Biggest cause of iron distance inconsistencies?

[hack2scratch]

The biggest cause of distance inconsistencies? I very distances depending on the days I'm playing. 

 

My 7-iron is supposed to be 150 yd, my go-to shot. On certain days it will only go 135 and then I have to Club up on every shot, and change my distance or club to adapt. What would cause me to lose about 15 yards. And this remains consistent throughout the whole entire day.

Can ball be a 15 yard issue?

My irons are pretty worn now.

I strike it pretty good on the center and it does have good flight. It goes fairly straight with a very small fade. 

I do think my irons flight goes pretty high but it's more or less the same height when I hit the 7iron whether it goes 150 or 135 . 

[iacas]

There are probably days when your timing is a bit better. And days when you hit it a bit cleaner, or with more shaft lean.

As a 25, there's likely a LOT of variance in how you actually strike the ball, but overall you're probably closer to the 135 than the 150 if you factor in ALL of your shots.

[Jack Watson]

I can remember the days of going to the range and fighting weak 7 irons that couldn't carry 150.  For me it was making a glancing blow with a slice.  Can be tough to get out of on your own sometimes.

Quality instruction is the thing to get.

[Alx]

Performance varies day to day.

Go to the gym and try maxing out every day. Its not unusual to be 10% off your max strength on off days. Same thing applies to speed.

Add that to what was said above and you have your 25 yards.

[Moxley]

For me, as a still relatively poor golfer, I have the same issue and it's normally due to hitting a minor slice, as Jack also said. 

It's easier to call a slice a fade with a 7 iron as it doesn't look as bad and usually lands in play, but it's the difference for me between 120 yds with a 7 and 140 (which would fly very straight and land a few yards left of target). 

[hack2scratch]

Makes sense.

 

I do notice when I use distance balls I will get an extra 5 yards or so. Can ball also play a role? Or just coincidence of how I was swinging on that day?

And how much distance do you lose in the rough? Should you club up inside the rough? 

 

[klineka]

1 hour ago, hack2scratch said:

 

And how much distance do you lose in the rough? Should you club up inside the rough? 

 

There isnt a straightforward answer to this question. There are all different kinds of rough that are cut at different lengths, different thickness, etc. 

Sometimes you can catch a jumper and the ball will explode out of the rough actually causing you to club down. 

Example: Saturday I was in the rough 160 yds out. Thats a smooth 8 iron for me, nothing more, nothing less. Took the 8 iron, smooth swing, ball rockets out of the rough and goes about 10 yds over the green. I could have hit 9 iron there obviously.

Other times you do need to club up. How the ball is positioned in the rough is also a factor, is the ball sitting up and you can get to the back of the ball? Then you can probably get away with a slightly lower lofted club. Is the ball buried and you cant see the back of it? Might have to club down a couple to get more loft that will help pop the ball out. 

It really just depends on the situation.

[saevel25]

1 hour ago, hack2scratch said:

And how much distance do you lose in the rough? Should you club up inside the rough? 

Depends on the lie, and the type of shot.

 

[mcanadiens]

I've had a lot of this sort of variance lately and the 135-150 spread is pretty close to what I do with my 7I. 

On a recent trip around the local executive course, I was hitting the ball rather well and parked several shots behind the green. Came back a few days later and hit a bunch short. It's a day-to-day, if not hole-to-hole thing for me as well.

 

[Jeremie Boop]

24 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Depends on the lie, and the type of shot.

 

This, and you don't always lose distance from the rough. Depending on the rough and the lie you may gain distance via a "flyer" lie.