4 and 5 irons.

[BSim]

I have never been able to hit these like I should. From 6 on I am fine.. But i always seem to catch them thin with the occasional "top." It hadnt been that big of a problem because I have been carrying a 4 hybrid.. But i am wanting to take that out of the bag and go back with the 4 iron.

Are there any typical fixes for catching the longer irons thin?

[TommyD69]

Well.... Other than the fact that you are standing on the wrong side of the ball, I can't think of a reason why a 13.5 handicap index can't hit a 5, or even a 4 iron. Seriously, you are obviously "picking up" when you get into the impact zone. It doesn't take much, just a little flinch of the shoulders is all it takes. There really isn't anything wrong with using the hybrids. I have found that I top the hybrid MORE than my long irons. I think it is because a hybrid looks so much like a "wood". Your brain says that this clubs MUST BE LONGER because it looks like a wood!! I do it all the time, I really have to concentrate on staying down on the ball through the hitting area... Good Luck!

[tm22721]

I have never been able to hit these like I should. From 6 on I am fine.. But i always seem to catch them thin with the occasional "top." It hadnt been that big of a problem because I have been carrying a 4 hybrid.. But i am wanting to take that out of the bag and go back with the 4 iron.

Keep your head down and stay behind the ball.

Seriously, I would do the following: 1) hybrids are irons so hit down on the ball and take a divot. It helps to keep your hands well out in front of the clubhead at impact to prevent 'flipping' and scooping. 2) put the ball in the middle of your stance. The bottom of the swing arc should be 2-4" in front of ball. 3) you may be unconsciously raising your head to prevent a painfully fat shot

[FortAsel]

practice makes us perfect

[Golf Yokel]

practice makes us perfect

Only if we practice the correct things

Otherwise we are only perfecting bad habits

[neudi]

Try bending your knees a little more, because you are so used to messing up those clubs you might be getting tense and not bending your knees. Bend your knees a little more than normal til you get used to it. good luck hope it helps

[Everardo]

Don't feel bad, some people are great with their long irons while most struggle. That's where the hybrids come into play.

[Ben]

I'd say:

A little explained cause of toping the ball, rather than lifting up, is actually releasing the club too early. Meaning, at impact the club head is in front of your hands at the ball as opposed to the reverse (your hands leading the club head through impact). With your club head in front you are hitting the top of the ball with the leading edge of the club. That's no good. Being a 13.5 I think you should have pretty decent control and ability to manipulate your clubhead. Try feeling the "lag" move to the extreme. Almost like you are hold the angle of your wrist-cock through impact, then releasing, and finish with a nice swing.

I love hitting long irons.

[Guest]

I had trouble with the longer irons myself when I started playing golf. What I found was that I was getting to much of a weight shift on my downswing. I felt that I had to a big weight shift to hit them farther, like with the woods. Try keeping the right heel down a little longer on the downswing. That should stop the thin hits and help you make solid contact more consistantly.

[Crafty]

If you are satisfied w/ your ballflight, move the ball back a little in your stance so that you are "trapping" the ball. That should fix your problem.

[tm22721]

Here is an exercise for you to make sure that you are hitting down on the ball and that the bottom of your swing is 2-4" in front of the ball.

Go into a bunker with a 7 iron. Trace a line down the middle of your stance, ie at the ball position for your 7 iron.

Envision a ball being at the line in the sand, then take a swing without using a ball.

Your divot should start at the line and not behind it. Keep trying until you consistently hit the line or a little in front of it. If you hitting behind the ball, it means that your hands are behind the clubhead at impact. An easy problem to fix when you can see the results immediately from the sand.

This exercise doubles as a handy check that your divots are in line with the target, ie that your swing is on plane.

I do this every day to calibrate my swing before I play 9 holes. It just works.

[N.V.M.]

i had the same problem and just moving the ball up a bit and widening my stance fixed it.i was ok with the short irons but fell off my shots,topped balls/skulled it etc as the irons got longer. so simple,yet duh, took a while to finger it out. now its just automatic to place the ball properly in accordance to whatever club being used.

here's a link which helped me think about it. i find though that i like the ball to be centered more in my stance (using my irons) than the diagrams show.
http://www.easy2.com/tutorials/glf0103/index.asp#steps