Jonathan Zach

Hi all, i am having a lot of trouble lately with my irons. I hit it fat, thin and other nasty issues. My problem is mostly off the deck. I hit my driver well as well as woods and hybrid from the tee, but give me an iron from the fairway and it gets pretty embarrassing. A friend was recommending a shorter backswing to keep things more compact and centered, something like L to L just to get my ball contact back on track again. It felt good and in my practice swing i was actually hitting ahead of the ball making divots in the correct area, and not behind it. The shots felt good and ball went nice and straight with a good sized divot. However, this was at the grass range, so i haven't had a chance to try it at the course yet, and i also not sure how i would hit with longer irons, but the shorter swing feels right to me. Any thoughts or similar experiences ? i am sure this has been talked about before in the forum :)

I actually tried to move the ball forward in my stance with my long irons (I don't have issues with the mid and short ones), and the only position I hit it well is middle of my stance

Yeah. I also practice my impact position and straight left wrist at impact lately and it seems to help.

I do put my ball in middle of stance for all my clubs.

Funny enough I too played an executive course on friday, and didn't tee my bal on the par 3 It was great practice for the approach shots. I also noticed that when I stay more grounded in my backswing and keep upper body over the ball, and also made sure my leading foot is planted and hips don't slide, I did not top or fat shot.

on a side note, if i have been golfing for about 10 months now, shouldn't the fat and thin shots be gone by now ? I though i had them out of my system by now ??:(

Thanks for the help. I usually hit my irons well while they are on a tee (on par 3) but once they are on the ground, i get nervous or something :)

Hi all, have been golfing for little under a year and played par 3 courses for the most part until recently. I have been enjoying the par 3 as a beginner since they are quick and offer a good cheap practice rounds with all the irons, hybrid and putter. However, i started going to "real" courses in past few weeks so i can really play the game, 18 holes par 68 next to my house. I had no trouble with my driver or woods and drove an average of 225-230 yards. However, i has some trouble hitting irons from the ground since i used to only him them from tees when i played par 3s. I hit them mostly thin & fat. Any advice on hitting irons from the ground, especially the 5 iron and the hybrids ?

thanks, so maybe i need a 3 hybrid, as i cant hit a 4iron very well.

Hi, i recently upgraded from a beginner set. I purchased: Callaway ft5 driver Nike vrs x iron set, 4i through AW Now i still have the fairway wood and the 4 Hybrid from the starter set (Wilson Ultra) My question is: should i buy a 3 Hybrid as well to replace the fairway wood ? Note, i need something for long par 3 for example, as my Hybrid does not go more then 170 yards. Or, to buy a 2 hybrid ?

Thanks for the replies. I went back to play 9 holes yesterday and was fading every shot. How do I correct this this to a slightly more of a draw?

Hi, i have been playing for about 7 months now, and was hitting decent shots off the tee with good short game to follow. In the last couple of weeks i started hitting everything (irons, driver, hybrid) to the right. I dont think i slice it but its kind of starting straight and then goes right. More then a few people have mentioned alignment and said that i set up with my feet aiming right. They then had me turn a bit left which helped me. My question is when you set up to the ball, your body should be parallel to the target line but aiming left of the target, or am i getting confused here ? it feels weird to me to have my feet point left of the ball.

Hi all, can anyone give me an average club distance that i should be hitting with these clubs: Hybrid,6i 7i, 8i,9i,pw What someone who is a beginner (been playing for 6 months now) should hit these clubs ? I found, for example that my pw goes about 110 yards and my 9i goes about 120 Is that good for a beginner, or i need to work on it ? Thanks !

Funny thing is that when I actually needed more distance, such as with my hybrid, on a 193 yards hole, the ball launched into the air nice and high but landed maybe 60 or 70 yards. So I didn't get much distance with it when I needed it most.

Thanks for the replies. I hit one of them from an uphill and the other downhill. So I don't think that was a factor in getting more distance. The wind was blowing hard that day, however. One more thing is, like someone said, maybe I'm not getting the correct read on the distance since I'm relying on the score card.

Hi, I played 9 holes over the weekend, par 3 only holes. For the shortest hole, 100 yards, I used a pitching wedge which I usually hit 100 yards or less. This shot went over the green and landed about 5 or 10 yards to the right. Same thing happened with my 9 iron, shot over the green on a 109 yards hole. So, am I getting more distance as I progress in the game or am I hitting too hard on it? the shots, btw, we're high and straight. Thanks!

I found that in order to avoid these top or thin shots, I place something behind the ball, maybe an inch behind. Then I find I would hit downward, without hitting that object And more toward the ball. does that drill makes sense to anyone?

If i have the ball position (at address) in the middle of my stance, for mid and short irons, would that cause poor contact such as fat/thin etc ? I was reading about placing the ball more forward in my stance, to get the club to the bottom of my swing arc.

yeah, I just stick it out a little bit, i dont ober due it, and im not hunched back. it's more of a feeling of sitting down slightly or leaning against a wall that had me feeling more balanced in my swing.

thanks for the replies, i also read somewhere that feet should be at 10 and 1 o'clock, where the left foot is pointing to 10 and the right foot is pointing to 1. Thats supposed to help with proper weight transfer.

I am the same! At the range ill hit these beautiful straight shots with a nice sound to them. I will go to play a round at my local 9 hole course, and immediately ill feel nervous and tight. This will result in thin/fat shots. I also noticed a reoccurring "theme", where i would miss hit on the first hole and be like "oh, first hole is over with !" ill then feel more loose and make a nice shot on the second hole. Then maybe a nice one on the third, and by the 4th hole, ill be tense and nervous once again and hit a fatty. One thing i try to do is to get exited and nervous when going to the range, and to mimic the course feel. Then, ill try to hit a good shot while feeling nervous.. seems to work for me.

Hi, i was practicing today at the range and was examining my posture. I felt that my balance was a bit off and remembered that i need to stick out my rear end a bit and felt, by doing that, that i am almost sitting down or leaning against something. That gave me a more secure feeling of balance and i was hitting a lot better. Anyone with similar balance issues that were correct this way ?

Is this kind of like the YouTube instructor Shawn clements sets up? Hips forward, little more weight on left side, shafts leaning forward.

Thanks for all the tips. I gotta make a swing video soon. The drill looks interesting. So, hips are forward, and the shaft is forward at address correct ?

Hi all, i have been struggling with the iron thin shots for a while now. I normally play 9 holes par 3 courses, as a beginner, and about half of the holes ill hit a low, no distance shot. the rest of the holes would go better ! i dont hook or slice it, i think the thin shot is my only problem at the moment :) I had a thought that i might be lifting the ball after impact. Should i just concentrate on making a descending blow and then let the club do the rest? i have no problem with chipping and pitching, the ball just airborne every time, and i never skull those shots. or, is it being too close to the ball, setup issues? thanks!