long time. It's going to take some time for me to work out the kinks. I know what to do, it's doing it the same way every time I have a club in my hands that seems to be the challenge. Once I lose confidence in a club it takes some work to move past that.

[TourSpoon]

That is assuming he bent the club. No harm in having it checked. Once you find out it's not the club, time for lessons!

[Mr. Desmond]

If anything, an upright lie would offer assistance to a "slice."

Look at the divot - is it deeper in the toe or heel, or even?

Anyway, I doubt if the club is the issue - if you don't like a hybrid, find a 9 wood. It's easier. Or find a hybrid that looks and acts like a fairway wood.

[NightHawk]

Thanks guys for the advice, dont worry i'm under no illusion that my lack of ability will be, for the most part, the reason things go wrong.

[ApocG10]

Originally Posted by Shaggie13

I think if the 4 iron was too upright it would be going left, not right?  Maybe if the club fitter is a teaching pro, ask him for a lesson, too.

Not if the toe is hitting the ground slightly before the head hits the ball, opening the face at impact.

There are a million possibilities to what could be causing his problem. The best thing to do is go back where he was fitted, and have them check things out.

[Shaggie13]

Originally Posted by ApocG10

Not if the toe is hitting the ground slightly before the head hits the ball, opening the face at impact.

There are a million possibilities to what could be causing his problem. The best thing to do is go back where he was fitted, and have them check things out.

True.

[WUTiger]

Could you have a pro look at you swing the 4i? It could be that you need a more flexible shaft on the 4i to get it airborne.

I went to a clubfitting school in February, and one instructor still carries a 3i and 4i. He said he "softstepped" the shafts on both of them to increase launch angle. (For softstep, you take a shaft tip-trimmed for a 2i, and put it into a 3i. This makes the club about 1/3 a flex less stiff, and increases the launch angle).

Lots of clubfitters also will do a gap analysis to find the point in longer irons where you no longer pick up distance. If the fitter sees you hit your 6i 160 yards, your 5i 170, and your 4i 172 and you don't get it up that well, the 4i would be your gap club: you would eliminate the 4i and 3i in favor of hybrids.

Or, a shaft tweak might bring the 4i into reliability.

[Mr. Desmond]

My understanding is soft-stepping softens up the tip more than the flex of the shaft so it will help launch.

[cruzthepug]

Just need to hit the 4 iron off a lie board with some impact tape, that will tell the whole story.

[NightHawk]

Think i will get the pro to take a look at it for me. I just find it strange that i could hit my last 3 iron (ping black dot)  fine(ish..26 handicapper remember) but this 4 iron is killing me. thanks for the advice guys