How far should you hit your 8 iron?

[rehmwa]

Jamiesmith, I would swing at the level that you feel comfortable. Look at what mvmac said here:

Pretzel - It's not so much that I think backing off is the right thing.  I'm, personally, much more comfy and consistent with a full swing and backing off dinks with my game also..  It's more that the distance claims and the handicap are so offsetting, that some of us assume the accuracy with that distance can't be right.  So the assumed advice, is to temper that swing to find out what gives the most comfy contact and accuracy.

Seems that if the distance and accuracy are correct, the OP would be asking us how to improve other areas of the game that hurting his scores.  So dialing in on the real problem is a bit tough until we know what's not working.  Seems the full swing is working fine.  Unless that's the message, then so what?

Jamie - so what's your weak part of the game?  It would be nice to take advantage of your distance, so....woods and driving?  putting?  short game.  Seems a lot of us are likely assuming you'll need a bag of wedges.  Learning to play those well will really help you out.  It's no harm to learn partial swings when needed.  It's also no harm to get a spacing of wedges.  If your iron swing translates to driver and 3 wood, you'll be lucky enough to need to develop a short approach game.

edit:  I forget to ask - we might be making a deal out needlessly if you play at altitude.  then it's not unusual at all.

[Lihu]

Jamie - so what's your weak part of the game?  It would be nice to take advantage of your distance, so....woods and driving?  putting?  short game.  Seems a lot of us are likely assuming you'll need a bag of wedges.  Learning to play those well will really help you out.  It's no harm to learn partial swings when needed.  It's also no harm to get a spacing of wedges.  If your iron swing translates to driver and 3 wood, you'll be lucky enough to need to develop a short approach game.

It's good you are asking this question. My guess is that it's hitting greens. Guessing his aim is just a little bit off, it doesn't take a heck of a lot of mistakes to be 1 stroke over. Especially from those distances.

[rehmwa]

It's good you are asking this question. My guess is that it's hitting greens. Guessing his aim is just a little bit off, it doesn't take a heck of a lot of mistakes to be 1 stroke over. Especially from those distances.

lotta potential there, would be a good time to see the improvements if he cashes it in

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

It's good you are asking this question. My guess is that it's hitting greens. Guessing his aim is just a little bit off, it doesn't take a heck of a lot of mistakes to be 1 stroke over. Especially from those distances.

lotta potential there, would be a good time to see the improvements if he cashes it in

I think an investment in some good wedges would be in order here.

If I hit that far, I would have 54, 56, 58, 60 and 64 degree wedges. My longest iron would be a 6i.

[inthehole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rehmwa

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

It's good you are asking this question. My guess is that it's hitting greens. Guessing his aim is just a little bit off, it doesn't take a heck of a lot of mistakes to be 1 stroke over. Especially from those distances.

lotta potential there, would be a good time to see the improvements if he cashes it in

I think an investment in some good wedges would be in order here.

If I hit that far, I would have 54, 56, 58, 60 and 64 degree wedges. My longest iron would be a 6i.

LOL - sounds about right !      For me, I've never had that problem - must suck to have so much length that you can't take a full swing from under 100 yards with your SCORING wedges...

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Quote:

Originally Posted by rehmwa

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

It's good you are asking this question. My guess is that it's hitting greens. Guessing his aim is just a little bit off, it doesn't take a heck of a lot of mistakes to be 1 stroke over. Especially from those distances.

lotta potential there, would be a good time to see the improvements if he cashes it in

I think an investment in some good wedges would be in order here.

If I hit that far, I would have 54, 56, 58, 60 and 64 degree wedges. My longest iron would be a 6i.

LOL - sounds about right !      For me, I've never had that problem - must suck to have so much length that you can't take a full swing from under 100 yards with your SCORING wedges...

Good problem to have IMO, too bad I don't have it

[jamiesmith900]

Right guys here's my bag ( my problem scores are my short game as I have just recently started hitting it this well, my range is at altitude so might explain that but then again I went to different range and same result, just got back from flight scope my club head speed is 103mph driver 98 other clubs with good spin rate ) Titleist 913 d2 9.5 set up for slight draw Titliest 909 4 rescue 19' srixon 5 wood Combo set 4-9 cb-mb blades 714 titliest 48 sm5 titleist 60 sm5 titliest Ping putter Any advice on change welcome as my coach thinks I day I could easy play off scratch?

[Lihu]

Right guys here's my bag

( my problem scores are my short game as I have just recently started hitting it this well, my range is at altitude so might explain that but then again I went to different range and same result, just got back from flight scope my club head speed is 103mph driver 98 other clubs with good spin rate )

Titleist 913 d2 9.5 set up for slight draw

Titliest 909 4 rescue 19'

srixon 5 wood

Combo set 4-9 cb-mb blades 714 titliest

48 sm5 titleist

60 sm5 titliest

Ping putter

Any advice on change welcome as my coach thinks I day I could easy play off scratch?

48 degrees is too little loft for a wedge with your iron SS of 98mph. I think I just answered part of your question.

[jamiesmith900]

Thanks what do you suggest? I hit 48 around 145-150 And 60 around 120-130 if anything I tend to chip a 8 or 9 iron from other distances like a sort of chip and run, please bear with me as I am moving my game forward and still have a lot to learn eg shaping ball I can fade it but find hard to draw it, but I really need to work on short game at the minute eg wedges:)

[TimS65]

Jamie, do you deloft your clubs at impact? is: your hands are well in front of the ball at impact? A 60 deg wedge shouldn't be travelling 120-130 yards. I would expect 100 at the most? Unless you are effectively taking the loft off and playing it as maybe 55 degrees...

[jamiesmith900]

Could have hands ahead that's why I think I hit these l75 8 irons don't no what to change now:-(

[jamiesmith900]

It's just there so Straight and hold greens well maybe I shouldn't change and just get a 64

[DrvFrShow]

One of the biggest problems for mid-high handicap players is the 120 yds and in game where we can't play a full shot. This is why a lot of the time you'll see us lay up to that distance on a hole rather than try to get to that "uncomfortable" 50 yd distance. You low HC players and pros scratch your heads. Why would we choose to do that over being closer to the green for a far more accurate shot?

It's because statistics show that Pros and low HC players have their accuracy go up as they get inside 100 yds while mid-high HC players have their accuracy go down. Partial wedge shots can lead to deceleration during the down swing and a duffed shot adding one stroke to the approach. Now we're scrambling for par and hope the next shot lands on the green to where we can actually one putt. Pressure's on. Two putt for a bogey.

Basically the short games of the low HC players are better and why they want to be closer to the greens than a mid-high HC player on the approach.

@jamiesmith900 you need to learn to hit partial wedge shots. You've got he distance game. Go work on your short game inside 120 yds., and practice your putting. Get that down and you'll be scratch.

[TimS65]

Its not necessarily a problem, but it was for me. My SS is not fast like yours so it made it difficult to get long irons airborne because I was making a 4 iron into a 3 or 2 iron at impact. Your SS is probably enough to counteract this problem. I changed my stance to neutral: tee up with club almost vertical instead of leaning forward. I now get much better contact, ball height and consistency. If you COULD do the same thing then you may lose some distance, but this would possibly help your short game - LW may become a 100 yard club...

[jamiesmith900]

Hi tim I don't really have hands forward at setup I have a lot of lag through impact tho, my irons are very high trajectory and long , time to work on half shots and short game as I think my handicap will drop dramatically soon

[Lihu]

It's just there so Straight and hold greens well maybe I shouldn't change and just get a 64

This makes some sense.

[jamiesmith900]

Yip gonna try a 64 take my 4 iron out bag as I rarely use it maybe even my 5 after all it's just excess weight iam long enough just need to work on 140 and in:-)

[Lihu]

54, 56, 58, 60 and 64 degree wedges. My longest iron would be a 6i.

Yip gonna try a 64 take my 4 iron out bag as I rarely use it maybe even my 5 after all it's just excess weight iam long enough just need to work on 140 and in:-)

I think your path to success lies in your wedges.

You might also want to take a look at your driver too, if you are only getting a 103 SS with the driver while getting 98 with 6i? Usually, you add about 20 to your 6i SS to get your driver SS, so in your case you should have a driver SS in the 118 mph range.