Seriously need help please!

[Greg55]

Ok this is my first time posting here besides in the welcome section. So please be patient with me, I am 57 years young here and just started playing golf, however I have spent most of my time at the range because of no golfing friends yet. So here is the big problem, I was given advice on how to hit the ball and to practice on mats, I had gotten to where I could make some pretty nice shots and learned to hit the driver straight but now I have moved off the mats and on to grass at the range and my iron shots look like I am totally an idiot! Every now and again I get a clean shot off but not often, I still hit the driver the same as it is on a tee. My irons it seems almost impossible to take a divot in front of the ball, seems like I am either topping it on hitting behind it. Ok can someone give me some simple advice here on this? Thanks in advance and btw I have fell in love with the game of golf.

[meenman]

You were probably hitting behind the ball while you played off of mats - stick with hitting off the grass to get true feedback on your swing.

Mats are only good when hitting off of a tee.

[SloverUT]

It would be really hard to give you advice without seeing your swing.  I would suggest reading up on the 5 simple keys as a start and they will educate you on what is really important to make good impact with the ball.

Common causes for hitting behind the ball and/or hitting fat is:

1) Trying to scoop the ball up into the air by letting your wrists break down on the down swing.  You need to drive down on the ball and have a flat left wrist at impact.

2) Not getting your weight forward and/or doing what is called a reverse pivot (leaning all your weight onto your right foot instead of pushing it forward onto the left) This would be reversed if you are left handed.

Mats, unfortunately, do no favors when it comes to players who hit the ball fat.  Often the club hits the mat and is still able to make decent impact with the ball, even if you hit behind it.  And you are now seeing the effects of the less forgiving real grass.

[Greg55]

Originally Posted by SloverUT

It would be really hard to give you advice without seeing your swing.  I would suggest reading up on the 5 simple keys as a start and they will educate you on what is really important to make good impact with the ball.

Common causes for hitting behind the ball and/or hitting fat is:

1) Trying to scoop the ball up into the air by letting your wrists break down on the down swing.  You need to drive down on the ball and have a flat left wrist at impact.

2) Not getting your weight forward and/or doing what is called a reverse pivot (leaning all your weight onto your right foot instead of pushing it forward onto the left) This would be reversed if you are left handed.

Mats, unfortunately, do no favors when it comes to players who hit the ball fat.  Often the club hits the mat and is still able to make decent impact with the ball, even if you hit behind it.  And you are now seeing the effects of the less forgiving real grass.

Where will I find the 5 simple keys to read?

[iacas]

Where will I find the 5 simple keys to read?

DVDs available via link in my signature. Also, purestrike5sk.com has info. And several threads here.

[SloverUT]

You can use the search function on the site and there are a lot of posts from the guys who teach/advocate the 5 simple keys.  You can also purchase their DVDs if you like what you read, but I'd read up on the free information first.  Just type 5 simple keys into the search function or you can also try checking them out on youtube.