If I EVER learn to hit an iron right I'll be amazed

[warbirdlover]

I KNOW how you're "supposed" to hit it (down on the ball taking a divot in front of it) but after so many years of "picking" I can not permanently ingrain this in my pea sized brain. I'll play a beautiful round hitting the irons crisply and taking a nice little divot in front of the ball and the next time out I'm trying to sweep it and shank... shank.... shank...

Peeking and overswinging go along with this urge to sweep the ball.

Is there some kind of practice routine that will make this feel like the ONLY way I should swing the irons? It's making my scores so erratic (up and down) I never know what to expect. Driver and short game (chipping & putting) are flawless for the last month. It's these dang irons and hybrids (and fairway woods) that are screwing me up now about every other round. And don't suggest different irons. When I hit these nice I've never hit any iron better. I did this same thing with my G5's too. ARGH!!!

[SiberianDVM]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

And don't suggest different irons.

*cough* G10s *cough*

[74 thing]

I posted a thread about a week ago about hitting the ground just before the ball. There were a lot of good suggestions and I went and worked on it and it turns out the problem I had was with tempo and timing. I would get too fast and start to hit with my hands and that is when the problem arose. I have been hitting 1/2 shots with short irons concentrating on timing and I also have been working on my tempo and a slower back swing on full swings and consistency has picked up.

[bames]

I've been told this twice by two different pros. You are free to use a towel under your arm if you wish, but don't have to. Take a 6 or 7 iron and try to hit a 100 yd flag. You can vary the distances if you like. This should require a backswing that comes up not much higher than your hips. The big, big, key to this drill is to focus on accelerate through the ball and make solid crisp contact with a solid weight transfer. It shows you everything about your swing and I have found it a great way to experiment with swing planes, face angles, grip etc. The college coach where I used to play in Utah makes every player begin and end every range session with this drill.

[Eracer]

Just to relate a "quick fix" that helped me in my last round. It was the worst ball striking I've had in decades. I think it was because my muscles were tired (6th round in 4 days.) I tried "tempo," "head still," "rotate," and all the other one-swing-thought fixes - nothing worked, not even "no-swing-thought."

Anyway, about halfway through the round I noticed my friend hitting chips with his right arm fully extended (which lowered his right shoulder,) and I also noticed than my shoulders were level, and my elbows were both slightly bent.

I tried extending my right arm, tilting my shouders to the right, hit full shots, and it was like magic - all of a sudden my left arm stayed straighter, I took the club more around my body, and my wrist **** became much better. I immediately went from horrible iron shots to decent iron shots.

[warbirdlover]

*cough* G10s *cough*



SiberianDVM

I TOLD you not to do that!!!

I posted a thread about a week ago about hitting the ground just before the ball. There were a lot of good suggestions and I went and worked on it and it turns out the problem I had was with tempo and timing. I would get too fast and start to hit with my hands and that is when the problem arose. I have been hitting 1/2 shots with short irons concentrating on timing and I also have been working on my tempo and a slower back swing on full swings and consistency has picked up.

74 thing

I've been told this twice by two different pros. You are free to use a towel under your arm if you wish, but don't have to. Take a 6 or 7 iron and try to hit a 100 yd flag. You can vary the distances if you like. This should require a backswing that comes up not much higher than your hips. The big, big, key to this drill is to focus on accelerate through the ball and make solid crisp contact with a solid weight transfer. It shows you everything about your swing and I have found it a great way to experiment with swing planes, face angles, grip etc. The college coach where I used to play in Utah makes every player begin and end every range session with this drill.

bames

I have gone to a slow backswing a month ago and starting too fast is I'm sure what I'm doing. 1/2 shots seem to be a consistent answer on this.

Just to relate a "quick fix" that helped me in my last round. It was the worst ball striking I've had in decades. I think it was because my muscles were tired (6th round in 4 days.) I tried "tempo," "head still," "rotate," and all the other one-swing-thought fixes - nothing worked, not even "no-swing-thought."

Anyway, I noticed that when my friend hit chips his right arm was fully extended (which lowered his right shoulder.) I tried it with my full shots, and it was like magic - all of a sudden my left arm stayed straighter, I took the club more around my body, and my wrist **** became much better. I immediately went from horrible iron shots to decent iron shots.

Eracer

This is exactly what's going on with me. I keep my head still and weight on left foot (stack and tilt?) and it always was good. Then nothing worked.

Thanks for the tips gents. I'll be trying these.

[JEFF4i]

Just don't suck?

Best...tip...ever.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by JEFF4i

Just don't suck?

Easy for you to say.

[gwlee7]

WB,

Another less technical thought would be to imagine that the ball is sitting on a tee that is sticking out of the ground just barely enough for the ball to sit on. On the down swing, feel like you are clipping the head off of that tee. It will get you hitting slightly down and through the ball and helps with squaring the clubface too.

[BrandonM7]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

I have gone to a slow backswing a month ago and starting too fast is I'm sure what I'm doing. 1/2 shots seem to be a consistent answer on this.

Just realize that a slow backswing isn't necessarily the answer. If you're snatching from the top and getting out of shape, slowing your backswing can cause to actually do it even worse sometimes.

This is weird, but I actually enjoy watching the GolfLogix infomercial they show on TGC all the time. The reason is watching Gary McCord swing. He has an artfully rythmic swing that just flows up and down like a pendulum. Then you get to see all the normal people swinging like retards, then back to McCord. Just seeing that, even though it's in no way intended to be instructional, has really helped me smooth out a huge amount.

[mywaterisland]

at least your not like me and people laugh at you at the driving range

[justagolfer]

I'm a picker too. After trying just about everything I finally hope to have kicked it.

I've incorporated a 9 - 3 drill that I found on another site, really focusing on keeping my arms and body connected. It is really difficult to "pick" the ball when this is executed correctly.

It's far from ingrained at this point, but whenever I'm able to trust the motion, it is a good shot.

[Bakemono36]

Dont feel bad. Im pretty good with my irons, wedges and putter but I suck with my driver and fairway wood.

[Adam Pettman]

Guaranteed cure, more natural talent. Hand eye co-ordination + muscle memory.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by mywaterisland

at least your not like me and people laugh at you at the driving range

Sounds like me on the dance floor...