HELP! What in the heck am I doing wrong?

[tpcollins]

I've had this problem for close to 20 years or so and I have no clue what I'm doing wrong. On about half of my short iron shots I take a divot that would put a beaver pelt to shame. I'm confident my grip is right, I hold my head still, I turn my left shoulder under my chi on the backswing and turn my right shoulder under for as long as I can on the downswing, and I take a half yard of sod at impact.

I just came from the range and tore the tee box up pretty good. On the way home I got to thinking that on my short irons, I really play the ball back in my stance. I don't get the ball placement to the middle of my stance until I get p to the 7 iron or so. Could playing the ball that far back contribute to my taking of these huge divots/grounding out of the club?  Thanks.

[Ernest Jones]

Yes, I believe so. Playing it back is a bandaid that helps with hitting down but leads to other issues.

[Mr. Desmond]

A shot in the dark - a possibility is that you're coming in too steep.

Should you be playing any iron/wedge that far back?

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

A shot in the dark - a possibility is that you're coming in too steep.

That's what I was gonna say. Playing it back to compensate for hitting it obese (Fat by a long shot lol) and striking down too much. I'm guilty of this sometimes.

[tpcollins]

Thanks guys, you seem to be confirming my thoughts. I pal in my league tomorrow afternoon so I'll see how playing the ball in the center of my stance for the shorter irons works out. I can't do any worse thanI have been doing . . .

[saevel25]

Playing the ball back in the stance will cause a big divot

Loosing your wrist hinge (flipping) will cause larger divots as well

Not having your weight forward can cause large divots

Being to hand oriented in the swing. For me i have to be very rotational. I think this is because i am right hand dominant, and i want to strike with the right hand, so i throw the club at the ball, causing big divots. I've really been working on getting my belt to point above the horizon in my finish, to shallow out the swing. I also have to not feel like i hinge my wrist in the backswing. This shortens my swing. I found when i hinge my wrist it happens so late, its the part of my golf swing that causes me to overswing. So i try to just get the hand width in the backswing, and then fire through the ball with the body, and really get my arms extended away from me in the finish. Maintaining that V shape for a long time, flying wedge This shallows out the swing more for me as well, since it keeps my hands from getting to low in the downswing.

[14ledo81]

Originally Posted by saevel25

Playing the ball back in the stance will cause a big divot

Loosing your wrist hinge (flipping) will cause larger divots as well

Not having your weight forward can cause large divots

Being to hand oriented in the swing. For me i have to be very rotational. I think this is because i am right hand dominant, and i want to strike with the right hand, so i throw the club at the ball, causing big divots. I've really been working on getting my belt to point above the horizon in my finish, to shallow out the swing. I also have to not feel like i hinge my wrist in the backswing. This shortens my swing. I found when i hinge my wrist it happens so late, its the part of my golf swing that causes me to overswing. So i try to just get the hand width in the backswing, and then fire through the ball with the body, and really get my arms extended away from me in the finish. Maintaining that V shape for a long time, flying wedge This shallows out the swing more for me as well, since it keeps my hands from getting to low in the downswing.

Not sure I agree with the above (bolded).  Maybe for some, but I have been flipping more lately and my divots seem to be smaller or non-existent.

[saevel25]

Depends on what else is going on in the swing, i guess your right. Its probably secondary compared to something else. But, i put it there because when a person flips they thin or top a ball, usually that feeling is not good. So, what do they do, they dip down so they don't thing the shot, and they end up hitting the ball fat with a big divot. so its secondary.

[Slice of Life]

Lately, when my wedges have been "on" (quotation marks as "on" for me, is terrible by any good golfing standards), I have a pretty large divot, since I'm striking down and putting a ton of backspin on the ball. It's gotten me some good results, but has also resulted in the occasionally 160 yard lob wedge shot. lol

[tpcollins]

The more I got to thinking about this, the more I think I played better when the ball was no further back than the middle of my stance for my shorter clubs. Yesterday afternoon I went out to the median in front of my house where I can chip short shots back into my yard. When I put the ball in the middle of my stance and hit half wedge shots, the ball "jumped" off the club with a nice trajectory - duh!    I wonder if that will fix my "pulls" as well . . .

My golf league is tonight - we'll see how theory stacks up against reality. Thanks.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by tpcollins

The more I got to thinking about this, the more I think I played better when the ball was no further back than the middle of my stance for my shorter clubs. Yesterday afternoon I went out to the median in front of my house where I can chip short shots back into my yard. When I put the ball in the middle of my stance and hit half wedge shots, the ball "jumped" off the club with a nice trajectory - duh!    I wonder if that will fix my "pulls" as well . . .

My golf league is tonight - we'll see how theory stacks up against reality. Thanks.

I play my PW with the ball dead center of my stance, meaning the club head is slightly back (half a ball actually) from center, but that is as far back as I play any "normal" shots.