Help: Driver and 3-wood are good, but my irons are horrendous

[MikeVB]

New member from rural South Georgia without much access to professional lessons.  I love to play, and my goal is to be a Bogey-Golfer.

Problem:  I can hit my Driver and 3-wood pretty good with averages of maybe 240 and 220 excepting the occasional snap hook or straight push.  I'm usually in the vicinity of most fairways if not on it with most wood swings.

But I'm absolutely horrible with irons.  And I've gotten worse over the last month or so as I try all sort of remedies and swing changes.  About 7 out of every 10 irons are chunked 2" inches behind the ball or shanked bigger'n sh*t as they say around here.

I don't understand how I can feel so comfortable swinging a wood and like an alien with an iron.  I can about half the time hit a decent 7 iron from a Par-3 tee.

Looking for advice.

Edited November 11, 2017 by MikeVB

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, MikeVB said:

New member from rural South Georgia without much access to professional lessons.  I love to play, and my goal is to be a Bogey-Golfer.

Problem:  I can hit my Driver and 3-wood pretty good with averages of maybe 240 and 220 excepting the occasional snap hook or straight push.  I'm usually in the vicinity of most fairways if not on it with most wood swings.

But I'm absolutely horrible with irons.  And I've gotten worse over the last month or so as I try all sort of remedies and swing changes.  About 7 out of every 10 irons are chunked 2" inches behind the ball or shanked bigger'n sh*t as they say around here.

I don't understand how I can feel so comfortable swinging a wood and like an alien with an iron.  I can about half the time hit a decent 7 iron from a Par-3 tee.

Looking for advice.

I was thinking that I had the same issue. They are somewhat different swings. The driver is upwards and the 3W is level while irons are downward strikes.

One thing that helped me is to transfer the weight forward more on the irons and get the swing arc more forward at impact. I'm also still having issues with my irons, as I can't get the flight I want every shot. So take that with a grain of salt. It seems to help me anyway.

Edited November 11, 2017 by Lihu

[Hacker James]

12 hours ago, Lihu said:

I was thinking that I had the same issue. They are somewhat different swings. The driver is upwards and the 3W is level while irons are downward strikes.

 

and therein lies the dilemma. One day I can hit irons and not woods, the next day versa visa, and now with the advent of hybrid clubs, my muscle memory is dyslectic. Recently with driver, I found I actually did worse trying to hit upwards with higher tee. I was dragging the club. Lowered the tee height and had better hits. 

Edited November 11, 2017 by Hacker James

[efdeel74]

I have the same problem about 6 months ago.

My fix :

I can swing driver n wood "naturally" without additional force with my hands. (maybe becouse their club head weight relatively lighter than iron).

I feel iron have more weight, it is make my hand have to make additional force to square the club at impact.

Other than that, i have the same swing with woods n irons.

Edited March 10, 2018 by efdeel74

[Piz]

Sounds like a common malady: Give-it-something-extra-itis.  It afflicts all but the most composed golfers.  Once you have selected a club; tell yourself that you have selected intelligently and proceed as if you have.  It really doesn't matter what happens next.  As Greg Maddux was fond of saying: it is better to throw the wrong pitch, for the right reason, than it is to throw the right pitch for the wrong reason.

[bm85]

On 11/10/2017 at 7:26 PM, MikeVB said:

And I've gotten worse over the last month or so as I try all sort of remedies and swing changes. 

You're basically trying to spontaneously become good at something doing that. Golf is too hard for that to work.

Find something specific to work on, take your time with it, and enjoy the process.

[onthehunt526]

I'm not a pro... @MikeVB do you hit any irons well, short irons? You said you can occasionally hit a good seven-iron on a par-three? 

Try this... Go to a range that has a grass hitting area. Put the ball down place a tee in the ground 2" behind the ball. Then hit the ball without hitting the tee. Start slow 1/4 swings to like A2.5, just chip the ball 50% speed then keep slowly adding length to your backswing, until you get to about 3/4 swing. Then start adding speed till you get to the point you can hit 10 straight without hitting the tee. 

You won't hit the tee on the backswing, because the tee is only an 1/4" off the turf.

[Patch]

Are you grounding the club behind the ball at address? If so you might be presetting the low point in your swing behind the ball. With out a good weight/hip transfer forward, the low point of your swing will usually stay behind the ball. 

Perhaps you are dropping your rear shoulder on the down swing? This will put the low point of your swing in back of the ball. 

Myself, I like to hit the ball a little on the thin side, while not taking much of a divot in front of the ball. I never ground my irons in back of the ball at address. I tend to hover the club above the ground, in back of the ball at address. Sometimes I might ground the the club an inch or so in front of the ball. Then I just move the club from there, to my normal address position to start my back swing.  

There's alot reasons for hitting fat shots, where the club hits the ground before the ball. Clay Ballard has some good drills on YouTube to help with hitting the turf after hitting the ball. I use his step through drill every so often to help prevent hitting fatties. Might be worth your time to look him up. 

[Marty2019]

I have the same type of problem.  I think it's caused by many things but one in particular I have focused on lately: tension.  My driver swing is much more relaxed than my iron swing, therefore, I have a lot more lag in it, due to my hands and arms being more relaxed.  I get tension in my hands and arms with irons, and wind up casting the club sometimes, which puts the bottom of the arc behind the ball.   Also, the tension when I swing my irons leads to me rushing the down swing, which overtakes my forward weight shift.  Tension in my hands and arms also leads to me trying to swing my arms before I get a good turn.  I'm all out of sequence.  With my driver, I can just tee it up and hit it.  All I have to think about is keeping my head behind the ball and rotating hard.  I'm relaxed, so everything flows. 

I don't think there's one great solution to the whole thing.  I think you just have to focus on fundamentals.  Ball placement.  Foot position.  Stance.  Keep your weight on the inside of your right foot on the back swing, so you don't roll your right foot and sway backwards.  Leave your arms and hands behind when you start forward.  Keep your head steady.  Maintain your lag.  Don't decelerate at the bottom of the swing.  Start down slowly and accelerate when you get to the ball.  Turn hard when you are hitting the ball.    And so on and so forth.  Relax. 

And if you find THE SECRET, the one move that fixes the problem, please let me know.