Club transitioning

[Crate]

Being green to golf. I find myself at the driving range all the time. I have noticed that I have a hard time transitioning between clubs. It takes me a couple crapo hit's then I pull it together. This is going to be tough to contend with on the course. I'm hoping as time goes by I will learn each club better. Also the guy at counter in the pro shop was watching me. He brought it to my attention that I'm not taking a long enough break between hits. I'm moving along too fast. He says the ball will go farther or just as far if I take more time to set-up between shots. This may be the reason club transitioning is tough at first
I share my thoughts and posts because I like the site and the replies have all helped me think about the game and my swing.

[Matt M]

Well the best advice I've ever been given on swinging a golf club is 2 things.( both of which weren't apparent during todays round). 1. when you get to longer clubs realize it's going to take longer for the club to come into contact with the ball. This means don't try to swing fast with long irons or driver. 2. Be cocky once you pick your club and shot; this means don't try to hit the ball, know that you will and swing smooth. Remember like I said I haven't done this very well especially during todays round lol. Just keep swinging and working on it. Golf like life is about the journey not the end result.

[fusioncal]

  Crate said:

Being green to golf. I find myself at the driving range all the time. I have noticed that I have a hard time transitioning between clubs. It takes me a couple crapo hit's then I pull it together. This is going to be tough to contend with on the course. I'm hoping as time goes by I will learn each club better. Also the guy at counter in the pro shop was watching me. He brought it to my attention that I'm not taking a long enough break between hits. I'm moving along too fast. He says the ball will go farther or just as far if I take more time to set-up between shots. This may be the reason club transitioning is tough at first

I'm not sure how fast you're moving along between clubs. Do you mean like 10 seconds switching clubs and then addressing the ball again? If it's true then you're way too fast. With this kind of pace, your adrenaline pumps up, your body movement stiffen up and it's hard to concentrate. Golf is a game of focus. You need to relax, because that's the key.

  Matt M said:

Well the best advice I've ever been given on swinging a golf club is 2 things.( both of which weren't apparent during todays round). 1. when you get to longer clubs realize it's going to take longer for the club to come into contact with the ball. This means don't try to swing fast with long irons or driver. 2. Be cocky once you pick your club and shot; this means don't try to hit the ball, know that you will and swing smooth. Remember like I said I haven't done this very well especially during todays round lol. Just keep swinging and working on it. Golf like life is about the journey not the end result.

I couldn't agree more. Definitely because with longer clubs the ball is positioned more forward thus the moment of impact will take longer. For impatient golfer, it is most likely they'll take divot before the ball.

Yup, just focus on the swing, because the ball is only an object which happens to be in the swing path. If you swing correctly you WILL hit the ball without even trying to. Nice tips there!

[letgodsortemout]

  fusioncal said:

Yup, just focus on the swing, because the ball is only an object which happens to be in the swing path. If you swing correctly you WILL hit the ball without even trying to.

Never heard it put that way. It was one of those light bulb comments for me.

[bwinger79]

I am not sure about this "longer irons take longer" crap, but one thing you do need to do is keep a consistent tempo. Most amateurs start to swing harder and faster when the clubs get longer. Just know that the added length and lower loft will make the ball travel a longer distance. You dont need to swing harder.

As for you hitting balls to quickly at the range. You need to make sure that your range time is time well spent. That means going through your pre-shot routine for every ball, and making sure that you are hitting to a target. Going out there and blasting out 100 balls in 20 minutes does nothing for your game. You need to try to hit shots out there. Switch up between which way you work the ball during practice, it will make it that much easier to do when you are on the course and the shot actually counts. This is a game of opposites. The harder and faster you move, the shorter the ball is going to go. You are much better off swinging "slow" and finding the center of the clubface.

[fusioncal]

  bwinger79 said:

I am not sure about this "longer irons take longer" crap, but one thing you do need to do is keep a consistent tempo.

You're not getting it right. Compare ball position for sand wedge and 5-iron for example. Since sand wedge's ball is positioned about 1 ball back from your center of your stance, hence the moment of impact requires shorter time than 5-iron even with the same tempo. While swing tempo, IMO is the x amount of time from the beginning until the end of the swing. I was referring to the required time from the beginning of a swing until the moment of impact. I hope you understand the crap I'm trying to say.

[bwinger79]

Not everyone adjusts ball position depending on length of iron. I play everything in the middle of my stance, and only adjust ball position to control trajectory. I guess I understand what you are saying though. If you did play a 5 iron forward and a wedge back, then impact would happen at different "times" in your swing.

[fusioncal]

  bwinger79 said:

Not everyone adjusts ball position depending on length of iron. I play everything in the middle of my stance, and only adjust ball position to control trajectory. I guess I understand what you are saying though. If you did play a 5 iron forward and a wedge back, then impact would happen at different "times" in your swing.

You're placing the ball in the middle of your stance for every clubs? Nice. I bet you hit a lot of stingers with the long clubs. I see you have the Project X Flighted shafts for the irons. Awesome shafts you got there.

[TourSpoon]

When you are at the range, work towards a target. Put some clubs on the ground to help align you, check grip and posture, and put the ball on a tee to work on tempo. Once you start "smoothing" it more, work off the turf alternating clubs. At this stage you are not learning your clubs as much as you are learning your swing. Take your time in between shots and stay loose. Good luck.

[janzaruk]

  fusioncal said:

You're placing the ball in the middle of your stance for every clubs? Nice. I bet you hit a lot of stingers with the long clubs. I see you have the Project X Flighted shafts for the irons. Awesome shafts you got there.

I do the same thing. Ball is exact same position for each club (except Driver). Maybe I'll start a poll. I'd be curious.

[bwinger79]

  fusioncal said:

You're placing the ball in the middle of your stance for every clubs? Nice. I bet you hit a lot of stingers with the long clubs. I see you have the Project X Flighted shafts for the irons. Awesome shafts you got there.

Not every club. I guess I should have said every iron. Driver and fairways I move up a little unless I want to hit them real low, but sometimes the shot requires a low shot. But, yes, all irons are played from the same position unless I need to alter the trajectory for some reason.